E business Assignment

Dolly Parikh
Roll No: 418
MBA(Tech) Telecom
Mumbai Campus
2/8/2010
 Table of Contents

1. About the Portal 3

2. Business Model 4

3. Revenue Model 5

4. Customer Proposition 6

5. Market Place and Stratergies 6

6. Competitors 7

7. Competitive Advantage 7

8. Conclusion 8

9. Appendix 9

10. References 10

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 About the Portal

efoodcommerce.com is the first innovative broad online business-to-business food bazaar

where small, mid-size and large businesses place their product needs out for bid and receive
quotes from experienced vendors. Moreover the portal provides an inexpensive, friendly
24x7 hour service to its customers. efoodcommerce.com also offers a few exceptional free
services to all its associates.

The site has started up with more than 150 food categories, which covers the entire food trade
sector, counting cultural foods, supplies and other groups vital to the business. This service is
complimentary to buyers, while sellers have to pay to submit bids. It has given sufficient
amount of liberty to consumers to request quotes for all products anywhere across the globe,
immediately on a tick without any cost.

It permits the food Warehouses and Transporters to seek clients from all over, for a
insignificant price of listing. It helps the food industry to execute the excess of food and make
it cheaper for those people who require it.

The site provides extensive information about news bulletin, online stock indexes, food
commerce information, and records on all food events plus links to all food industry
associations and publications. The portal does not necessitate any credit card details nor does
it get in the way of the buyer and seller, once the match is made and it has conviction that the
sellers will pay the commission once the deal is completed.

This distinct B2B food commerce portal was started in, New Jersey (USA) by Him InfoTech
Inc, and it is a supplementary of Himalya International Ltd. HIL which was founded in 1979,
At that time it had started as a minute joint project between Mr.Manmohan Malik (Chairman
and CEO) and Mr. Sanjiv Kakkar (Managing Director and COO). The company is listed on
all foremost stock exchanges of India. This publicly held corporation has above 12000
shareholders and US $12 million of market capitalization. It is the main manufacturer of
vegetables and processed mushrooms in India with more than 300 workers.

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 Business Model

A transaction commences when the customer starts up by filling a Quote Request online. The
buyer first registers and logs on to the site and then selects a class/category for which he
wants a quote (For e.g. a coffee buyer will start by clicking on chief category of Beverages)
then the buyer has to go through a course of researched questions to perfectly decide on their
requirements. Once this is completed, the buyer submits the form and the portal sends it out
to sellers that offer the products that are called for.

The seller responds to the buyers Quote Request by filling a Quote submission form, which is
found on the seller's account page. As in hand there is only a restricted figure of Quote slots
accessible the sellers must constantly react to a Quote Request as fast as possible. (As shown
in figure1) A minimal fee is charged for each Quote that is submitted. The buyers are able to
inspect their Quotes independently by making use of the Quote Comparison Chart; that
allows them to view the Quotes in an objective and suitable side-by-side system.

Only if a buyer wishes contact and has given consent for their contact details to be released,
the vendor is informed by way of phone or e-mail and both parties seal the deal off-line.

On the website, the buyers explain their purchase requests clearly by submitting a thorough
application. The site’s filtering equipment matches the detailed requirements of the purchaser
with the dealer eligible to meet those needs. Sellers propose offers online to the buyers. All of
the vendor’s bids are inspected by the buyers; both independently and in a comparison table
alongside and they choose one that meets their purchasing criteria the best. (shown in
figure2)

Notably, buyers are supplied an essential privacy level not offered by most online mediators.
Client details are known to the chosen vendors subsequent to the buyer requests. The
capability to supply numerous sellers at the same time and supply the client with the most
spirited bid within a small number of hours significantly basifies the way businesses purchase
goods. Their extent of offerings and simplicity makes it a must-stop destination for food
buyers.

The Surplus Network offers position to sell and buy excess in a secure, protected and
concealed manner. A simple to use complimentary and speedy way to discover a storage
space in any state of USA is the Warehouse network. The Transportation Network gives a
complete list of transporters free of cost.

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 Revenue Model

The website is free of cost to register. It is also complimentary for buyers to make Quote
Requests. Sellers are charged only when they respond to a Quote Request i.e. submit a Quote.
The only two fees are Quote and Commission fees.

