Industry News

TMCNet:  SAP Ariba and Mercado Libre Team to Consumerize Business Commerce

[March 21, 2017]

SAP Ariba and Mercado Libre Team to Consumerize Business Commerce

In an environment where wild currency fluctuations are the norm, it's hard to buy the right goods at the right prices from the right suppliers. SAP Ariba and Mercado Libre, Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) are out to change this. The companies today announced plans to bring SAP Ariba® Spot Buy, an innovative capability through which companies can find and easily purchase specialty items needed to run their businesses, to Latin America. The news came during SAP Ariba Live, the premier business commerce conference being held this week at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

"Ad-hoc purchases in general are difficult because they are extremely time sensitive and most companies lack the resources to manage them. Add to this the price swings that naturally occur in high inflationary environments, and they become even more challenging," said Tony Alvarez, General Manager, SAP (News - Alert) Ariba Spot Buy.

Simple and Compliant

More than 17,000 buyers and sellers in Latin America are connected to the Ariba® Network. During the last 12 months, companies in the region have exchanged more than 1 million purchase orders worth close to $18 billion and in excess of two million invoices valued at nearly $7.4 billion. Transacting globally over $1 trillion in commerce on an annual basis, SAP Ariba is the world's largest, most global business network.

Mercado (News - Alert) Libre is Latin America's leading e-commerce technology company. The site ranks among the top 50 in the world in terms of page views and is the leading retail platform in unique visitors in the major countries in which it operates. Mercado Libre will be the first source of supply for SAP Ariba Spot Buy in Latin America.

"We are excited to partner with SAP Ariba to provide the most extensive product supply in Latin America and an exceptional experience for corporate buyers. Mercado Libre, as the ecommerce leader in Latin America, is launching its first B2B experience. We are confident that it ill be a great success," said Karen Bruck Corporate Sales Director, Mercado Libre.


Intelligent and Efficient

Pairing SAP Ariba's business network and cloud-based procurement applications with Mercado Libre's expansive catalogues for indirect goods, SAP Ariba Spot Buy automatically matches buyer demand with seller supply in an efficient digital marketplace to drive a simple, transparent process for making ad-hoc purchases.

With SAP Ariba Spot Buy, companies can search for items that aren't listed in their corporate catalogues in the SAP Ariba Spot Buy catalogue. And through configurable business rules, spot buy-specific workflow and online payment tools, they can automatically make purchases in line with their corporate policies, pay for and have things shipped in a fast and secure manner.

"This is a useful feature, as one-off, emergency items can account for as much as 15 percent of indirect spend due to inefficient procurement, higher transaction costs, reduced transparency, and an unmanageable long 'tail' of suppliers," says Predrag (PJ) Jakovljevic, Principal Analyst, Technology Evaluation Centers. "Using SAP Ariba Spot Buy, companies can improve their processes for managing this spend and ultimately lower their costs."

Availability

SAP Ariba and Mercado Libre intend to roll out SAP Ariba Spot Buy in Argentina first, with additional markets in Latin America to follow soon after. To learn more about SAP Ariba Spot Buy and the value it can deliver visit: www.ariba.com.

About Mercado Libre

Founded in 1999, Mercado Libre is Latin America's leading e-commerce technology company. Through its primary platforms, MercadoLibre.com and MercadoPago.com, it provides solutions to individuals and companies buying, selling, advertising, and paying for goods and services online.

MercadoLibre.com serves millions of users and creates a market for a wide variety of goods and services in an easy, safe and efficient way. The site is among the top 50 in the world in terms of page views and is the leading retail platform in unique visitors in the major countries in which it operates according to metrics provided by comScore (News - Alert) Networks. The Company is listed on NASDAQ (Nasdaq: MELI) following its initial public offering in 2007. For more information about the Company visit: http://investor.mercadolibre.com.

About SAP Ariba

SAP Ariba is how companies connect to get business done. On the Ariba Network, buyers and suppliers from more than 2.5 million companies and 190 countries discover new opportunities, collaborate on transactions and grow their relationships. Buyers can manage the entire purchasing process, while controlling spending, finding new sources of savings and building a healthy supply chain. And suppliers can connect with profitable customers and efficiently scale existing relationships - simplifying sales cycles and improving cash control along the way. The result is a dynamic, digital marketplace, where more than $1 trillion in commerce gets done every year. To learn more about SAP Ariba, visit www.ariba.com.

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device - SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable approximately 345,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

© 2017 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
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