Metropolis is following a phased approach to upgrading the user interfaces of its various vertical sites. Based on research by US partner VerticalNet, the initial redesign is aimed at ease of navigation, but the company plans to add a range of new functions soon.
Strategic development manager Angus Robinson says the strategy of very focused business-to-business communities is already paying off, citing multi-million rand industrial leads generated through the collection of sites.
"We are further up the supply chain than most people think," he says. "We find a lot of spot purchases are done, where a supplier drops out at the last minute."
No transactions are concluded over the Net yet and there are no immediate plans to establish payment gateways for these kinds of transactions. "We are in the business of generating business," Robinson says. Instead of forcing a full e-commerce cycle on users, the communities put buyers and sellers in contact with each other and lets nature take it course.
"This is not consumer sales," he says. "The purchasing cycle is longer and the sale is much more complex. There are a lot of behind the scenes stuff that goes on, and that is not done over the Net."
That is only an interim measure though. Much of the Metropolis business model relies on eventually taking a commission on sales made through its system. This phase is useful to build buyer confidence, the company says. Once that is established, users may find that they do not want to circumvent the system.
"With the right technology we can make it easier to transact online than off[line] Robinson says. "People will be incentivised to use it."
In June last year, Metropolis partnered with VerticalNet, an American company with much the same business model. The agreement put Metropolis $1 million out of pocket, but bought it the intellectual rights to the VerticalNet platform. Current communities are now being adapted to the VerticalNet model, and future additions will include a bookstore section and the sale of specialised training courses.
Future phases will include an online auction function for the targeted industry and, by 2001, the company hopes to have full e-commerce capability entrenched.
Another VerticalNet practice to be adopted will be more labour-intensive. VerticalNet uses human agents to communicate with users in real-time, currently in text, but with voice-over-IP being considered.
Robinson says the approach is costly, but forms part of the easy-to-use community model. Metropolis, however, will not do the same immediately. "It is not something we want to do as a gimmick," Robinson says. "When the need for it exists we will look at it."
After concluding a deal with Microsoft, VerticalNet also plans to offer personalisation and Web-based e-mail services to its users.
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