Bidvest's online e-marketplace, mymarket.com, today announced an agreement with Commerce One South Africa - Distributor Operations for the deployment of the Commerce One e-marketplace solution as its core technology platform, as well as related consulting services. This follows the successful completion of a pilot project using Commerce One's software and services to create an open e-marketplace for mymarket.com.
Mymarket.com is an international e-marketplace hosted in SA, with sites planned for Australia and New Zealand, and already operational in SA and the UK. It links buyers and sellers together giving them access to Commerce One's e-procurement solutions through a hosted environment.
Mymarket.com was launched last year and already has a number of registered customers who are using the trading platform successfully. Mymarket.com has 140 registered users placing orders daily with over 200 suppliers. The e-marketplace will also be used as the exclusive electronic business-to-business electronic trading platform within Bidvest. Every operating company within Bidvest will join this exchange over a two-year period bringing the required liquidity to the e-marketplace, which is essential for the success of any e-marketplace. Bidvest has an estimated turnover of R39 billion for the current year.
Philip Katz, managing director of mymarket.com, said: "Mymarket.com ensures central management and compliance for users, suppliers, products and prices. We chose Commerce One because of its leading e-marketplace and e-procurement software which includes workflow (business rules), reporting and buyer administration."
Commerce One South Africa - Distributor Operations also provides consulting and implementation services to mymarket.com.
"There are direct financial benefits to buyers and suppliers. Buyers using the system will be able to consolidate the suppliers they use. Suppliers will enjoy higher volumes from their existing customer base and will process purchase orders more accurately," says Katz.
Commerce One has over 170 e-marketplace customers world-wide and more than 640 e-procurement customers including companies like Deutsche Telekom, BT and General Motors.
"Mymarket.com provides a low cost, low risk entry into e-commerce for buyers and suppliers," said Michael Bosman, CEO of Commerce One South Africa, Commerce One's sole distributor in the region. "The 750 operating companies within Bidvest will also use mymarket.com for trading between buyers and suppliers. We're pleased to have our software used as the foundation for the e-business initiatives of market leaders like Fedex, Sea World, Waltons, Rennies Travel, Thomas Cook, Minolta, Cecil Nurse, Chipkins Catering Supplies, Croxley, Prestige Cleaning and Renfreight."
"Mymarket.com aims to provide sustainable value to both buyer and suppliers to reduce the overall costs of transacting," Katz said. "Buyers can trade with an unlimited number of users and suppliers. We offer full integration capability into buyer and supplier ERP systems and our suppliers are encouraged to become buyers."
Mymarket.com works off standardised electronic catalogues and already over 70 000 products have been catalogued to international standards. The e-marketplace includes advanced functionality to assist buyers in managing supplier contracts, improved supplier sourcing and tendering through RFQ (request for quote) online. Mymarket.com uses MarketSite Africa, a Commerce One e-marketplace, as its transaction switch.
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