More local firms using e-commerce

More local firms using e-commerce

JAKARTA (JP): An increasing number of companies in the
chemical, agriculture, pulp and paper sectors are employing the
e-commerce platform to make procurements, bids and transactions,
said the president of B2B e-commerce facilitator BidNets.com.

Andrie Yapsir said on Thursday at least 400 companies from
Indonesia and other Asian countries, including Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand and Japan, had signed up for the company's
services since its launch in March this year.

"The demand for e-commerce services and facilities is so huge.
At BidNets, we have sees the total volume of transactions by
those companies grow to more than US$100 million," he said.

Andrie predicted the volume of transactions would reach about
$1 billion by the end of the year in line with expectations that
more companies will sign up for the company's services.

Companies have changed the way they use e-commerce because
they want to enhance their networks and boost transactions while
at the same time improving management efficiency, said J.
Kriswanto, president of Indosatcom, a business-to-business e-
commerce subsidiary of PT Indosat.

He said streamlining the business process could help companies
reduce their production costs by between 25 percent and 50
percent.

"At the end, the low operational costs will allow companies to
reduce their selling prices by between 4 percent and 20 percent,
making their products more competitive," he said.

Indosatcom and BidNets, which is a subsidiary of the widely
diversified Sinar Mas Group, entered into an agreement on
Thursday to utilize each other's e-commerce services and
facilities.

Under the agreement, suppliers and buyers currently registered
with BidNets will be able to process their on-line transactions
using Indosatcom's e-commerce portal www.dagang2000.com.

The portal, which was established early this year, currently
serves major local companies, including cosmetic manufacturers
Sari Ayu Martha Tilaar and Mustika Ratu, department store chain
Matahari Group, pharmaceutical company Kalbe Farma Group, Bank
Niaga and Bank Internasional Indonesia.

Kriswanto said his company and BidNets would initially share
the revenue from their collaboration.

He said there was a possibility the companies would form a
joint venture in the future to strengthen their position as an e-
commerce facilitator in the regional market. (cst)