NEW YORK, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Cornerstone Internet Solutions (Nasdaq: CNRS - news), a provider of comprehensive business-to-business (B2B) services and solutions, today announced that its FOODgalaxy.com subsidiary now has more than 1,000 users of its PowerPurchasing system -- an online marketplace through which the food service industry buys and sells mission-critical products. The users of PowerPurchasing conduct e-commerce transactions, on average, four to six times per week. They include a diverse array of food service providers such as independent and chain restaurants, corporate cafeterias, hospitals, caterers, country clubs, schools and hotels, as well as a variety of suppliers ranging from specialty to broad-line on both regional and national levels.
``Our progress in ramping the number of buyers and suppliers who use the FOODgalaxy.com system is a testament to the value proposition of PowerPurchasing technology, which enables food service companies to realize substantial savings in cost and time,'' said Ed Schroeder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone and B2Bgalaxy.com. ``The FOODgalaxy.com online marketplace continues to become even more valuable to customers through the development efforts of a staff with deep experience in the industry. Recent hires, for example, have included senior management from such premier food service organizations as Alliant, Perrier, Campbell Soup and Keebler.''
FOODgalaxy.com continues to extend its geographic reach by signing up major food service distributors with significant national presence, several of whom are currently testing the PowerPurchasing system regionally before rolling it out on a broader scale. A number of suppliers on the FOODgalaxy.com system have further elected to become PowerVendors, enabling them to proactively market their companies to restaurants and other food service establishments through the PowerPurchasing system.
``The rapid growth of the FOODgalaxy.com user base supports our business model, which is focused on achieving profitability in year 2000,'' Schroeder added. ``Our recent financing has allowed us to further invest in extending an already robust technology to provide additional functionality and seamless integration with distributors and manufacturers. For example, our development team is currently building interfaces for the PowerPurchasing infrastructure to enable direct system-to-system communication with a number of distributors.''
Launched in July 1999, FOODgalaxy.com is a first-mover solutions provider poised to capitalize on the trend towards e-procurement in the $350 billion food service industry. Through its proprietary, Internet-based PowerPurchasing technology, FOODgalaxy.com creates a virtual private exchange that enables members to post a customized inventory list online and requires suppliers to continually submit their latest product prices. The system produces purchase orders based upon buyer preference of sole-source or best price and availability from buyer-selected vendors, driving down the cost of goods by as much as 20 percent and significantly reducing the time traditionally devoted to the comparative price shopping process.
About Cornerstone Internet Solutions
Cornerstone Internet Solutions operates two subsidiaries, marchFIRST Cornerstone and B2Bgalaxy.com, which are in separate Internet businesses.
marchFIRST Cornerstone is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cornerstone Internet Solutions Inc. and an independent affiliate of marchFIRST, Inc. marchFIRST Cornerstone is a full-service Internet consulting firm that uses a combination of strategic planning, technology and creative expertise to provide clients with successful solutions.
The B2Bgalaxy.com subsidiary creates industry-specific business-to-business e-commerce marketplaces that link buyers and sellers through competitive on-line exchanges and focuses on improving member profitability through the use of PowerPurchasing, the award-winning marketplace exchange technology.
FOODgalaxy.com enables restaurants and other food service establishments to post a customized inventory list online and requires suppliers to continually submit their latest product bids. This competitive process drives down the cost of goods to buyers by as much as 20 percent and significantly reduces the time traditionally devoted to the comparative price shopping process. Additional functionality is available to distributors allowing them to reduce their cost of customer acquisition, and there cost of conducting business through the power of the Internet.
Cornerstone expects to launch a series of marketplaces over the next few years through its B2Bgalaxy.com unit. New marketplaces will be industry-specific, link buyers directly with suppliers and manufacturers and utilize B2Bgalaxy.com's PowerProduct suite of e-procurement application services.
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