IN ORDER to look forward to see how the internet will continue to change e-commerce and trading, it is perhaps apt to firstly go back, in fact,  back to right at the beginning of man, when our prehistoric ancestors began to trade through bartering  and swapping.

This was the first example of what is now being coined ‘collaborative consumption’, a phrase that I feel will become more commonplace again thanks to the combination of internet technology and trust mechanisms.

Traditional trade over the centuries has been shaped and standardised through a number of associated sectors and institutions that have acted as middlemen to help us trade on a global scale.

These institutions such as banks, insurers and dealers have provided mechanisms to help us buy and sell and also provide information to help us learn and trust our trading partners.

These middlemen have helped us to facilitate globalisation but there are also associated transactions costs and in the 20^th century in particular, this led to a period of hyper-consumption and the full ownership of products.

When the Internet came along in the 1990s there was talk about disintermediation, even in Shipping, but this didn’t happen as fast as we thought as the trust mechanisms were missing from the new digital world that needed to be put in place first.

From our perspective in shipping e-commerce, we can now see three clear eras/ages of e-commerce that have developed in the last twelve years:  Connectivity, Information and Trust

When ShipServ launched in 2000, we went through a period of five years of helping to connect both buyers and suppliers, which we tend to label as the Age of Connectivity.

Once we had enough buyers (shipowners and shipmanagers) connecting with suppliers across the Globe, came the Age of Sharing, Curating  and Using Information.

Using the knowledge gained through the first five years of connectivity we were able to begin to expose this information through the creation of ShipServ Pages, our supplier sourcing directory providing the ability to match buyers with relevant suppliers according to trading history.

The information period and the curation of data has gained growth and traction over the last five years and we are continuously improving, but we are now entering the Age of Trust and this is where the technology provided by the internet can be really powerful.

Trust guides much of our behaviour while we are online and using e-commerce. In fact, trust governs many day-to-day activities, whether business or personal, online or offline, but it has been the hardest part to get right particularly in the shipping industry.

We have implemented our own trust mechanisms on ShipServ Pages with TradeRank, Reviews and Verifications enabling buyers to gauge each supplier by their activity and recommendation from peers.

The next stage of trusted mechanism is collaborative consumption, which is used to describe an economic model based on sharing, swapping, bartering, trading or renting access to products as opposed to ownership.

This has been highlighted most dramatically in the consumer space where sites such as Airbnb – which offers room for rent- and Zip Car – a car sharing  portal– have grown at a phenomenal rate as people hire space  or share cars rather than buy one outright.

Another site that is evidence of the power of peer-to-peer is Zopa, the community bank that provides a lending exchange with rates far higher than traditional banks.

The basis of these sites is trust, built on the ability to rank and rate the user and to access a product or service that is specifically required rather than own a product outright.

The B2B e-commerce space will always be behind the B2C curve, mainly because the decision making process is slower for a business, compared to a consumer that can make a decision instantly, but I truly believe that in the next few years, technology will turn some elements of trading back to its prehistoric roots through this new phenomenon of collaborative consumption.

You can read an extract of the article below:

Efficient supply chain and logistical processes are crucial for cruise and ferry vessels

Modern supply chains for passenger shipping depend on quick access to a very wide range of expertise and resources. Marine and offshore e-procurement provider ShipServ works with more than ten cruise lines to reduce inefficiencies in the procurement supply chain through its TradeNet platform, which allows cruise purchasing managers to trade electronically with over 39,000 suppliers and speed up the entire purchasing process.

Peder Arstorp, Vice President Sales, Americas at ShipServ, says: “The cruise sector is already among the most active users of TradeNet and has unique requirements that complement our core services platform. Buyers can also see the total volume of transactions taking place over TradeNet, enabling them to easily see which suppliers are doing a lot of volume. Brand owners and OEMs can also use TradeRank to certify authorised suppliers, adding a further level of assurance to buyer decisions.”

