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Home Services Source And Deploy Smart Supply Web-Shop & e-commerce

Web Shop & e-Commerce

The Connect web shop is Computacenter's online procurement tool. As our preferred route for all product transactions, it is available free of charge as a standard service to all Computacenter customers.

A service component of our Smart Supply solution.

What we do

Computacenter Connect brings together products from more than 750 suppliers in a self-serve web shop environment, complementing the service that customers receive from their account team.

Connect is available 'out of the box' or as a customised, fully integrated solution with a customer's existing procurement tool. This enables our customers using SAP (OCI-based PunchOut), Ariba, Oracle, Elcom, Marrakech and other cXML based procurement applications to realise the benefits of Connect, whilst retaining access control and approval workflows within their own procurement application.

Computacenter's e-Commerce Integration team meet with customers to discuss and understand all their procurement requirements before proposing a solution via Connect. Our Information Services (IS) department then work with your IS team to implement the solution with the minimum of disruption.

Whilst Connect is simple to use and intuitive, our e-Commerce Consultants provide training, demonstrations and workshops for your Connect users and key stakeholders, ensuring they get the best out of the system.

How it helps

Connect enhances the way you work with Computacenter by allowing you to:

• Search for products with specific features or characteristics
• Check prices, availability and technical specifications of products
• Compare similar products based on their specifications
  
• View recommended accessories and related items
  
• Opt to offer your internal customers access to a reduced catalogue of preferred, standard items
  
• Use standard bundles, grouping products and services often bought together to control your users' access rights
  
• Create and save quotes before ordering
  
• Access and work with quotes created for you by your Computacenter sales team
  
• Create 'discussion items' to interact with your account team
  
• Submit orders into our sales order processing system
  
• Check on the progress of your orders, placed using Connect or directly with the account team
  
• 'Export' quotes and orders for use outside of Connect
  
• Use reporting to analyse your spend, by criteria such as by user, by department and by product.

Why we are different

Computacenter's portfolio encompasses more than 60,000 different products. We can ship up to 30,000 items every day from our warehouse and hold up to £90 million worth of stock, meaning customers can fulfil all their hardware and software supply needs through a single source. This scale combined with our buying power, technology expertise, vendor relationships and streamlined web-based processes enable Connect customers the benefits of:

Informed decisions: Continual product benchmarking, an extensive 'Computacenter Recommends' portfolio and detailed product specifications provide you with greater choice and control and better information, so you can choose the most cost-effective and appropriate technology for your organisation

Simplified procurement: With extensive vendor relationships, integrated online ordering facilities and a virtual product warehouse, we provide fast and consistent access to new hardware and software

Predictable expenditure: Connect's ability to deliver customised or restricted product catalogues, preferred items and manufacturers, workflow approval and detailed reporting means tighter control over 'maverick' purchasing and lower IT procurement administration costs for customers.

Where we have done it

Arcadia Group
Arcadia Group is one of the largest clothing retailers in the UK. Reliance on desktops for access to core applications and systems means that hardware availability has become a key concern for corporate IT departments.

Arcadia turned to Computacenter to help. As well as maintaining the environment, Arcadia also uses Computacenter's online procurement system to buy a range of hardware and peripherals.

As Laurence Glover, Client Services Manager for Arcadia, explains, "By working with Computacenter we have been able to decrease both the complexity and costs associated with supplying and supporting our IT desktop infrastructure. In the last four years, we have saved more than £200,000, which we have been able to reinvest in strategic IT activities."

As well as delivering a comprehensive supply chain and maintenance service, Computacenter also adds value by assisting with configuration, hardware auditing and disposal, as well as individual projects.