Greif’s Website Network
Like most modern corporations, Greif, Inc., has an extensive network of webpages that provide information about the company, promote its brand, and entice potential buyers, investors, and employees.
Greif’s core website, Greif.com, contains the majority of the company’s content. On this site, users can find information about the company’s products, business practices, current news, and job openings. Users can also contact Greif directly through the website and visit its social media, and international users can select their country and language from a drop-down menu on the home page.
In addition to this core website, many of Greif’s subsidiaries have their own web presence. However, the quality of these websites varies widely.
This analysis shall examine Greif’s website, noting aspects such as its design features, usability, and communication style, and it will then provide insight into its network of subsidiary websites.
Greif’s Primary Website
When you type the URL Greif.com into your browser, you will first encounter a home page that resembles most corporate websites.
A visually appealing photo and video montage that features Greif’s product solutions first catches the reader’s eye, and as the reader scrolls down, they will see announcements that include Greif’s corporate and packaging news as well as its bookings at upcoming trade shows.
Below that montage is a list of the markets that Greif serves followed by a map showing its locations around the world. The page then moves onto a summary of its major packaging divisions followed by descriptions of its sustainability initiatives and key figures. At the very bottom of the home page, users will find a detailed list of the site’s contents.
At the top of the page, users will see a menu bar with the following features:
- Greif’s logo and slogan;
- Links to Greif’s social media;
- A contact button;
- Language/country selection;
- A search button and
- A drop-down menu.
After clicking the drop-down menu, users will see a list of the website’s main components:
- Products and services;
- Markets served;
- Global footprint;
- Sustainability;
- About Greif;
- Investors and
- Careers.
The following section will discuss each of Greif’s primary website’s main components, and it will end with an overall analysis of the website’s design, usability, and functionality.
Products and Services
On the main Products and Services page, users will find a list of Greif’s main product offerings, such as intermediate bulk containers and plastic drums. Each item on the page is accompanied by a descriptive picture.
When a user clicks an item, the site takes them to a page that resembles an online store. Products under the selected category will be immediately listed on the page, but users can view other items by clicking options on the side menu. Clicking on an item will take the user to that product’s information page, which will tell them more about the item and encourage them to contact a sales representative if interested.
Markets Served
The Markets Served section lists all of the industries that frequently use Greif’s products, such as chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Each industry-specific page contains information about Greif’s products and certifications that may entice buyers in that sector.
Global Footprint
Greif’s Global Footprint page simply contains a map that shows Greif’s locations throughout the world. Users can find the location closest to them by using the search tool to the left of the map.
Sustainability
After clicking this option on the drop-down menu, users are taken to sustainability.greif.com, an internal site devoted to Greif’s sustainability initiatives.
The main page of this section features the company’s latest sustainability report, a scrolling bar that lists its core sustainability initiatives, a timeline of its sustainability achievements, and links to other pages in this section. Each page also includes a variety of subsections, making Greif.com’s sustainability section practically a website in and of itself.
This section covers topics such as:
- Sustainability strategies;
- Awards and accreditations;
- Sustainability goals;
- Product quality initiatives and
- Copies of Greif’s annual sustainability report.
About Greif
This section provides the user with general information about the company along with specific sections that address the following topics:
- General information about the company;
- The Greif Way;
- Greif’s vision;
- Corporate leadership and
- Company history.
Greif’s internal news is also located under this tab. In the news section, articles are divided between news about corporate and news about Greif’s packaging products.
Investors
Greif.com’s Investors’ section is another internal site that offers a plethora of information for potential investors. On this page, interested parties can learn about the following subjects:
- Stock information;
- Company financials;
- Corporate structure;
- Press releases;
- Events for potential shareholders;
- Resources for investors;
- Analysis;
- Reasons to invest and
- Sustainability.
The Investors’ section devotes an entire page to each of these topics, and all of these pages contain detailed information and downloadable material for potential shareholders to review prior to making an investment.
Careers
Finally, Greif’s career page allows potential employees to access the company’s job portal to view opportunities that they may be interested in.
To ensure that prospective applicants are well-informed about Greif, this page also contains summaries of Greif’s core values, employee expectations, and social responsibility initiatives. At the bottom of the page, readers will see quotes from current Greif employees that highlight their positive experiences with the company.
Greif.com’s Design and Functionality
Although Greif’s web design appears modern and visually appealing, the website’s uneven distribution of information negatively impacts its overall ergonomics, usability, and functionality.
Many of Greif.com’s pages either contain too much information or too little. For example, the section on sustainability is practically its own website whereas the Global Footprint section contains a map that is constantly posted on other pages.
This imbalance could cause users to become frustrated when seeking specific information. While the search bar does ameliorate this issue to an extent, users should ideally be able to find the content that they seek naturally – particularly if it is general information that should be readily available.
Greif’s website may also frustrate buyers who wish to order a product online. On each product page, potential customers are only offered the option to speak with a representative. This approach makes sense for large-scale industrial buyers, but companies looking to order standard goods may prefer to use an online store.
Despite these flaws, Greif’s website provides users with a plethora of information about the company, and in general, the website is visually attractive. The website also uses a highly professional communication style that enhances Greif’s credibility.
Greif’s International Websites
Greif does business in over 40 countries, so its website offers users the option to choose a country and language at the top of the page.
When a user selects a flag for a particular country, they are linked internally to Greif’s website for that country. On those country-specific versions, most content is translated to the local language, and product offerings are amended to reflect what is available in that market.
Currently, Greif offers localized websites for the following countries and languages, in alphabetical order: Algeria, Argentina, Belgium (Dutch), Belgium (French), Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, The UK and Vietnam.
Greif’s Network of Subsidiaries
One of Greif’s primary business strategies is expansion through acquisition, so naturally, some of Greif’s subsidiaries have individual websites to advertise their specific products and services.
In most cases, subsidiaries that establish their own web presence have product and service offerings that deviate from Greif’s core brand. These subsidiaries include:
- American Flange & Manufacturing Company (Tri-Sure);
- Delta Petroleum;
- Soterra;
- Box-Board Products and
- Olympic Petroleum.
Although each of these companies has a distinct web presence, the quality of their websites varies substantially. Tri-Sure’s website, for instance, looks like a standard industrial product site while Soterra’s has a more modern design, and Delta Petroleum’s webpage is so poorly optimized that it comes up last in many search results.
While these sites expand Greif’s web network beyond the Greif.com URL, the vast majority of Greif’s subsidiaries have been fully absorbed by the company, and their web presence exists within Greif’s internal network.
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