The exchange-integration project is under way and will be completed quickly, a GM spokesman says. The integrated exchange will offer all the services available on the Ford and GM marketplaces, and may be expanded to other industries. When it comes to the Internet, partnerships that were once thought to be unthinkable are not only doable, but expected. Com and Gofresh Inc. disclosed plans to add service-oriented functions. Chemdex also restructured with the goal of creating even more online exchanges.
Nobody wants to be left out.
Ariba last week said Kraft Foods North America has signed on to use its B2B eCommerce exchange for procurement of nonproduction goods. E-marketplaces cut costs for business buyers through increased choice and price competition, while giving sellers a new and potentially lucrative channel for unloading inventory. But there's a growing consensus that E-marketplaces need to do more than simply bring buyers and sellers together. The way to do that is adding services. Lief expects marketplace operators to increasingly offer services such as automated real-time credit, connections to shipping and logistics providers, and integration with enterprise resource management and inventory systems.