USA: Mercaris

Mercaris

http://www.mercariscompany.com

1. Implementation procedure

Name of the institution running website/application:Mercaris
Type of the institution running website/application:

an implementation carried out by a non-governmental institution or a private entity

Source of financing:

private resources - companies

Year of launching the website/application: 2012
Service's/application's rating:

2. Implementation's characteristics

Mercaris is a service developed by a private enterprise, but it’s based on public open data made available with the use of the data.gov portal.

It offers two types of functionality to logged-in users:

1. Access to the main market data on organic and non-GMO agricultural commodities (e.g.

trade statistics, comparisons of foodstuffs and forages, comparisons of prices in the USA and

Canada).

Benefits for particular target groups:

  • farmers – increasing the profitability of farms and their knowledge on making crops-related decisions
  • wholesalers – enhancing risk management and indentifying the main market tendencies
  • retailers – broadening their knowledge of delivery supplies,
  • analysts – access to previously unpublished data on food market

2. Participation in auctions – online access to transactions made on the market of organic and non-GMO products (sales via standard auctions, purchases via reversed auctions, sales/purchases: spot market, future contracts)

Benefits:

  • diversification of marketing actions
  • identifying potential sales markets
  • identifying new suppliers
  • stimulating increases in the prices of products and mark-ups

3. Detailed description categories

Type of the service's/application user:
  • G2C: citizens
  • G2B: business
The application service's usage area:
  • services: cooperation of institutions and citizens in the implementation of public tasks ("we inform, talk and cooperate")
A communication - an indication of all the media and dissemination
  • A website of the institution that provides application / solution eGov; includes a thematic section of the application
Access to the full functionality of the service
  1. Access to the service requires you to register your account on the site - registration requires a specific data
    • Name
    • Surname
    • email adress
    • password
    • newsletter subscription
Tracking of user's activity:
  • verification via a link sent to your email
The service's/application's usage areas
  1. Environmental protection
Forms of interaction with users:
  1. RSS Channel
  2. Social networks (connected with Fb, Twitter, etc.)
  3. Use of open data provided by public institutions (open date)
Service's/Application's integration to social networking sites
  • No
Availability of service/application use instruction
  • None
Is the connection encrypted?
  • No

4. Service's/Application's integration with social networking sites

As for: 9.02.2015
The project hasn't its profiles on networking sites:

5. Screen gallery

Homepage <<Strona startowa>>

Login window <<Strona logowania>>

Functions available for logged-in users <<Funkcjonalności dostępne dla zalogowanego użytkownika>>

The possibility of comparing market prices of organic products and other foodstuffs <<Możliwość porównania rynkowych cen produktów ekologicznych oraz pozostałych produktów spożywczych>>

Participation in auctions – registration <<Udział w aukcji – rejestracja>>