WeMENA Announces Plans To Launch Team Buying – A New Purchasing Lifeline For Business

WeMENA, the growing online wholesale marketplace for businesses, today announces a regional industry first – Team Buying. The site – which offers 1000s of wholesale products – is now helping SMEs to join forces and benefit from greater purchasing power and cost savings.

WeMENA Teams is another innovation from the UAE-based online wholesale goods platform, which could not only help smaller business survive the pandemic, but give them more purchasing power and increase margins.

It’s traditionally been the case that larger enterprises with greater buying power often purchase such great amounts of a product that they benefit from much lower unit pricing. But WeMENA’s new team buying concept means smaller enterprises will be able to join together via the platform to source and collectively buy bigger amounts of the products they need, taking full advantage of the economies of scale.

The timely new feature comes when many smaller businesses are struggling due to the pandemic.

Pali Banwait, co-founder, says: “WeMENA is working around the clock to try and help SMEs – which we all know form the backbone of UAE and regional business – to not just survive, but thrive. And we also know that this is a perfect time for smaller enterprises, operating in the same sector, to come together, combine their purchasing power, and take full advantage of the convenience of online sourcing, purchasing and supply. We are helping to level the playing field so companies based in the UAE (and potentially beyond) can now enjoy similar purchasing power to that of much larger multinationals.”

Banwait says the team buying concept has been something that has been part of the original plan, and an important part of the business case to achieve its aims of helping smaller businesses grow better.

“In the first few months of WeMENA it was about validating the idea that SME businesses would enjoy buying products and supplies on our platform and that we were adding value to both buyers and suppliers. Once that was confirmed we began working on the team buying add-on. It’s not quite ready yet, but we are opening up early invitations coupled with incentives to businesses who sign-up to the feature from now until its launch”.

The group buying concept has proven quite successful on several consumer focused e-commerce plays, especially in East Asia, but the WeMENA initiative is thought to be the first to apply it for an online B2B purchasing platform in the region.

“When you sign up for an account, you’ll be able to simply invite other potential business buyers into your WeMENA Team to join in on a purchase with you – triggering larger discounts due to the increase in purchase volume for a particular product” says Banwait.

Take advantage of the new team buying concept: https://teams.wemena.com

He cites electronics stores as an example – if a small group of let’s say five non-competing electronics stores join forces to buy gadgets, mobiles, accessories, for example, they will enjoy large discounts on products that can be delivered within a few days.

“An issue that is being amplified in the current pandemic is that of increased prices for essential products. So, now if the purchasing power of a community can be combined, it can help bring prices back into a normal and a more acceptable range,” adds Banwait.

The overall aim of the WeMENA platform is to make the B2B buying experience similar to that of a B2C platform which individuals are becoming more accustomed to. WeMENA believes many B2B buyers will start to expect a convenient purchasing experience similar to those offered by B2C e-commerce platforms.

WeMENA is a simple, straightforward gateway that brings bulk purchasers together with reliable, trustworthy manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers. Buyers include retailers, hospitality outlets, offices and the procurement departments of large organisations.

WeMENA provide sellers with hassle free access to new business customers, while providing them with a reliable payment solution, while handling all delivery logistics and post-delivery customer service issues. Smart AI driven trade credit facilities may also be on the horizon with the pilot testing of the feature successfully completed.

Recent additions to the site’s product lines include catering supplies, electronics and stationery.

These add to the list which currently comprises: Appliances, Arts & Crafts, Automotive, Baby & Kids, Bath, Beauty, Bedding, Cell Phones & Accessories, Cleaning Supplies, Clothing, Shoes & Jewellery, Computers, Electronics, Food & Grocery, Health & Personal Care, Heating & Cooling, Industrial & Heavy Duty, Kitchen & Dining, Luggage & Travel Gear, Office Products, Patio, Lawn & Garden, Storage & Organization and Tools & Home Improvement.