South Africa's leading online technology news site, ITWeb, today announced that it has teamed up with SalesBid, an Application Service Provider (ASP) which specialises in the development and implementation of dynamic pricing solutions, to allow ITWeb readers to purchase IT-related products from leading brands such as Parkard Bell and Mustek, via online auctions.
Miriam Frankel, ITWeb's marketing manager, says the auction-enablement is aimed at enhancing ITWeb's readers' experience and increasing their convenience. "ITWeb reaches over 22 000 people a day, most of whom are IT professionals, business and technology managers, who use ITWeb to keep informed of developments and trends in the IT industry. Our auction offering has been designed to help these busy professionals shop online from their preferred website.
"ITWeb has over 250 corporate clients, each with a range of IT products and services, and we are happy to be able to expose their offerings to our vast community," says Frankel.
"To begin with, products from established and reputable companies like All Office, Packard Bell, One Technology Group, Mustek and Datamatrix will be auctioned on our site. Consumers will be guided by an icon on our front page to the auction lots which will be hosted on SalesBid's server. Once they have registered, they will easily be able to bid for the products - and find great bargains along the way," says Frankel.
David Bloch, CEO of SalesBid, says that a complex syndication model combined with controlled channeling of selected merchants (in this case, computer-related merchants only) was used to power the auctions on ITWeb. "Syndication technology allows merchants on the SalesBid network to not only feature their product catalogues on their own auction-enabled Web site, but also to be simultaneously broadcast onto ITWeb.
"By adding this facility to the Web site, all parties benefit. The participating merchants get their goods and services exposed on a high traffic site which overcomes a key stumbling block of e-commerce - ensuring that a company's Web site can easily be found. It also enables consumers to bid and buy from a range of online auctions on one site, thus saving them the laborious Web surfing process."
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SalesBid
SalesBid is an Application Service Provider specialising in the development and implementation of simple and affordable dynamic pricing solutions to businesses. SalesBid's cutting edge technology allows an auction solution or other dynamic pricing component to be quickly and easily added to companies' websites. SaleBid's online solutions are unique in that they allow companies to run dynamic pricing solutions from their own sites, thereby maintaining their business's corporate image and brand and increasing traffic to their site, while still being deployed, managed and maintained by SalesBid. Furthermore, SalesBid's superior syndication technology facilitates the items on auction to be simultaneously published on major portal and specialist sites, which exposes the participating companies' goods and services to a large and targeted online audience resulting in increased sales.
SalesBid is an independent subsidiary of Auction Alliance Holdings with stakes also held by management and African Harvest Capital.
ITWeb
ITWeb is South Africa's leading technology, business and financial news site and news service. ITWeb was founded in 1996 by Jovan Regasek, a journalist and editor.
ITWeb has a dominant place in South African online technology news provision, reaching over 18 000 readers a day and servicing a substantial corporate client base through its Virtual Press Office service. Besides its main site at www.itweb.co.za ITWeb operates a technology and financial jobs site at www.careerweb.co.za and a charts portal at www.top10sa.com as well as a site for financial professionals at www.zafinance.com in a joint venture with Profile Media.
Through an agreement with Business Wire, the largest independent commercial news wire in the world, ITWeb has the right to market Business Wire's worldwide media and investor relations services to the Southern African corporate community.