Mercantec: The Market (Part 5 of 8)
Market Assessment & Competition
Mercantec generally competes in the market for electronic business-related
software applications and services, one of the fastest-growing segments
of the software/services market and one that is expected to increase to
$104 billion in the year 2000. Mercantec is also capitalizing on the rise
of the SOHO market, which some forecast to grow at the rate of 11% per
year. Currently the SOHO market generates around $7 billion in revenues
per year.
Mercantec provides the technology needed to present purchase options to
potential buyers and complete the transaction. The company's products and
services thus support both online shopping and online buying. While there
are more than 500 providers with offerings that are functionally similar
in one form or another to those provided by Mercantec, the company has
few peers in the small- to mid-sized market and channel.
At the high end, this would include very comprehensive commerce solution
providers such as Broadvision and possibly Ariba. Broadvision currently
utilizes customizable marketing software to construct B2B or B2C web
sites that align with buyer needs and desires. By continuing to build
new alliances with technology service companies, e.g., system integrators
and web developers, Broadvision has begun to position itself to offer
clients everything from Internet consulting to software implementation.
As for Ariba, at present it mainly provides clients with procurement
management software - an area that faces great competition from
traditional ERP software companies. The company also offers services
and tools to construct online marketplaces.
In the middle, one would find companies such as Open Market and
net.commerce. Open Market competes directly with Mercantec as it
offers software to manage Internet commerce transactions, build web
catalogs, develop online storefronts and publish content as well as
providing e-commerce and technology consulting services. In a slightly
different space, net.commerce sells document exchange software as an
alternative to EDI.
Another company that competes directly with Mercantec is Intershop.
Its ePages product provides e-commerce software for B2B and B2C web
site functionality, affiliate (indirect) selling and online storefront
and application hosting. Intershop also offers services to improve
operational efficiency.
Part 6 - Technology
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