Schneider Electric East Africa has launched its e-commerce portal, which aims to improve the procurement process for its whole product line and caters to a broad customer base.

According to the company, the target market consists of tier 2 channels (resellers, indirect panel builders, and indirect system integrators), industry maintenance teams, building managers, end-users, and retail customers who get products at their doorstep.

Geraldine Sande, channel sales leader for Schneider Electric East Africa, explains that the launch of the region's e-commerce site is a key step toward modernising the company's product procurement process.

The portal lists a wide range of products under the home and building, power products, industry business, digital energy and access to energy portfolio, and primarily targets end users in the residential space.

“With the e-commerce platform, customers can access the required products locally, conveniently, faster and at their desired location without intermediary intervention,” says Sande.

According to Sande, the platform also targets "specifiers" - individuals involved in projects who create bills of quantities or requests for quotations and need to know the available product options, as well as businesses that require dependable supply chains for maintenance and operations.

"From the distributor's perspective, the platform will benefit them by increasing their sell-out. Distributors often hold a lot of stock, and the e-commerce platform provides them with another avenue to reach customers they were not previously tapping into. This represents an incremental business opportunity for our distributors,” Sande concludes.