SSI Buys Bloomerce

Survey Sampling International (SSI) is expanding its overseas presence with the acquisition of European online sampling company, Bloomerce Access Panels Europe. Located in the Netherlands with 40 employees, Bloomerce has more than one million panel members in Europe.

Bev Weiman, CEO of SSI, says the acquisition clearly positions SSI as the world's leading provider of samples for online research. 'Bloomerce shares SSIs vision that sampling is the starting point in all market research - it's of key essence to our clients' processes and their clients' decision making. We provide the highest standard in the industry to our clients and we continuously strive to improve our services'.

Kees de Jong, Bloomerce CEO, says that the combination of forces is 'a highly synergetic connection - SSI is strong in the US and we cover most of the European countries. I have no doubt that we will be the biggest and the best online access panel company in the world. Quality data comes from a quality panel. To have a quality panel, you must understand research. To conduct data collection in Europe, you must have local knowledge and presence. We understand the differences in the way panelists react in different countries. We have the experience to complement SSI. Both Survey Sampling and Bloomerce build panels that interest people to take surveys for the right reasons'.

Terry Coen, SSI Vice President and Director of Sales and Marketing, says the time is right for expansion in Europe, with 'the increasing acceptance of Internet research among the European research industry. Use of the Internet for research in the UK alone is expected to double in the next 18 months'.

In fact, greater spending on Internet-based market research is driving the marketing research industry to new heights globally. In 2003, 44% of the total US$18.9 billion world market research spend was in Europe and 35% was in the USA, according to ESOMAR. In the coming two to four years, Europe is expected to show the biggest growth worldwide. Additionally, the SSI-Bloomerce team will be expanding to Asia, where the market research industry is also experiencing dramatic growth. Survey Sampling now provides researchers with access to a community of nearly 8 million household members, representing more than 3.2 million unique e-mail addresses worldwide.

SSI can be found online at www.surveysampling.com and Bloomerce at www.bloomerce.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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