That’s according to research firms ARC Advisory Group (www.arcweb.com) and The Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup.com).
“The packaging B2B market is still in its infancy,” says Dennis Daniels of ARC, which conducts e-procurement research.
There are many ambitious sites, says senior analyst Jon Derome with The Yankee Group. But in terms of actual transaction volume, there isn’t much going on.
According to Derome, part of the reason capital machinery is not being transacted online is because there are already established relationships in place. Buyers aren’t willing to shave off a couple of points of margin to go online to an auction or some kind of electronic environment that is not relationship-based, he says.
ARC’s Daniels: “Buyers of packaging machinery are inherently conservative. These companies are going to evaluate e-purchasing and adopt it slowly.”
Used machinery and parts, on the other hand, are moving online somewhat more quickly. “Value-added benefits can be easily integrated in this marketplace through a third party intermediary,” says Derome. Primarily, he says, non-negotiated, indirect materials, parts and catalog-type items are being bought online.
—E.F.
