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VendorView.com
Survey says… "VendorView.com"
After a non-bias survey, done by Survey Monkey (Feb.
2002, duration 1 month), found that reselling in the
imaging industry was often a hit or miss your margin dilemma,
VendorView started doing research on how to make finding
best-buys on imaging supplies and parts more efficient for the
reseller. By Jan. 1st of this year, VendorView came
out with a solution: VendorView.com.
Getting Started
They came up with the idea playing pool in late "99
early 2000. "We were in the reselling world and we were
trying to think of something that would make our jobs a lot
easier," said co-founders David Ouimette and Glenn
Mulhare. They had both been in the computer reselling industry
(parts, systems, peripherals, etc) about 13 years.
Ouimette and Mulhare first worked together at Management
Solutions Group, selling AS 400 IBM systems in the early 90’s.
This was in Stanford Connecticut. Then, they worked together
as resellers again at NWS, which was a VAR (Value Added
Reseller), for about 8-10 years. The company installed
networks, hard drives, printers, software, websites, etc. It
was an IT solutions group in the tri state, West Chester
County, NY area.
Needless to say, the two knew the difficulties of the
computer reselling industry. Buying and selling without the
Internet made reselling both more difficult and more
profitable. "In the early 90’s there was a tool that
resellers used. It was a dial up into the mainframe where
resellers would post their
inventory- like a mini Internet. We paid a lot of money a
month to use that service, like $500-$1000. But, it was the
only one out there. If you didn’t have that you didn’t
have business."
At the time, margins were greater then because of the time
it took to make a transaction and bargain shop over the phone.
People were not underselling each other like in today’s
e-commerce world. "Access to the internet makes it more
difficult for the reseller to make a profit." So, they
thought, "If we can get a computer to do what it took a
human all day to do (research), transactions will translate
into more cash for the reseller."
If they had to pick a role model it would be Lou Gerstner,
CEO and Chairman of IBM. "He was a great automator and
integrator. If you were not automated you wouldn’t survive
[the market]. He was able to see that back in the 80’s. He
revamped IBM from going out of business to being number one.
"We’re a wholehearted believer in automation,"
said Ouimette.
They wanted something that would automate their search for
products and their transaction capability. They introduced the
idea to web technologist Patricia Saenz. "Over dinner we
started talking about the market place. About the
inefficiencies, how it didn’t operate together. After a few
more meetings, we decided, hey, this is where the market is
heading. Let’s do a survey and find out if this is a good
idea."
Overwhelmingly, the results determined that resellers of
computer, copier, printer, supplies and parts would pay for a
service that brought vendors and resellers on the same page.
Dave, Glenn, and Patricia started researching the development
of a site that could do just that.
The Site
By the start of production, VendorView had a 6 person
research team developing a website specifically for resellers
looking for a particular product across a large niche-market
of vendors. Allowing users to search the site by product to
find prices and availability comparisons in a one-window
search, the site is the resellers’ tool Dave and Glenn
wished they had in Jan of 2000.
The site operates based on what the reseller is looking
for. For instance, a toner reseller might do an HP 4500
search. In a click, displayed are real time results of product
cost and availability from each vendor. Resellers can easily
determine where to get the most for their money in a fraction
of the time spent contacting each vendor individually.
"Margins have gone down because of the web. We are
using the web to give back to the reseller. So, they can make
an intelligent sales decision in a split second, allowing them
to make a considerable amount of money and give them an
advantage," said Ouimette.
Vender View also has a section that shows what the product
is currently being sold at retail by a few vendors that
cross-section the market. This "snapshot" gives
resellers the advantage of not only buying cheaper, but
underselling their competition as well. "We give them
prices from sources that they may never have thought of
[contacting]," stated the also Director of Operations,
Glenn Mulhare. "And you don’t have to remember all your
user names and passwords for each vendor’s site. Just type
in the one and the product and our site will search all your
sources."
What You Will Find
"Part Suppliers, Image Suppliers and Maintenance
companies will benefit from VendorView," said Mulhare.
Product lines include Computers & Peripherals, Computer
Parts & Accessories, Imaging Parts, Imaging Supplies,
Networking, Telecom, Refurbished/ Surplus Equipment &
Supplies, and Software. They have not tapped into the Empties
market yet, but if you are wholesaling them they "are
vendor neutral". In other words this will be a site the
industry builds on its own, much like ebay.
The site searches through the 8 product lines on four
levels. According to the website, they are categorized as
follows:
1) Tier 1 distributors such as Ingram Micro and Synnex;
2) Supplies and accessories distributors such as Azerty,
Daisytek and Supplies Network;
3) Wholesale Exchanges such as Computer Trading Post and
Vendorbase; and,
4) Auction sites such as ebay, retail sites such as Buy.com,
eCOST and Staples.
The user chooses whether to include all or just a few of
the search methods when the account is set up. It is easy to
change this information at any time.
Starting an Account
The website is very professional and user friendly,
including flash demos and an extensive FAQ section (Macromedia
Flash plug-in can be downloaded from the site and Explorer 4.5
or later is recommended).
Starting an account is similar to most sites (user name,
password etc.) except that you choose your market and the
vendors that you have an account with during the setup. After
entering all your info, VendorView will send you a welcome
e-mail with a code number to get started. Following this
initial sequence, users login as normal.
The free trial is an excellent way to get to know this
site. It last for 14 days and gives you the same services as a
paying user.
Businesses get corporate price breaks and multi-user
privileges. If your business only has one e-mail address this
will not be available to you because the user id is determined
by e-mail address and cannot be duplicated.
The site also has various levels of security measures. One
in which a user manager has sole privileges of company
information (like credit card numbers and balance) and the
user associates can only do searches and buy.
Pricing
14 day Trial: Free
Individual Account: $29.50/ month
Corporate Accounts:
1 to 4 (users)- $29.50 / month
5 to 10- $27.50/ month
11 to 24- $25.50/ month
25 to 49-$ 23.50/ month
50+ -$ 21.50/ month
These are introductory prices, look for prices to go up at
the end of the summer.
Becoming a Vendor
Users may recommend vendors that they would like to see on
VendorView.com by simply going to the "recommend a
vendor" section on the site. Your suggestions will arrive
in an email to VendorView and they will consider contacting
the vendor. "We always listen to… suggestions. We’re
listening, and we aim to meet and exceed what resellers
need," said Ouimette.
If you are a vendor that would like to join the VendorView
network, simply contact them at
corporate@vendorview.com.
Eligibility requirements of an electronic, web-based,
real-time inventory may eliminate some vendors. But those
serious about web-commerce will probably have such a system
setup already. The inventory database will be formatted into
an .xml file, which will convert any file into a neutral form
that VendorView will use on the site.
By the end of this year VendorView hopes to have 75-100
vendors to resource. Currently they search from the product
lines of 21 vendors. They also plan to provide a service that
works like a plug-in or a direct line into your computer. It
will automatically feed product information into a resellers’
system.
Existing Users
Some (about 200 so far) companies are already experiencing
the time saving effects of the site. Here’s what Sarah
Schefer, Marketing/Product Manager for TEI Imaging Solutions,
Inc (TEI-Imaging.com) had to say about the service in an email
to me: "VendorView has been a tremendous time-saver for
our purchasing & product management team. Before
VendorView, we would open multiple vendor web pages and have
to search each one for product availability and costs. The
VendorView interface is simple and easy to use and has made
sourcing products, reviewing costs and checking availability a
cinch."
VendorView
1 Lozza Dr.
Valhalla, NY 10595
1-800-492-VIEW
www.VendorView.com
corporate@vendorview.com
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