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Andale announces breakthrough in online selling

Ela Dutt
India Abroad Correspondent in Washington

Andale Inc, provider of automated selling systems to auction sites like eBay, announced it was introducing the auction industry's first commerce management service - an integrated suite of sales automation products for merchants selling across multiple online markets, including Internet auction sites, branded storefronts, any Web site, and via direct e-mail.

The company, which was founded by Munjal Shah and several other Indian Americans, and is based in Mountain View, Ca., claimed that "for the first time, auction sellers can augment sales on eBay, Amazon.com, and Yahoo by launching items for sale on other markets with just a single click."

Andale emphasised that the new breed of sales automation provides a single console for merchandising items, managing inventory, tracking sales, analysing finances, and managing customer relationships.

"Andale is aggressively investing in the future of online sales and giving merchants something they've never had before -- one integrated console for selling across markets, maintaining profitable relationships with buyers, and analyzing their results on different markets," said Munjal Shah, founder and CEO of Andale, with a Masters in Computer Science from Stanford University.

"With this release, we are pioneering a new category of automation service called 'commerce management' that allows auction sellers to diversify their selling mix so they can maximise the number of buyers they can reach, build revenue, and generate new business opportunities."

"With Andale, I am able to sell significantly more inventory online and not spend half the time I used to behind the computer," said Suzette Assink, of House of Rocks, a business that sells rock tumblers and lapidary supplies on eBay and also out of a store in Modesto, CA.

She said Andale's integrated Commerce Management Service makes it possible for her to sell at auction, track her buyers, build targeted mailing lists, and then periodically send out special email offers. "Cross market online selling has never been so easy," she said.

Shah points out that despite the downturn in the economy, online auctions have continued to prosper as the most profitable segment of e-commerce today with over $8 billion in annual sales and more than 30 million shoppers.

Successful auction sellers have expanded to other online markets in order to augment their auction sales and build revenue, Andale says.

To date different tools, and a lot of manual time and effort, are needed to manage a cross-market business, it points out, a problem that the new commerce management service, can alleviate.

Instead of using list management software to track customers, an auction management service for listing, special tools to manage a storefront, and yet another brand of desktop accounting software for financial tracking, Andale says its integrated system is a one-stop shop for a multi-market business.

"Andale is helping their small business customers avoid the mistakes of some earlier pure-play e-tailing concepts. Today an effective selling organisation must leverage all channels -- online, offline and wireless - for a selling mix," said Kent Allen, managing director, e-business for the Aberdeen Group.

"Andale's new suite of services gives small businesses the ability to sell where they want, when they want."

The new products will be on the market starting July 4, 2001, in six customizable product suites. Even merchants preferring to work offline, can get a Desktop edition of Andale's Sell suite.

Shah's company claims it has more than a million online merchants using its services, and it is the leading provider of commerce management services for automating and integrating all aspects of online sales across multiple channels.

It estimates that last year, merchants using one or more Andale services were responsible for approximately $3 billion in gross merchandise sales on eBay alone, and now drive more than 75 per cent of all listings on eBay each week.

Andale has exclusive technology integration and distribution partnerships with eBay, the leading online auction marketplace, PayPal, the person-to-person payment provider, and Intuit, the leading provider of financial software to the small business community.

Shah has procured $70 million in financing from Bowman Capital Management, Texas Pacific Group's Tarrant Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Oak Hill Venture Partners and other angel investors.

Shah, as president and CEO, is focused on driving the company to become the business management partner for every volume seller on the Internet.

Other co-founders include Prashant Nedungadi, vice president (engineering); Amit Gupta, chief technology officer; Vijay Chawla, senior director (product management); and Rajiv Dutta, senior director, (engineering).

Before he founded Andale, Shah led the Internet marketing and e-commerce group for the Baan Company and built its e-commerce operations to a multi-million dollar run rate in less than two years.

He also led product management and marketing activities for BlackSun Interactive, an Internet community software company funded by CMGI @Ventures.

When at IBM, he was part of the team that brought Nation's Bank and Bank of America into the online home banking business for the first time, at the start of the Internet revolution.

He also co-founder Round Zero, a forum for the exchange of entrepreneurial ideas that has become Silicon Valley's premier meeting place for venture capitalists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to discuss industry trends and market opportunities.

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