Mondus fires up online trading market

An online trading exchange which will generate business for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for a nominal fee and commission has been launched in the UK.

An online trading exchange which will generate business for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for a nominal fee and commission has been launched in the UK.

Mondus.co.uk will post tenders for kit to registered resellers. Dealers will pay £1 for each bid they submit and between 0.5 and 5 per cent commission, depending on the product, to Mondus if they close the sale.

Resellers register free and are vetted to ensure their credibility. Bidders will also rate suppliers on certain criteria, including service support and delivery times. Their reviews will be posted online for prospective customers to read.

Rouzbeh Pirouz, European chief executive of Mondus, said the exchange would help resellers cut down on the time they spend generating leads. It will also lessen the need for resellers to advertise and spend money setting up their own ecommerce sites.

"SMEs are being left behind by the web revolution, yet ironically they are ideally positioned to benefit from it. Mondus provides a unique service with the potential to assist SMEs in their bid to develop an online business and streamline their purchasing process.

"Without investment in website development and advertising, suppliers can reach a greater audience and purchasers can quickly obtain the right services and products for a lower cost," he said.

Pirouz added that the site had received 50 purchase requests in the two weeks following its launch, with the biggest quote being for GBP1.8 million.

He said while mondus.co.uk will not discourage big resellers and vendors from registering on the site, it is unlikely they will tender as the orders are generally smaller than they are used to handling. Pirouz added that vendors had indicated to Mondus that they were happy leaving the provision of equipment to resellers.