On the surface, the journey the life science customer takes may seem very simple – especially in the modern age of point and click purchasing.  However, if you look more closely, it is easy to see that the journey a customer takes from deciding they need a specific product, through all the touchpoints, channels, and interactions, to the point of purchase, this journey is quite complex. This customer purchasing journey is a visual representation of all those touchpoints a customer goes through when selecting different products in the life sciences market. It helps tell the story of their experiences and aids in ensuring that no customer slips through the cracks at any given touchpoint. 

To help suppliers better understand these various touchpoints in the life science industry, we designed a study to deliver actionable insights to suppliers looking to improve their customer experience strategy. The outcome is our newest report, Customer Purchasing Journey in the Life Sciences Industry.   

This study offers in-depth analysis of the performance of 31 different suppliers, allowing for analysis of how supplier strategies have shaped customer experience scores over time and how individual suppliers compare to their competitors over time.  

In the 2023 edition, we asked 823 scientists to evaluate their experience with suppliers during specific touchpoints including their awareness and research of potential products, the purchasing process of those products, and evaluation of the delivery and any post-delivery interactions and service. 

The report includes a Tableau workbook and will allow you to: 

• Uncover and compare different product category performances for 31 top-tier brands. Product categories include: 

  • Biologicals (e.g., tissue culture media, enzymes, reagents) 

  • Data analysis software 

  • Glassware / Plastics  

  • Instrumentation  

  • Research / Specialty kits  

  • Complete product solutions that integrate instrumentation, reagents, consumables, etc. 

  • Customized products (e.g., full-length synthetic genes, model systems [engineered cell lines, animal models]) 

  • Customized services (e.g., specialized assay development, NGS library prep)  

• Explore the intricacies of the customer purchasing journey at select touchpoints (2016-2023). 

• Gain clarity on the relative significance of purchasing journey touchpoints that drive customer satisfaction across 31 brands. 

• Discern regional nuances in customer purchasing trends. 

• Track generational shifts in customer purchasing journey touchpoints. 

• Investigate how various employment sectors influence customer purchasing trends. 

The Tableau workbook is fully interactive, and can be used to export charts for presentations, further research, or other needs.  This will allow you to target your benchmarking to your customers.  Want only to see YOUR company’s information and survey responses and produce a report?  You can do that.  Want to compare your company against a few competitors? Use Tableau for this function. 

A key tool for suppliers looking to gain a competitive edge, this report equips teams with the insights needed to stay ahead of the competition.  

Study Objectives  

• Understand how customers are selecting products.  

• Understand how many vendors customers evaluate.  

• Understand how customers learn about vendors or products, and alternative products.   

• Understand the purchasing experience.  

• Understand factors that influence how customers purchase products.  

• Understand institutional barriers to purchasing.  

Table of Contents (Topline Report)  

1. Study Overview and Objectives  
2. Executive Summary  
3. Demographics  
4. Life Science Customer Journey Map 
5. Navigating Tableau 
6. Methodology  
7. About Us  

Table of Contents (Tableau)  

1. Methodology  
2. Life Sciences Products Customer Journey Map 2023 
3. Vendor Purchase Journey Funnels 
4. Awareness/Motivation Phase 
5. Research/Consideration Phase 
6. Purchasing Phase 
7. Post-Purchase/Delivery/Service Phase 
8. Loyalty 
9. Demographics 

*Note: Trending is provided on some dashboards within the Tableau workbook for 2016-2023. 

Companies Mentioned  

1. Abcam 
2. Agilent Technologies 
3. ATCC 
4. BD Biosciences 
5. Beckman Coulter 
6. Bio-Rad Laboratories 
7. Bio-Techne (R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple) 
8. Bruker 
9. Cell Signaling Technology 
10. Corning Life Sciences 
11. Eppendorf 
12. Cytiva/Pall (Danaher) 
13. IDT (Integrated DNA Technologies)  
14. Illumina 
15. Leica 
16. MilliporeSigma/Merck  
17. New England Biolabs 
18. Revvity  
19. Promega 
20. QIAGEN 
21. Repligen 
22. Roche Molecular Systems 
23. Santa Cruz Biotechnology 
24. Sartorius 
25. SCIEX 
26. STEMCELL Technologies 
27. Tecan 
28. Thermo Fisher Scientific (including individual brands: Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, etc.) 
29. VWR 
30. Waters 
31. Zeiss