Moscord unveils new ship supply paradigm with Apollo launch
Moscord has taken a crucial step on the path to establishing itself as “maritime’s Amazon” with the launch of technology rewriting the rulebook for ship supply.
The global maritime e-marketplace has partnered with Denmark’s leading digital commerce firm, Impact, to create Apollo – a backend solution that streamlines product ordering, payment and fulfilment into one simple, seamless action; from request, to products delivered and paid. For the first time ever in the world of shipping, vessel crew can select exact products for reliable, worldwide last mile delivery with a click of a button, while suppliers gain direct access to customers. The result is greatly reduced cost, full transparency, predictable fulfilment (with far less returns), and enhanced efficiency and sustainability.
Moscord founder and CEO Freddy Ingemann calls it a “new paradigm” for the world of ship supply.
Seamless flow
“We’ve spent four years building shipping’s first full-service, multi-sided marketplace,” he comments. “A place where customers can choose from over 200,000 essential products – to fit their individual price and quality specifications – and suppliers can cut out the middlemen to forge valuable, direct relationships. The front-end of the platform is only the tip of the iceberg, so we’ve focused our time and energy, and Impact’s considerable expertise, on creating a back-end that delivers a seamless no touch transaction flow. The result is Apollo.
“We now have the epitome of a lean e-commerce platform that delivers exactly what customers and sellers want, with the minimum of fuss and inefficiency, and maximum trust and transparency. This is a new way of doing business for a new age of smarter, more sustainable and digitally connected shipping.”
Optimal process, optimal value
As well as uniting the market on a single platform, greatly simplifying the supply chain, Moscord’s business model allows customers to take control over procurement – defining catalogues of standardised products, where applicable, and accessing data that can be the bedrock for automated processes and potentially predictive ordering. This reduces the need for warehousing requirements, cuts waste and, with more efficient purchasing, is both commercially and environmentally more sustainable. The lean processes make products on Moscord around 20% cheaper than through traditional ship supply channels.
It’s a proposition that appealed to Impact’s Ask Ullerup, who took ownership in the business (alongside two fellow Impact partners) and now sits as Acting CTO.
Rewiring expectations
“Moscord is on its way to becoming an e-commerce unicorn,” he states. “Here we have a very rare opportunity, the possibility to create a true digital first marketplace for an important industry niche with a turnover of billions. Digitalisation is already transforming the way shipowners and operators do business, opening their eyes to huge efficiencies on the horizon. By exploiting our established e-commerce expertise, allied to the Moscord team’s inside out knowledge of ship supply, we can seize on that and really lead the way into an age of smart digital procurement. I really do see this as an Amazon moment. Moscord can change this sector for the better, and for good.”
Ullerup adds that the global pandemic has accelerated the move to e-commerce, “rewiring” consumer behaviour to view online purchasing as the natural choice.
“This is as applicable to shipping as it is elsewhere,” he notes. “Once users have experienced how much more efficient, simpler and cheaper new ways of purchasing are why would they possibly go back? This makes the opportunity even greater for Moscord. It’s no longer a question of selling or explaining a concept. It simply makes perfect sense.”
Quality as standard
Apollo launched today and is fully integrated into Moscord.com to deliver an effortless transactional process, covering all services in the supply chain. The site offers a comprehensive array of quality products, ranging from consumables to provisions, spare parts, safety equipment, electronics, tools and PPE. A who’s who of leading brands, including Schneider, RS Components and Lyreco, amongst others, supply their products directly through Moscord.com.
Impact is recognised as Denmark’s number one digital commerce specialist, with over 200 staff and a client list boasting names such as Arla, Ganni, Würth, Hummel and Nemlig.com.