Customers latch onto benefits of INTTRA e-commerce platform

IN ITS three years operating in Johannesburg, INTTRA – the world’s largest multicarrier e-commerce platform – has built up a large stable of shippers who have been convinced of the advantages of having a single connection to ocean shipping e-business worldwide, according to sales director Lee Schoeman. “But,” he told FTW, “as often happens with new things, some companies and/ or people are reluctant to adopt new technology, such as e-commerce.” According to his thinking, these late adopters have lost, and continue to lose, strategic advantage to the early adopters of INTTRA’s platform and network of ocean carriers. “The ultimate benefit to customers is found in the reduction of time and the cost savings involved in conducting business with multiple carriers through a single connection,” Schoeman said. “Users enjoy a faster, streamlined document flow with increased data accuracy, visibility to shipments, and improved collaboration with trading partners.” And it’s no longer a question of whether ocean e-commerce will be adopted, but rather how quickly, he added. INTTRA was established in 2000 by major carriers, Maersk Line, MSC, CMA CGM, Hamburg Süd, and Hapag-Lloyd, and now numbers over 20 ocean carriers – including Safmarine as another provider of core Africa services. “15% of global container shipments are initiated via the INTTRA platform,” said Schoeman, “or more than 260 000 container shipments per week. " He also notes that there has been a recent increase in the number of customers upgrading their bandwidth. “So,” he said, “we anticipate that there will be an increase in use of our online solution – INTTRA ACT – for web-based bills of lading. This is added to the platform’s desktop shipping instruction and desktop booking. “For the foreseeable future INTTRA desktop will remain our primary service offering in SA,” Schoeman said, “purely because of its offline functionality. “Using this enables shippers to create shipping documents offline and then send them to carriers via e-mail or web services. There is a standard process to use, create and edit templates, and information can be archived and easily accessed.”