CommerceSWITCH signs exclusive Saqqara distribution agreement

South African e-business solutions company CommerceSwitch, a subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Web services company eSynergies, has signed an exclusive South African distribution agreement with content management and cataloguing specialist Saqqara Systems.

"The partnership enables us to offer our clients, companies undertaking e-commerce and e-business initiatives, tools that save them from re-inventing the wheel when it comes to the management of the itemised detail which describes their product offerings," says Philip de Bruin, MD of CommerceSwitch.

"AMR Research predicts that B2B e-commerce will reach $2.7 trillion by 2004. Gartner predicts $7.29 trillion by that year, while Forrester Research goes with the $2.7 trillion figure, with the additional prediction that 74% of it will be driven by the B2B exchanges," says De Bruin.

"The product and service offerings of companies that participate as global trading partners are catalogued in formats that are compatible with the global exchanges where trading takes place," says De Bruin. "The Saqqara range of products enables businesses to create and present e-catalogues in the required formats."

CommerceSwitch will leverage the relationship with Saqqara to provide B2B suppliers, manufacturers, Net marketers and distributors with e-commerce content and cataloguing solutions.

"Saqqara fits the CommerceSwitch methodology of providing simple, powerful, intuitive e-business solutions that will enable companies to trade online with minimal disruption to their business," says De Bruin. "CommerceSwitch will wrap its own depth of knowledge and experience in the e-business arena around the Saqqara products and services to ensure clients achieve their e-commerce goals."

Content refers to a company`s product information including pricelists, item numbers, specifications, images and brochureware that is held in a data repository and which can potentially be accessed via the Web.

De Bruin maintains that few companies understand exactly how much attention to detail and complexity underlies e-commerce operations and logistics. Internet traders need to catalogue their content whether they are offering their goods via an Internet storefront, a trading portal or an e-business exchange.

In addition, the systems behind the user-interface need to be completely automated to ensure constant updates of information from suppliers of goods. These changes might concern price or item availability, or any other aspect affecting either the body of information or the listed product. An online catalogue needs to be available to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, to allow them to find what they want quickly and directly.

"Without a powerful automated content management and cataloguing solution, companies will fall back on manual systems, killing the process with slow response times and human error," he says.

"Our approach is hands-on," says De Bruin. "We hand-hold our clients through consulting, implementation, and training to ensure successful outcomes. In addition we offer content management and cataloguing in an outsourcing model as well as an ASP model. This enables the client to concentrate on his core competencies in the bricks-and-mortar world while we manage the delivery of e-commerce success."