South African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare accomplished a first, not only for South Africa but quite possibly the world late yesterday. In a unique business-to-business on-line auction of pharmaceutical products through online auction web site bidorbuy.co.za
Over 17 auctions hosted by bidorbuy were held during the course of the day and Aspen Pharmacare products were made available to a select group of Shortline Wholesale customers of the company. The products ranged from OTC (over the counter), generic and ethical scheduled drugs.
There have been many debates within the market about the legalities of such an auction but these have all been laid to rest. "These are buyers who we deal with on a regular basis, they are certified and as this is a closed auction, we have ensured that no illegal trade will occur," confirmed Mark Lotter, Chief executive Officer of Aspen Pharmacare local operations, " We feel that as a pilot project and the first of its kind it, made sense to invite a particular sector of our client base to participate in the auction. As these Shortline Wholesalers deal mainly in the peri-urban areas around the country, places such as Soweto, Kagiso and Phoenix these buyers will be able to pass on the discounted prices, which they have managed to procure at this auction to the providers within these operating areas. The providers are then able to pass on these savings to their patients who are mainly cash customers. When one looks at it objectively it makes good business sense to all parties involved."
bidorbuy was selected to host this groundbreaking event as they have the knowledge, expertise and experience to handle such an event. "This kind of event breaks all marketing and selling barriers within the pharmaceutical industry. It fits perfectly within our aggressive marketing and business-to business strategy. We believe in creating avenues for our business clients, which are both profitable and immediate. The business-to-business model which we have created for this particular auction can be adapted for any kind of business be it pharmaceutical, sporting goods or even travel. The possibilities are endless and we are proud that Aspen Pharmacare share the same vision as bidorbuy - to create a virtual business environment within the Internet market." Comments Nitzan Tal, Managing Director, bidorbuy
Professor Pinky Sareli is the man with the vision who initiated this world first event. Professor Sareli, a cardiologist by profession, is a highly integral component in the success of bid or buy. "When we initially created the company we based our strategy on three models these being; consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and then lastly business to business. With this auction we are providing a perfect platform for our business-to-business clients to conduct business in a controlled environment and achieve immediate results. Considering that we (bidorbuy) write all our own software we are able to create an environment for clients to conduct business in a simple and easy way. Our vision is to breakdown all preconceived ideas about trading on the Internet educate and train businesses to utilise the immense benefits of using our auction site to conduct business. We are trying to create a user friendly environment where people or businesses are not afraid of using the Internet to conduct business" says Professor Sareli.
The next logical question on having an auction like this with pharmaceutical products is, how will this e-trading affect the sales people which are employed by the company? Sareli explains, "We are in no way wanting to replace the traditional sales people. This e-trading only serves to compliment the function of these people and together create an even stronger sales force which will naturally be beneficial to the company concerned,"
"Aspen Pharmacare wants to create aggressive growth within the pharmaceutical industry through flexible entrepreneurial individuals. With bidorbuy we are able to live out this philosophy by expanding our client base and moving forward by providing our clients with an amazing benefit of buying our products on line" says Lotter.
"With the immense success of this event, our next project to tackle will be to create a closed trading environment for this company who will then be able to utilise our services on a more permanent basis. Our aim is to create unique and successful environments within which our client can trade. Given our successes in the past we feel that this is a highly achievable goal and one which we believe many, if not all businesses, should consider using to further increase their bottom line." Concludes Nitzan Tal.
Lending his support to this particular event was none other than Jeremy Maggs well known host of Who Wants To Be A Milllionaire. When asked what his impressions were of the auction Jeremy said," I think that this is an amazing and brave initiative from both companies involved and it will hopefully encourage other companies to undertake more business through e-commerce."
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