The article included a case study called “A solid Partnership”, which details the relationship between ShipServ and  Holland America Line.

Nick Ranade,  HAL’s Director of Technical Purchasing and Logistics notes: “By sending and receiving RFQs electronically, the cruise line has found that it is now easier and faster to compare quotes, as pricing is populated instantly into the purchasing system. The company has experienced a 13 per cent increase in products reaching vessels on time.”

ShipServ’s Peder Arstorp concludes: “Because cruise ships work to tight itineraries in numerous ports, the volume and urgency of turnaround requirements for spares and consumables makes e-commerce a vital tool for both buyers and suppliers.”

Download the PDF

The conference will include a stellar list of speakers including representatives from the IMO, Lloyd’s Register, Liberian Ship Registry and Moore Stephens.

Pynda is the not-for-profit Alumni association for shipping graduates of the University of Plymouth.

For more details and to book your place click here.

We have also added more video content including our new customer testimonial pages and new product specific landing pages, following on from the revamp of our web store at the end of last year.

ShipServ Pages has seen some small but important changes that we feel will help us gauge the user experience and keep improving the world’s leading maritime search engine.

The new Rate this Search button will help us gauge results relevancy and can be seen below.

We have also added a new Help section for all our ShipServ Pages users and this can be found when logged in on the left hand side and also some new RFQ tools for Suppliers that will enable them to accept and decline quotes easier.

Of course, we can’t continue to improve the site without your feedback, so mail us at marketing@shipserv.com if you would like to suggest any further enhancements.

Over 200 people gathered for two days to listen to a variety of speakers from the IT, Satcomms and e-commerce sectors with a large contingent of German shipowners and managers.

ShipServ’s VP Sales EMEA, Lars Bratshaug  presented together with Dr. Joachim Muth, Purchasing Manager, at  German owner F.Laeisz on the benefits of e-commerce from a shipowner’s perspective.

ShipServ will also be participating at the next Digital Ship event in Bergen at the end of this month – click here for further details.

Based in our head office in Chiswick, London

The Online Marketing Manager reports directly to David Hardy, ShipServ CMO, and is a key part of the small marketing and PR team.  Basically, you’ll own anything and everything to do with online marketing, as well as being involved in many other interesting marketing actions.  It’s a fantastic opportunity to own real change in a fast moving company.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

• SEO – in charge of SEO strategy and, with our IT and development teams, its implementation.  Responsibility for setting and achieving organic traffic growth targets.  SEO will account for over 50% of your time.
• Websites – we have several websites, banner advertising, a massive specialised search engine (ShipServ Pages), lots of content and a web store.  You won’t be running all of this but you need to oversee it.  You’ll own the revenue growth target for the web store for 2012.
• You’ll need to use Google analytics daily (as well as our internal databases) to make recommendations for both incremental and major improvements.
• Email – running Marketo for both lead gen and emails.  We have supplier customers and buyer customers, prospects and premium customers – all who need a CRM and email strategy.  Tracking, and improving, email KPIs.  See our website for our  newsletters.
• Running our social media activity.

AT LITTLE DETAIL ABOUT OUR SEO

Leading the SEO strategy and being responsible for its implementation is the most important part of the role, and will take up over 50% of the time.  Our SEO is designed to drive qualified marine and offshore buyers to ShipServ Pages.  Qualified means they are looking to buy and need to find a number of suppliers who can provide what they are seeking.  We provide a sophisticated, specialised search engine for them to find the right suppliers.  We have 38,000 suppliers listed who stock thousands of items each.  So we end up targeting with SEO many tens of thousands of search terms which are usually very detailed, specialised and technical.  It is a very, very long tail indeed.  We grow our organic Google traffic over 100% every year, and need to continue this trend.

