Twenty-six years ago, OnlineMetals.com started off of Seattle garage as a distinct segment seller of raw materials like steel, brass and copper.
It has built its popularity over time as a supplier to each small artisans and huge manufacturers. It has grown right into a distributor of over 60,000 products amongst raw materials including steel brass, copper, nickel, titanium and zinc in various sizes and shapes, including custom cut-to-size.
Gregory Raece, president, OnlineMetals.com
Last yr, it expanded its online capabilities and presence by deploying a brand new B2B ecommerce platform integrated with its own metals-and-plastics catalog marketplace, where raw materials manufacturers can sell their products.
The brand new marketplace “allows us to quickly onboard recent sellers who want to succeed in the tens of millions of metal buyers Online Metals reaches,” says Gregory Raece, president.
Online Metals runs its ecommerce platform on SAP Commerce Cloud with an SAP-licensed version of the Mirakl marketplace technology platform.
Online Metals says its recent digital infrastructure has enabled its ecommerce team to “sell products which have been traditionally non-transparent with pricing and in addition difficult to order in small quantities.”
Because of this, Online Metals adds that it “can now support a growing variety of micro-manufacturers throughout the U.S.,” equivalent to TCI Precision Metals, that depend on a “just-in-time, small-quantity metal supplier.”
While Online Metals focuses on raw materials, it also supplies several other products utilized in the manufacturing, fabrication, and manufacturing process. “Sellers can sell anything from prefinished parts, machine shop supplies, safety equipment, polishing supplies and more,” Online Metals says.
Online Metals charges third-party sellers a referral fee for every sale transaction on its marketplace but doesn’t charge upfront fees or require long-term commitments. It uses revenue from referral fees to pay for digital marketing initiatives equivalent to email campaigns, on-site promotions, search and shopping ads, plus with bank card and bank fees.
In 2007, OnlineMetals was acquired by ThyssenKrupp AG, a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. ThyssenKrupp resulted from the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp; its Germany-based operational headquarters are in Duisburg and Essen.
Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. [email protected].
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