COVESTRO
New digital sales platform opens / PC and isocyanates in focus
 Covestro's online shop offers around 80 chemical products (Image: Covestro) |
German engineering plastics producer Covestro (Leverkusen; www.covestro.com) has launched a new business-to-business (B2B) digital sales channel under the name "Covestro Direct Store". On the platform hosted by the company’s wholly owned Asellion subsidiary (Amsterdam / The Netherlands; www.asellion.com), customers initially will be able to order around 80 products, including polycarbonate (“Makrolon”), the isocyanates MDI, TDI and precursors (“Desmodur”) and the aqueous polymer dispersions sold under the name “Dispercoll”.
The platform is currently in a test and development phase, with Covestro the only supplier currently on it. The plan is to open it to external suppliers over the course of 2019. The engineering plastics producer said the platform technology is designed as a scalable and secure software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, so that in future third parties will, as far as possible, have the option to host their own direct store.
“Nowadays, customers expect to have flexible ways to obtain the widest possible range of products and supplementary services through different channels,” said CEO Markus Steilemann. Customers will receive regular personalised offers at “clear real-time conditions” and will be able to purchase and review all relevant information.
Thorsten Lampe, managing director of Asellion, said Covestro’s sales staff will also benefit from an additional, personalised digital doorway to customers. “Purchasing products in the chemical industry can be a long process,” he said. On the new digital sales channel, however, buyers and sellers “don’t need to worry about the negotiation, as this is all done within the platform. Instead, they can make better use of personal interaction and build a sustainable business connection.”
In 2018, Covestro opened a flagship store on the https://covestrochina.1688.com digital platform of Chinese internet giant Alibaba (Hangzhou, Zhejiang; www.alibabagroup.com), the biggest online B2B marketplace in the People’s Republic – see Plasteurope.com of 02.05.2018. The company said its initial product range would include precursors for polyurethane foams as well coatings and adhesives with the offering tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized customers.
The platform is currently in a test and development phase, with Covestro the only supplier currently on it. The plan is to open it to external suppliers over the course of 2019. The engineering plastics producer said the platform technology is designed as a scalable and secure software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, so that in future third parties will, as far as possible, have the option to host their own direct store.
“Nowadays, customers expect to have flexible ways to obtain the widest possible range of products and supplementary services through different channels,” said CEO Markus Steilemann. Customers will receive regular personalised offers at “clear real-time conditions” and will be able to purchase and review all relevant information.
Thorsten Lampe, managing director of Asellion, said Covestro’s sales staff will also benefit from an additional, personalised digital doorway to customers. “Purchasing products in the chemical industry can be a long process,” he said. On the new digital sales channel, however, buyers and sellers “don’t need to worry about the negotiation, as this is all done within the platform. Instead, they can make better use of personal interaction and build a sustainable business connection.”
In 2018, Covestro opened a flagship store on the https://covestrochina.1688.com digital platform of Chinese internet giant Alibaba (Hangzhou, Zhejiang; www.alibabagroup.com), the biggest online B2B marketplace in the People’s Republic – see Plasteurope.com of 02.05.2018. The company said its initial product range would include precursors for polyurethane foams as well coatings and adhesives with the offering tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized customers.
02.04.2019 Plasteurope.com [242025-0]
Published on 02.04.2019
German version of this article...