Development of a Real-Time Product Comparison and Order Automation System for Wholesale Procurement

A trade organization comprising over 500 electrical contractor companies relies on an outdated PHP-based system to compare product prices, stock status, and place orders from multiple wholesalers. The existing system lacks real-time data integration, automation in order generation, and scalability, making maintenance difficult and error-prone. The limited technology stack hampers efficient decision-making, onboarding of new members, and seamless communication with supply partners, leading to inefficiencies and increased operational risks.

A regional trade organization representing electrical contractors, facilitating purchasing, and supply chain management with multiple wholesale partners.

• Implement a real-time product information retrieval system for pricing, stock status, images, and discounts from multiple sources, including internal and external databases, ensuring up-to-date data across the platform.
• Design and develop an integrated system that connects with existing tools via robust APIs to facilitate seamless data exchange and operational workflows.
• Automate and standardize order generation processes through customizable templates supporting common formats such as JSON or XML, minimizing errors and simplifying onboarding.
• Deliver iterative functionality every 2-3 weeks to validate features and ensure timely feedback, supporting early deployment and stakeholder engagement.
• Upgrade the technology stack utilizing modern frameworks and scalable architectures for easier maintenance and future extensibility.
• Enable members to compare electrical appliances efficiently and place orders directly through the platform, thereby improving negotiation leverage, reducing manual effort, and lowering operational risks.

• Real-time APIs to connect with multiple product databases (internal, wholesaler, external sources like EFObasen) for automatic stock, price, and image updates.
• API endpoints to facilitate integration with existing project cost calculation, health and safety management, and other organizational tools.
• A customizable order template engine supporting standard formats such as JSON and XML for error-free order generation.
• User interface enabling member companies to compare products across multiple parameters (price, stock, discounts, images) conveniently.
• Role-based access controls for different stakeholders (members, administrators, wholesalers) to ensure security and data integrity.
• Automated notification systems for stock updates, order confirmations, and other critical alerts.

• Product information databases (internal and external, e.g., EFObasen)
• Existing project cost and safety management tools via APIs
• Wholesale order processing systems
• Notification and alerting services

• Real-time data refresh with minimal latency
• System availability of at least 99.9% uptime
• Secure data transmission and storage compliant with industry standards
• Scalability to support at least 500+ member organizations with potentially increasing transaction volumes
• Ease of maintenance and future feature addition, leveraging modular architecture

The new platform is expected to enhance operational efficiency by enabling instant product comparisons and automated order processing, reducing errors through standardized formats, and supporting rapid feature deployment. It aims to streamline procurement workflows for over 500 member organizations, facilitating purchase volumes exceeding €49 million annually. The upgrade will improve system maintainability, support onboarding of new members, and provide a scalable foundation for future growth, ultimately leading to faster decision-making, increased transparency, and cost savings across the organization.