CosmoONE presents two new innovative B2B e-commerce solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Thessaloniki, 08 September 2003

CosmoONE in continuing its efforts to familiarise small and medium-sized enterprises with the benefits of electronic inter-company trade, introduces two innovative services, b2bSmartBuy and b2bCollaborate. These new services aim to assist small and medium sized companies become active in the field of B2B e-commerce and are designed on the basis of their needs and size.

b2bSmartBuy service provides company details in the Electronic Market Catalogue of cosmoONE, the ability to search for a Business Partner in the Catalogue using criteria such as company category, company name, county, city, etc., as well as the option to electronically purchase at preferential prices with selected suppliers goods for daily use (such as office supplies and consumables, office furniture, PC, business gifts, etc.). The e-shopping procedure allows for:
1. Multiple criteria search for products from a list of selected products offered by associated suppliers.
2. The comparison between same or similar products.
3. Electronic ordering directly to the supplier.
4. Tracking performance of the order by the supplier.
5. The ability to change or cancel the order.
6. Analytical reporting on purchases.
b2bCollaborate service offers all the privileges of the service b2bSmartBuy plus interactive communication with Business Partners of the Electronic Market coupled with the ability to request and receive additional information or an offer (RFI, RFQ). This contact can take place either with each company separately, or with all companies simultaneously.
The Shopping List presents existing members of the Electronic Market (Buyers and Suppliers), participants and organizers of electronic auctions and companies from Greece and abroad wishing to source business partners and conclude business deals.

Both these new services will become part composition services in conjunction with the Online Auctions and the Digital Content Services, proposed by cosmoONE to be included in the "Electronic Business" under the 3rd Community Support Framework.

The General Director of cosmoONE Mr Thanassis Petmezas explains that: "The search for business partners or products and services is a key operation element for all enterprises. In the market there are currently several services and resources to facilitate such a search. What is missing however is the ability for direct commercial communication. Users of the new services b2bSmartBuy and b2bCollaborate enter a community in which members commercially exchange on a daily basis. Any form of search is dynamic and immediate and the information is timely not static or obsolete. Small and medium-sized companies benefits are twofold, since they increase their chances for partnerships with large purchasing organizations and they can purchase their everyday supplies at minimum operating costs and preferential rates. b2bSmartBuy service has been trial offered in the market since early June with the B2B X-tra Value package supplied by INFOTE also including services of the companies INFOTE and OTENET. Results are very satisfactory, which highlights the acceptance of solutions that reduce cost and increase efficiency. Another fact which marks the acceptance of such solutions is the significant increase in the volume of transactions performed through electronic market and electronic auctions for the first half of 2003 compared with the corresponding time period in 2002. More specifically, the volume of transactions in the electronic market for the period 1/1/2003 to 30 / 06/2003 exceeded 130 million euros, a 30% increase compared with the corresponding period of 2002. The increase in the number of electronic auctions over the first half of 2002 is about 80%, which shows the growing interest of the business world for the benefits arising from this form of business negotiations.".

For more information about these new services, as well as for all cosmoONE services, please visit the new site applications and services of cosmoONE, at the address: www.marketsite.gr