A new alliance between UPS and e-commerce technology company Inxeption aims to make it simpler for B2B merchants to set up, sell and ship products online.
The two companies announced a platform integration this week called Inxeption Zippy that assists businesses in marketing and distributing their products on multiple online channels from one secure location.
Inxeption’s e-commerce platform and online product catalog allows manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers to set up a company-branded online site for e-commerce transactions. Inxeption’s platform uses blockchain-backed technology to ensure sensitive information such as contract-specific pricing and negotiated rates are only shared between the buyer and seller.
In the new arrangement, the integration of UPS as the shipper of choice creates a seamless, end-to-end experience so sellers can view their entire supply chain, from product listing to delivery. Participating merchants can now receive competitive UPS global shipping, tracking and logistics services with a range of sales and supply chain management capabilities.
These include building a web page and uploading product information, scheduling orders and shipments, monitoring returns, managing purchase orders and multimodal shipments. Companies in the program can also process transactions by credit card or financing, conduct search engine marketing and review sales and marketing analytics.
“The growth of e-commerce is driving B2B buyers to expect the same fast and convenient shopping experiences that consumers enjoy,” Kevin Warren, chief marketing officer for UPS, said. “Working with Inxeption is another way we’re creating innovative solutions that helps small businesses deliver quality service for their customers and succeed in e-commerce.”
UPS noted that Forrester research projects the B2B e-commerce market to reach $1.8 trillion by 2023, but said B2B merchants have been slow to adopt online commerce, with most B2B products still sold through direct sales or third-party distribution.
By integrating advanced technology with global logistics, UPS and Inxeption said they are turning more B2B merchants into digital sellers and equipping them to drive online sales. At the same time, their customers will be able to order and receive products more efficiently.
“This relationship creates simplified pricing solutions for B2B merchants with limited digital marketing and IT resources to easily manage all aspects of selling and shipping from one secure place,” Farzad Dibachi, CEO of Inxeption, said.