PurchasePro unveils B2B wireless plan
The business-to-business marketplace builder debuts plans to enable marketplace users to conduct online transactions using wireless devices.
Through mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and pocket PCs, Las Vegas-based PurchasePro said it plans to build ways for its customers to do buy-side and sell-side wireless transactions, such as auctions and bidding, creation of purchase orders, notification of requisitions and instant messaging.
Currently in its testing phase, the new wireless applications will begin rolling out in the third quarter of 2000. During the fourth quarter, the company plans to roll out a similar strategy for PDAs and pocket PCs, the company said in a statement.
The company's new strategy is based on partnerships with America Online, IBM, Sprint, and Office Depot, which will be detailed in the coming months.
PurchasePro runs 155 e-marketplaces in a number of industries. The company also hosts a public exchange encompassing 21,000 businesses. The company says its marketplaces enable businesses to compete more efficiently by reducing procurement costs through streamlined transaction processes between suppliers and manufacturers.
"The technological advances in wireless communications significantly increase the need for mobile connectivity to e-marketplace solutions," PurchasePro's chief technology officer Michael Ford said in a statement. "PurchasePro.com intends to emerge as the platform-independent enabler of choice for wireless e-commerce applications."
By the first quarter of 2001, PurchasePro will also be adding new purchase order tools, an auction/bidding function, and customizable Web content offering stock quotes, news and other information.