Our primary business model at this time is the online superstore for business, with the first focus on office supplies and equipment. However, the business model could be considered several-fold, that is, there are several potential opportunities for revenue streams. We are planning to partially "morph" into an eProcurement services company to make the most use of our software and database. But we will continue to operate the superstore to maximize return on our product database.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, InterAmericas is an equity partner. Microsoft has developed the software.
These different aspects of our business model, discussed below, are:
1. Online superstore of business products
2. eProcurement focus - direct buyer-to-supplier marketplaces
3. Software licensing of our software solution
4. Licensing access to our e-commerce enabled product database
 1. Superstore of business products |
We are building an online superstore of business products. The product categories include:
Computers and computer supplies*
Office equipment and office supplies*
Tools and industrial equipment
Hardware and industrial appliances
We feature products from suppliers in:
Guatemala
USA
In the future we will include products from other countries
*Our first major marketing effort is focused on banks and other large users of office supplies and office equipment.
Our presentation of these products includes photographs, complete descriptions, prices in local currency and related information. In the case of Central American suppliers, we are not able to find all this information from the suppliers, so we must take what information they have and add/merge it with information from manufacturers, distributors and online and printed catalogs. This is a lot of work, but the good news is that this effort is a huge amount of work and takes so much time, that it will present a large barrier to entry by others. We will also design, print and distribute a buyer's catalog/magazine based on our web site.
In each case, we have pre-negotiated wholesale discounts from these suppliers. In this way, we act as a distributor selling through our superstore web site.
Our USA suppliers include United Stationers, Grainger, Orgill and others.
Our selling proposition includes:
Find, select and buy online from a wide selection of products
Receive one invoice for a variety of products; this saves paperwork and, we provide a local and legally-recognized invoice (factura)
We accept payment for whatever items are purchased
We arrange the shipping; whatever you buy is delivered to your door
The price shown on the web page includes all taxes, duty, fees; the buyer does not have to handle anything related to importing from foreign suppliers
Auction capability, will be activated by the end of January, 2001
Up-selling is functional now, and cross-selling will be activated by the end of January, 2001.
Full cross-catalog parametric searching and product comparisons will be activated by the end of January, 2001
Basic eProcurement features included
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Connect directly to their suppliers privately; that is, the supplier can be seen only by that one buyer. Online catalogs can be maintained by the supplier, or enabled from the buyers' side.
Fully connect to the supplier both to view products and to submit purchase orders electronically.
Communicate via EDI, XML, fax - fully flexible according to supplier system requirements
Create their own private marketplaces, either as a buyer, or, as a seller. These can be privately branded. Example might be a head office of a paint distributor which has a marketplace from which the hundreds of franchised stores can log on and place orders.
Operate in a "one-to-many" or a "many-to-many" or a "many-to-one-to-many" environment/model.
| 3. Licensing of our CompraSoft Software |
In association and under contract with Microsoft Corporation, we have developed a full and rich e-marketplace software solution. We decided on a custom solution after researching the software that was available, and considering the high price ($750,000 and up) of buying a system that would work for us in Latin America.
Our software solution is 100% Microsoft, 3 Tier, WindowsvDNA, CommerceServer2000 and is fully documented by Microsoft. Features include:
· Multiple currencies
· Multiple languages
· Web Ready Database design, on SQL
· Billing in one currency and on one invoice even if there are multiple suppliers in different currencies
· Multiple tax rates and import duties on products from out-of-country suppliers, per invoice
· Automatic calculation of logistics/shipping charges and fees both from USA to Latin America and between Latin American countries
· Simultaneous support for EAN, UN/SPSC, SKU and other identification and categorization schemas and identification numbers.
| 4. Licensing Access to our Database |
We are building a two-step database schema that results in a fully normalized, consistent and expanded categorized database ready to publish on the web.
This database is extremely valuable because the suppliers in Central America do not have this information about their products readily available. However, we have assembled this information from information given to us by the supplier and supplemented it with other information from various sources.
Over time, we will have a very large products database, in Spanish, with all the relevant product data. Local and USA suppliers are included, and for many products there are multiple suppliers per product. Our software searches for the best price from each supplier according to availability.
This product database will be extremely useful and valuable to any e-marketplace or anyone in the e-procurement business because we will have the products already in the database, ready to use.
We will also have pricing data, tiered discount data and supplier data. In many cases, depending on the supplier, our system communicates directly with the supplier's system regarding inventory updates, product availability, submission of purchase orders and order acknowledgement. We are fully compatible with XML and EDI.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
CompraDirect.com, Inc.
Guatemala, Central America |
