Online aviation parts locator service PartsBase is expanding capability to handle transactions through the launch of its new PartStore e-commerce marketplace.
PartsBase says it is the largest online locator service for aviation parts, with more than 5,000 daily users and nearly 30,000 users per month that perform more than 12 million parts searches a year.
New buyers can enter PartStore in several ways: via a public URL, by part-number searching via popular search engines or via integration with the PartsBase community of more than 7,400 companies. Once in PartStore, buyers can shop among multiple vendors using an aggregated shopping cart and purchase parts via a secure payment method, explains Chief Operating Officer Rodrigo Garcia.
Sellers can register on the PartsBase platform to sell materials, which must be priced and have images and traceability or serialized data. PartStore ingests this data via an application programming interface (API), which links PartStore to many enterprise resource planning systems used by aviation companies. PartsBase membership is required for sellers.
Costs are directly borne by sellers. PartsBase does not charge transaction fees, but does charge payment-processing fees associated with bank transactions, similar to credit card processing fees.
Garcia says PartStore has been designed to accommodate aircraft parts for all ATA chapters. “There are no limits on part types that can be listed or purchased,” he says.
To handle certifications, PartStore contains many data fields for certification elements as well as images from scans of documents. “Each seller fulfills orders via their unique quality management system and standards,” says Garcia.
According to Garcia, the new e-commerce tool differs from other aviation platforms in several respects. It is transactional, and buyers come ready to purchase. PartStore is also public, and credentials are not required to shop. Finally, integration into the existing PartsBase community taps a large network across the aviation supply chain. “By independent accounts, the PartsBase community enjoys the largest published customer counts, the largest web site traffic visits per month, as well as the most transactions,” he says.
PartsBase is also growing fast. It added 346 more companies operating 800 aircraft in the third quarter of 2022 alone.
The combination of PartsBase and PartStore should yield fair price comparisons and provide market intelligence, and it will enable complex buying arrangements. To aid in AOGs, PartStore will soon offer AOG-specific shipping data at checkout, including how quickly and reliably an item can be delivered.
Furthermore, PartsBase itself and the new PartStore are built on next-generation technology. Underpinning PartStore is OroMarketplace, which PartsBase says is a sophisticated end-to-end digital marketplace solution. Thanks to Oro's robust APIs, it says PartStore sellers can easily deploy product catalogs from their content management systems and other e-commerce platforms, reducing the risk of incorrect information.
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