SureBridge builds webstore on same platform as Ingram Micro

Brisbane-based IT solution provider SureBridge has launched a webstore to speed up the quotation process for existing customers.

The e-commerce platform is provided by Brisbane-based eMark Solutions, which also suported Ingram Micro's ordering portal, said Stephen Riley, who was appointed SureBridge general manager in July after five years with the company.

"It was a direct referral [from Ingram]. We were working out whether to create in-house – our marketing team have great website development skills – but we also started asking around. Ingram passed us their [eMark's] details and they seemed to have a good plan/model. It made a lot more sense commercially to outsource."

The solution was developed in response to demands from education customers, which brought up the need for faster quotes. Riley told CRN: "All of our clients have access to instant pricing and availability."

The new website, which boasts hundreds of thousands of products thanks to API calls into the ordering portals of SureBridge's key distributors, Ingram, Dicker, and Synnex, is only accessible to current clients for quotation purposes.

"This isn’t about turning SureBridge into an e-tailer as it’s a private site, or reducing the input of our sales support team, but very much a way to make it quick and easy for anyone to obtain pricing without the need to wait," said Riley. "It’s about giving the client the options, not us forcing them to run things our way."

In fact, Riley said the Brisbane-based company's sales team is growing. SureBridge currently employs 30 sales staff and the team is available from 7am to 7pm.

Once a quote is generated and the client contacts SureBridge, the sales team has access to the client's quote to quickly work out the best option.

SureBridge was stablished in 1992 as a hardware reseller.