Introducing TradeX – the Deal Maker for Chemical Markets

Agilis' newest module, TradeX, is quickly gaining traction with chemical suppliers and distributors, who use it to navigate the complex process of selling the commodity chemicals and plastics efficiently.

TradeX is the first of its kind in the chemical industry and is ready for prime time - now available to all Agilis' customers as both a standalone module or as a part of our core digital commerce portal offering for the chemical industry. I sat down with David Grimes, our Head of Sales, to discuss what's unique about the TradeX solution for commodity chemicals and plastics and why now is a perfect time to introduce it to the broader audience. Here are the highlights of our conversation.‍

Let's start with TradeX is and what problems it solves

The best way to describe TradeX is – it's a deal maker. Say, a producer or distributor wants to sell bulk quantities of commodity chemicals or plastics. Traditionally, the supplier's salesforce will call the usual customers and make deals at the best price they can, individually, unaware of the price optimization possibility in real-time from the market.

Moreover, sellers have no tools to obtain and compare a forward-looking view of the profitability of each deal. TradeX takes the guesswork out of the deal-making. It automatically collates all offers that come in in real-time and presents them in the order of profitability – considering all variables such as price, terms, payment, and quantity.

TradeX automatically calculates available inventory based on offers already accepted, so sellers don't over-promise what they have available or get stuck with excess inventory. They can continually optimize pricing to sell inventory at the best possible price all the time.‍
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Is TradeX a private portal, or is it accessible to everyone?

TradeX is entirely private and secure. That's a huge differentiator of TradeX – each supplier has their own private branded portal hosted on their own domain. They can set up bidding events by inviting their customers and business partners to bid on available materials, and only those invited guests have access to the portal. Suppliers can also invite new business partners from Agilis' growing network. ‍‍

‍‍Does TradeX replace a human salesperson?

Not in the least. TradeX is a productivity tool that helps your team make an informed decision on which deal is best for the company, but ultimately it's an experienced human who reviews the offers, compares the terms, and has the final say on whether to do business with a specific buyer.

It's all about efficiency and transparency – rather than handling multiple offers coming in through many phone lines and email messages to several reps, the company's salesforce can see everything in one place, arranged in order of profitability. Then, the rep can counter the offer, negotiate terms, etc. – you can't completely automate the delicate art of deal-making, but you can make it more structured and coordinated.

‍What happens after a deal is made?

Once the seller pushes an "accept" button, TradeX reduces the available inventory to reflect the amount already promised, and follows the usual process of processing a PO, arranging delivery, and collecting payment. This is where the Agilis Commerce portal can help – by keeping track of communications and documents exchanged between transacting parties. TradeX holds a record of all deals, so companies have visibility into trends, sales team performance, and more.‍‍

What are the typical use cases for TradeX?‍

The most common use case for TradeX is selling large quantities of commodity chemicals and plastics efficiently and most profitably. It's a great aid in decision making, supports international trading and exports, and is a useful solution for suppliers who have several divisions or geographies that frequently exchange inventory. TradeX will also act as a tool to track a sales team's performance and provide historical data to analyze price fluctuations for specific products.

This solution can also be used for selling excess inventory of all types of materials - commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, or plastics. It can also help companies deal with non-prime materials. The idea is to sell efficiently and at the best price possible, all the time. There's virtually no limit to the use cases for TradeX – any time there's a need for a deal-making scenario, TradeX can help.‍

Is TradeX available now?‍

Yes, TradeX is available and already deployed for several of our customers. Some of them are large global enterprises, using it as a standalone module or as part of their digital commerce portal on Agilis. We'd love to show you all the things that TradeX can do for suppliers of commodity chemicals, plastics, or other materials - please sign up for a private demo or contact us for more information.

To learn more about the TradeX solution for commodity chemicals and plastics, bulk chemicals, or excess inventory, request a demo or visit our TradeX feature highlight page today.

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