Foundation

90 World2000 Technological components of a marketplace A marketplace's functions therefore go well beyond merely putting supply and demand into contact. TheCitadon example, which enables its users to manage a construction project from start to finish, buying andselling (quotes, ordering, delivery), represents only a small portion of the services rendered. Creating andoperating a complex marketplace is thus becoming a particularly difficult and cash intensive endeavour.Marketplaces operated by players with divergent interestsThe first marketplace operators on the web were, on the whole, specialised start-ups (Commerce One, Ariba,Chemdex, VerticalNet, FreeMarkets...) or intermediaries who had forged themselves a place in product tradeor spot market management (e.g. Enron in the energy sector). A number of them have since gone public;following a much touted entry onto the market they have experienced great many ups and downs.2000 marked the entry of a new category of player: large buyers who have come together in their respectivesectors to create their own co-operative marketplaces in the goal of optimising the purchasing process and oftaking advantage of their enormous buying power to put pressure on prices. These initiatives generally takethe form of an independent joint venture managed by its founders.The emergence of co-operative marketplaces has not only diminished specialised operators' clout, it has alsofostered unease among a great many suppliers as well as competition monitoring bodies anxious to avoid thecreation of buyer cartels.Several co-operative initiatives were created by suppliers themselves, such as is the case with MetalSite,created by several American industry players.© IDATE www.idate.fr