Word: smalling
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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Speedy procurement is just part of the appeal. There are other cost advantages. Because it's expensive to establish contact with small-business customers, vendors are willing to cover all the transaction costs. And letting vendors battle in cyberspace drives the price down for the buyer. At cyberspace auctions, vendors know they have competitors and make every attempt to offer the best price. Auction sites are placing an increasingly high priority on prequalifying vendors, screening out sketchy suppliers and creating an important safety net for small businesses. "Knowing vendors are qualified can save a lot of time and money," says...
Buyers and large vendors aren't the only firms tapping these exchanges; small-business sellers also recognize the benefits. For 15 years, Gordon Clotworthy's company, the Information Refinery, based in Mahwah, N.J., has sold marketing lists to small businesses in the Northeast, finding customers through costly direct mailings and trade-magazine ads. Earlier this year, Clotworthy discovered Onvia, a Seattle-based small-business exchange with more than 60,000 suppliers across 117 services. He signed up with Onvia, and receives one to 10 requests for lists a day and contracts at least once a week to businesses around...
While both small-business buyers and sellers seem to be profiting, it's not yet clear that the auction sites will stay in the black. For some products and services, like computer equipment and brochure printing, the margins are small, leaving little room for exchanges to profit. And then there's always the possibility that, like the big automakers, small businesses in the same field could band together and establish their own exchanges, relying less on the dotcoms. It's unlikely this will happen anytime soon, according to Melissa Shore, a senior analyst at Jupiter Research. "The reason proprietary exchanges...
There's no question the opportunities are there. Today there are more than 7.4 million small businesses in the U.S., and roughly 62% have a presence online. Most small businesses use the Internet only for e-mail, and a mere fraction have discovered online auctions. Business is expected to boom. Small businesses will account for approximately $118 billion in e-commerce in 2002, up from roughly $25 billion in 1999, according to AMI-Partners, a New York City-based Internet research firm specializing in small businesses...
Given that potential market and the fact that major business-procurement companies like Ariba and Commerce One have largely shunned the small-business market, it's no wonder that dozens of companies are vying for small-business dollars. Among these companies are EqualFooting, which helps small businesses get good deals on manufacturing supplies and equipment; SmallBusinessDepot, which specializes in matching small businesses with government contracts; and ebDirect, where small businesses can procure a variety of insurance plans, including health, dental, life and vision coverage...