You will have guessed by now that our SEO will suit someone from the more technical side of SEO.  It’s far more to do with on page factors: site architecture and structure of the low level pages/URLs.   As well as strategies for how to drive additional content from the users (suppliers) and making sure it’s crawled.  For the right person, it’s a dream challenge.

REASONS WHY IT’S COOL

I know I would say this, wouldn’t I, this job is great because:

• There’s a broad variety of tasks: You’ll never be bored.  In one job, you’re doing all aspects of online marketing as well as some offline marketing too.
• You’re responsible: You’ll be able to say – ‘I did all of that.’  About a lot of stuff.
• We’re small and dynamic.  Which is good because: you’ll get to know everyone you need to work with and influence, we make decisions quickly, and we’re growing fast.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

SEO – we need someone very familiar with our particular flavour of SEO – see above.  You will be able to demonstrate previous success in this area.  Minimum of two years of experience with SEO.

Great team worker and ability to get things done

We’re a small team in a small company so flexibility, energy and initiative are needed and with a real focus on successful delivery.

Hands on, detailed, technical knowledge of websites and online marketing

Experience with running all the usual online marketing suspects – email management tools, WordPress, analytics, tracking tools

Attention to detail

Note: NOT essential is knowledge of, or prior experience in, shipping or the marine industry.  B2B experience would be good, but again, not essential.

ABOUT SHIPSERV

• The London ShipServ gang is a close knit, effective team.
• You get free Starbucks and free gym membership (there is a Virgin gym in our building).
• Work for the most innovative company in the maritime industry.

ShipServ is the e-marketplace for the shipping industry.

We’ve created and run the world’s largest online marine trading platform and the world’s busiest marine supplier search engine.

ShipServ helps marine buyers to find the best suppliers easily, trade efficiently and build trusted relationships.

Our services bring buyers and suppliers together online, in print and in person.

ShipServ is a dynamic and fast growing company, with offices in London, Copenhagen, USA, Hong Kong and Manila.

We are the winner of various high tech, internet and high growth awards including White Bull, Tech Media Invest, Red Herring and we won firsttuesday’s ‘The UK’s most promising internet company.’

ShipServ is a private company which has been trading for 11 years.  The founder and CEO is Paul Ostergaard, a recognised shipping ecommerce visionary.

CHAT AND APPLY

I would be delighted to talk more about the role if you have any questions so please do ping me an email and I will get in touch.

For questions, or to apply for the role, send your CV with a covering letter to: marketing@shipserv.com

No agencies please.

David Hardy

CMO ShipServ

16 January 2011

Shipping businesses now look to purchasing executives for more than simply driving down operational costs.

Fortunately, there’s a proven, world-leading marketplace that gives purchasing departments a distinct advantage across all of these critical dimensions – as well as a powerful toolset for driving down costs.

Watch the new video for buyers recently launched by ShipServ.

ShipServ is present on stand 3J39 in hall W3.

Come by and see us!

Opening hours:

29 November  10:15 am – 5:30 pm
30 November – 1 December  9:00am – 5:30pm
2 December  9:00am – 4:00pm

Venue:

Shanghai New International Expo Centre
2345 Longyang Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, PRC

We are delighted to announce that we had a record attendance of over 173 people from across the globe and we were happy to see a number of business cards exchanging hands particularly at our Dinner on Monday night that was held at the fabulous surroundings of the Asian Civilizations Museum.

The audience at Connect 11 was brought up to date with our latest product developments including e-invoicing and supplier value reports with the session concluding with an excellent panel debate about the future of maritime software and e-commerce.

Download the final programme here

We would like to thank all delegates for attending and also all our sponsors of Connect 11 and SmartShipping, which included Atlas Ship Supply, RightShip, Bernard Schulte, MAN Diesel, Princeton Pharmacy, Lloyd’s Register, Satellite Phone Store, AXS Marine, Eniram, HMS, New Course Shipping, Roodhart Marine Services, Ship Equip, Keppel Shipyards and World Ship Supplies.