CommerceInc,
a privately held B-to-B e-commerce company, established partnerships with
Dun & Bradstreet and McGraw-Hill to build online business communities that
will encourage companies to
start or increase e-commerce operations.
CommerceInc said that it has already built in excess of 11 million
company profile pages that include detailed information about their address,
CEO, products, services and territories.
Each profile has a unique URL and links to corporate Web sites, catalogs and
other information critical to making e-commerce decisions, including D&B’s
full U.S. marketing file and credit reports. The application was designed
to import and present mass quantities of small business data including
information from national trade associations, dealer/distributor /franchise
lists, newsclipping and wire service archives such as PR News.
Participating businesses can enhance their potential to attract other e-
commerce partners by submitting or adding to a business profile, the company
said. To ensure the integrity of the information all participating businesses
must have completed the process of becoming D&B listed.
The profiles are categorized by industry in a way similar to CommerceInc’s
ConstructionNet (a site devoted to the construction industry) and each day
updated business profiles are submitted to all of the major search engines.
“Although annual business to business commerce comprises $4 trillion and 62
billion paper based transactions, one of the limitations of Web-based commerce
has been the uncertainty of knowing who you are dealing with over electronic
distances,” said CommerceInc CEO and founder Alan Murray. “Our goal is to
remove barriers, by providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date
information on potential e-commerce partners. . . ”
CommerceInc said it is producing private-label directories branded with portal
partners and searchable by numerous variables. Media/portal partners include
McGraw-Hill, Hanley Woods, Dame Media and corporate partners such as Home
Depot.
CommerceInc has produced private label business-to-business directories for
McGraw-Hill at www.fwdodge.com, www.construction.com and www.enr.com.
“We are providing Internet users a business tool that they can use on a daily
basis,” said Steve Fan, vice president online services, McGraw-Hill
Construction Information Group. “Internet users can easily locate construction
professionals in their area, inquire about specific services and even view a
detailed map of where the firm is located. With the D&B information, we are
providing a way for potential clients and business to business e-commerce
customers to make certain they are dealing with reliable companies”
To provide more extensive data on businesses, CommerceInc’s media and portal
partners distribute coupons for free Web sites to their business customers.
Designed to appeal to small businesses building their first Web site,
CommerceInc’s free professional Web sites guide a business owner through the
set-up process in 30 minutes. The resulting product nevertheless has a
professional look.
In August, CommerceInc launched a 10-plus million piece direct marketing
campaign offering to build and host business-to-business Web sites in
conjunction with American Express, AT&T WorldNet, CNA Insurance, LDDS WorldCom
and Microsoft. Dun & Bradstreet supported the effort by marketing an offer of
free CommerceInc Web sites during the course of its data maintenance
collection efforts.
product .”
