e-Procurement: From Strategy to Implementation

Sell-Side One-to-Many: The Storefront Model or Shopping Mall

In order to begin to develop a company strategy for this fast-evolving marketplace, it is important to first understand the nuances of the leading models. They take several forms.

First, they have either a buy-side focus (designed predominantly to serve the needs of the buying organization) or a sell-side focus (sponsored by and most beneficial to suppliers). They are then divided according to whether they have a one-to-many focus or a many-to-many focus. For each of these combinations, there are then several variations in approach. To begin, let’s start with the most basic one-to-many model.

In the sell-side one-to-many model (shown in Figure 6.1), sellers create their own Internet ...