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Budapest Business Journal

E-pioneer still matching customers and Internet

Kecskemét - While numerous firms in Hungary are junping on the e-business bandwagon, hoping to use the Internet to sell goods and services, László Kócsó is already an old hand in the field, at least in Internet time.
For the past two years ha has operated an online marketplace where buyers and sellers can make deals on a range of goods.
But even Kócsó is not sure when the e-commerce boom in Hungary will happen. Of the 600 clients WebBusiness serves, less than half are online.
“Of course it would bemuch easier for us if everyone was already online,” said Kócsó, 32. The company’s managing director. “It will come eventually. Our main goal right now is to get as many people’s attention as possible.”
WebBusiness allows companies to post information about items and products for sale, for a yearly fee of Ft 129,000-Ft 199,000-Ft ($424 - $654). In turn, anyone looking for bargains on such goods can log on the site and peruse listings for free - and have new listings sent via e-mail, short messaging system (SMS) or fax.
“We belive that today’s business leaders do not have muche time and they need selected information,” he said. In the end it is up to the buyer and seller to contact each other. WebBusiness only provides the marketplace, Kócsó said.
The majority of users looking to purchase goods, he said, ask to be notified of new ads through SMS, selecting those categories of goods they are interested in. WebBusiness has signed agreements with Westel Rt. and Pannon GSM Rt. to send the messages to customers. WebBusiness e-mails the new ads to mailboxes at both companies. The ads are then forwarded to mobile users.
Kócsó said WebBusiness managed to turn a small profit of under Ft 1 million in 1998 and 1999. He declined to release revenue figures.
Using Kecskemét as a base for research and development has kept costs down. Seven programmers, including Kócsó, work out of a tiny loft there while a sales staff of more than 20 representatives work out of an office in Budapest’s District 6.
Kócsó launched WebBusiness in 1998, after working for several years designing websites for such companies as Béres Rt., Cartographia Kft. and langauge school International House Kft.
WebBusiness has more than doubled its client roster in the past year, as well as expanded its services to include litings in English, German and, starting in October, Polish.
One English-langauge ad posted is from a company in China, seeking local distributors fer herbal products. Another is from a Hungarian company willing to sell scrap metal, car seats and office chairs. Companies with headquarters outsude Hungary, Kócsó said, can post thier ads free of charge.
Executives at Dunapack Rt, a Hungarian packaging company, signed on to WebBusiness in April, said marketing manager Tímea Borsodi.
She said Dunapack placed a general advertisement on the site outlining the company and what it offers in the way of packaking materials.
"We've gotten three offers so far," Borsodi said.
One was from an Indian trading company asking to buy packaking material for shipping children's products. Two Hungarian firms also inquired about material for importing and exporting.
"We were very much pleased with this service," Borsodi said, adding that Dunapack declined bisiness ventures with each of the companies.
She said Dunapack will leave its post on WebBusiness, though the company is developing its own "interactive business site."
Executive Wine Production Rt., said they joined WebBusiness in May.
"We've had no interest so far," said István Ripszky, director of domestic trade at Egervin, which sells inexpensive table wines.
"Maybe if our brands were more prestigious we would have greater success with [WebBUsiness]," he said.
But at Szentendre Paper Rt., responses to ads te companies has placed on WebBusiness stream in daily, said László Szabó, director of trade.
"We offered a small amount of envelopes and they were gone in three days," he said. Szentendre Paper signed on to WebBusiness a little more than a year ago and has posted various listings for paper and packaking materials, ranging in price from Ft 10,000 to more than several hundred thousand forints, Szabó said.
The company has also purchased several items from WebBUsiness sellers, such as mouse pads.
While WebBusiness enjoys a steady growth, Kócsó said he wants the company remain "a small business". He said he has recently entertained offers from investors interested in buying WebBusines or taking a large share in exchnge for funding.
"I'm willing to remain [the owner] for the next few years and then maybe sell," he said. By that time he hopes WebBusiness will serve customers throughout Central-Europe.