Mercari Validated by i2 Partnership

Mercari Technologies Inc., the Washington, D.C., developer of software for supply-chain management, recently signed a deal to make publicly traded i2 Technologies Inc. a reseller of its suite of products.

The deal is significant for Mercari, which operates its Retail Center for Excellence in Fayetteville, because i2 is the well-established market leader for warehouse distribution and optimization products. It would be similar to a new soda manufacturer landing Coca- Cola as its distributor.

“This strategic partnership gives us an outlet to the retail marketplace for a very rapid rollout,” said Mercari CEO Randy Laney of Fayetteville.

“[i2 has] more than 100 folks on the street selling their products already, and this gives us a huge sales opportunity that we previously didn’t have. This partnership is a tremendous validation point for us and our concepts.”

The public company is now able to resell Mercari’s InitiaLink and three-dimensional visualization application, SpatiaLink, which are designed to save retailers money by reducing inventory holding costs and missed sales due to stockouts.

In turn, i2 will integrate Mercari’s products into its TradeMatrix solutions for retail.

Both companies will jointly prospect and market their products, which Laney said will help create “the intelligent shelf.” The goal, i2 said in a release, is to deliver $75 billion worth of value to its clients by 2005.

Mercari, found on the Web at www.mercaritech.com, is a local startup success story, having received $33 million in venture funding over the last two years.

American retailers and their suppliers are expected to spend more than $5 billion on supply-chain technology by 2003, according to the Journal of Business Logistics.