We have spent the month of January analyzing the data we collected in 2011 and we were astounded by the amount of business conducted over platform. When we launched the Next Generation Parts Location System in May we knew we were starting a potential revolution in the Aviation Industry.
Faced with competition from the well-established platforms of ILS and PartsBase, we had to bring something different to the table. Although we grew our top line number of registered users, size of the available inventory, and number of RFQs sent on the system, we discovered quickly that those numbers are meaningless unless real business efficiencies are gained.For example, many competitors claim HUGE inventory listed on the platforms (ILS 56 million, PartsBase 50 Million, StockMarket.aero 37 Million). But does that really help if much of the inventory listed is over 9 months old? Does it help to have 200 sources of the same part if a user cannot sort and group the results to find the supplier he wants to do business with? In 2011, we introduced the modern technology that enables easier browsing, grouping and filtering of search results, but more importantly we introduced the concept of Quality: first in the form of Quality Rating for companies, but also in the Quality of whom and what is listed on the platform.
So we might only list about 28 Million parts, but we work diligently to make sure that 80% of the inventory is less than 6 month old and NONE is older than one year. We also validate every company that registers by checking their background and online credentials to remove as many “fake” users as we can. So we might only have about 14,000 users on the system, but that is because we constantly remove stale and dead accounts.
This Quality mantra, supported by our ISO9001 certification, combined with modern technology and value based pricing brought real business efficiencies to the early adopters of fipart. By the end of 2011, there were 850 suppliers on fipart. They listed 27,436,772 line items. Their inventory was searched by 13,438 active buyers who conducted 156,924 searches and sent out 46,556 RFQs. 30% of the RFQs came from North America, 32% from Europe, and 24% from Asia. The average quote value was $10,628. That is real business on a real platform.
So for 2012, we want more companies to take advantage of this revolution and consider Switching to fipart. That is why, starting in February, we are rolling out a FREE TRIAL of the fipart PREMIUM system for every new or existing customer. This unique offer will allow all the companies to compare side-by-side our full offering with that of the other platforms they might be using. And then when it comes to renew their subscription, or add more users, they will understand that fipart is the Next Generation answer for the Aviation Aftermarket Industry.
