Retailers take on e-market critics with B2B standards

Forty of the world's leading retailers and manufacturers have agreed provisional standards for business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce transactions.

The initiative is designed to establish common technology standards for e-marketplaces in the consumer goods sector, but the collaborators claim the principles can equally be applied to other vertical markets.

The open standards are being put forward by the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI), a body consisting of retailers and retail manufacturers including Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Marks & Spencer, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Tesco, Unilever and WalMart.

Reinhold van Lennep, MD of standards body EAN International, which is also behind the proposition, said: "It is vital we develop a common solution. We need to be in a situation where, if you're trying to sell something on one internet marketplace, you can sell it on any other without developing a new system."

EAN International, along with fellow standards body UCC, has worked for 25 years to develop common standards for trade in the retail sector, and both were instrumental in the introduction of barcoding. Now they say they're focusing on the internet because of the massive growth in e-marketplaces.

The initiative covers issues to do with online catalogues, the routing of messages and XML protocols for order and despatch forms. Lennep said marketplaces will struggle if common systems aren't introduced.

However, Adam Jacobs, co-founder and CEO of marketplace catalogue company Cataloga, said while he understands the rationale behind the initiative, unless it gained acceptance outside the consumer products sector, it will not be helpful.

He added: "This initiative still comes from the buyers in e-marketplaces. They're still not taking suppliers problems on board."