The Sellers are charged for their service through a mixture of commission and quote fees,
though Sellers can appraise, accept, and observe Quote Requests at no cost. Commission
charged is 1.5% of the value of deal. Sellers are charged a minute quote fee to uphold the
honesty of every quote and verify the sincerity. For each Quote submitted, a minimal fee of
$5.00 is charged whereas the commission is compensated only after the deal is done.

To submit a Quote as it is an online marketplace sellers are charged a fee, which provides
sellers with a low-cost have a possibility to develop their trades, and enter skilled sales. As
soon as a vendor submits a Quote online, it is sent straight to an interested Buyer. One or
more of the subsequent Buyer events are reflected in the Seller's Account Summary box:
• shopper has studied the Quote
• shopper has requested to make contact with you
• shopper has requested contact from a different company
• shopper has removed Quote

The Seller pays for quote fees in the following manner:

• The initial time a Seller proposes a Quote, they will fill out a billing agreement
• The portal stores these details so that every time a quote is submitted by a seller, a 4-
digit password is required and then the 'Submit' button has to be pressed
• The site bills the Seller at the end of the month for the Quotes they have submitted
• When a Seller and a Buyer make contact, there is no extra fee levied

Commission fee is charged in all groups, whenever the customers close a transaction. The
selling activity page for each type shows these details. Commission fees are put up at a rate of
1.5% for all categories except surplus food where it is 3%. The sellers are charged these fees
as this allows the site to keep their quote costs low while abiding to provide sellers and
buyers their valued service. Various Sellers favor a commission charge, as it is mandatory to
pay a "win" cost when they enter into trade with the Buyer.

There are no refunds for either commission fees or Quote submissions. At

efoodcommerce.com, sellers have to pay a quote fee for the opportunity to land precious new
customers at an appreciably lower cost than they would by using conventional methods such
as advertising in the yellow pages or telemarketing.

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 Customer Proposition

This B2B portal gives multiple buyers on the spot contacts to multiple sellers; the
acquisition process is not only speeding up, but professional as well. The site’s
marketplace is deliberate to make the purchasing process faster and more efficient.
Briefly, they recommend the buyer superior collection and the seller prolonged sales
capabilities-radically dipping the quantity of time, capital, and resources involved in
either trying to make a buy or trying to promote products to possible clients. By giving,
multiple buyers immediate access multiple sellers; buying decisions can be done with
only one mouse click which once would have taken days, weeks, or even months.

Market Place and Strategies

• Surplus Market
• Warehousing
• Transporters

Strategies:

1. The company recognizes the significance and intricacies of world food trade and
knows that food is “the most important thing” after air and water and so does not
believe in combining a business like food with anything else
2. The buyers who are its prime customers and if happy they will repeatedly visit again,
for them the use is free and there are no hidden costs or commissions
3. It trusts the IT industry ‘s main role in eliminating costs and time inefficiencies which
helps them to make deals match all over the globe

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 Competitors

• www.just-food.com
• www.frozenb2b.com
• www.foodstradeholding.com

Competitive Advantage

1. Fast and reliable

It just takes three simple steps to complete a transaction. With this, the sellers cut their sales
cost into half and the buyers can get multiple quotes and close the deal free of charge.

2. Buyer Advantage
• Buyer is entitled to get quotes from a big group of experienced and practiced sellers
• He has access to a huge inventory
• No cost to buyers
• They get finest quotes from domestic and overseas suppliers

3. Easy to use
• Effortless registration
• Live email notices
• Receiving and reviewing request quotes online
• Send your quote for products on line

4. Seller Advantage
• Increased spotlight to buyers resulting in better sales realization
• Hit fresh markets
• Reducing the cost of getting new clients
• Getting export market with no additional cost
• Low fee and commission

5. Range of Foods
The portal covers an extensive range of foods from fresh, chilled, canned and frozen. It is not
restricted to a particular segment of food. The variety ranges from sea foods, dairy products,
jams and jellies and soups amongst many.

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 Conclusion

This assignment helped me understand the B2B e commerce model and it functioning.
I was able to understand its advantages and business strategies. It is a grand platform for
worldwide buyers and sellers to interact for something as basic as food.

New technology like e business has eliminated geographical barriers and restrictions to
locations. It has reduced time and cost factor considerably with increasing customer
satisfaction.

The web portal efoodcommerce makes use of the above factors and has developed a massive
customer base. It helps the food industry to liquidate the surplus and makes food cheaper to
people who are in need of it.

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Appendix

Figure 1

Figure 2

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 References

• www.efoodcommerce.com
• www.google.com
• www.wikepedia.com

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