Mercateo: multifunctional procurement platform for business customers

Mercateo is derived from the Latin Mercator, merchant. This is how Sebastian Wieser, founder and Director of IT and Business Development at Mercateo, views his business:

"We are a trading company - in the classical sense of the word. We procure goods and then sell them on. The minor difference is that the business is conducted online and Mercateo processes its entire B2B trading using a web-based software. This enables the procurement processes of companies to be seamlessly integrated in the online marketplace." (Sebastian Wieser)

Wieser, who has a PhD in physics and is a former McKinsey consultant, has been operating his procurement platform on the internet since January 2000.

The range

At www.mercateo.ie and www.mercateo.com purchasers can find an extensive range in various product categories. The assortment ranges from office supplies to laboratory materials, IT and tools to hotel and gastronomy equipment. Photocopying paper is included in the catalogue of goods as well as welding goggles, clothes hangers and wound dressings or biscuits for the conference room. Mercateo specialises in the procurement of non-strategic items. These are products that are ordered rarely or only once, such as a parking space barrier for the director.

The procurement platform

Procurement via Mercateo results in significant process advantages for companies:

"At Mercateo customers can cover their entire business equipping requirements via one trader. One platform, one invoice, one contact. We know our manufacturers and suppliers, because we interact with them on a daily basis - just as we do with our customers. In doing so, we are able to provide the optimal shopping basket with the best price-performance ratio for all parties involved." (Peter Ledermann)

Peter Ledermann, Director of Human Resources and Finance, summarises the benefits of Mercateo. A key problem is solved for business customers, because the purchasing of B and C items normally results in companies incurring disproportionately high procurement costs. The large number of suppliers and the high proportion of individual orders mean that unreasonably high process costs are generated in comparison to the purchase price when standard procurement channels are used. However, with over 7.3 million items from some 500 contract suppliers in Germany alone, Mercateo combines an enormous product range on one procurement platform.

This makes Mercateo the sole contact for the customer in all matters concerning ordering, complaints and returns.