Inospace launches an online marketplace to give logistics and industrial tenants more than space

Inospace, South Africa's leading owner and operator of serviced logistics parks, today announced the launch of the Inocircle online marketplace for its clients.

Built on the Inospace foundation of serviced logistics parks, the Inocircle online platform will deliver solutions to some of the most critical challenges facing its more than 1 500 tenants.

The Inocircle online platform matches tenants with vendors and offers customised customer-support services. The free subscription service will help tenants manage their supply and procurement demands and access industrial and logistics-related goods and services offered by various vendors at preferential rates.

‘The Inocircle online platform aims to resolve business pain points and add material value to small and medium enterprises (SMEs),’ says Jodi Sher, chief marketing and product officer at Inospace.

She explains that pain points for their logistics tenants in their 50 parks in Cape Town and Johannesburg include transport and logistics services, warehouse racking, short-term insurance, labour advisory services and marketing.

Clients will create business profiles on the Inocircle platform, and can request maintenance support. They can also manage their accounts with real-time access to a business directory.

Inocircle is launching with vendor partnerships, which include MiWay Insurance and 2Ship, a fully integrated client facing transport management system. Through MiWay, Inocircle will provide new and existing clients with discounted non-life insurance and a range of business insurance products.

Chris Rossouw, CEO of 2Ship Africa, says their online transport platform will be integrated into Inocircle and will be provided for free to Inospace clients. ‘Tenants will be able to find the most affordable and fastest courier and delivery solutions for any shipment,’ says Rossouw.

The majority of Inospace clients are involved in logistics and delivery, and one of Inocircle’s offerings is delivery fulfilment. ‘With more clients distributing goods online, our transport management system coupled with on-site logistics facilities is a game changer that will add immense value to tenants,’ says Sher.

Sher says the logistics service provides a seamless integration layer between all the major e-commerce stores and most South African local and international courier companies.

‘Inocircle users will be able to track deliveries, receive e-mail updates and pay using an e-wallet, without having to open accounts with various courier companies,’ she says.

Additionally, through exclusive offers, Inospace will give its clients access to various support services, ideal for SMEs, including an IT help desk, tender notifications, marketing services, and legal and labour advice.

Sher says that as the company grew its footprint, Inospace saw opportunity to use its growing SME network as leverage to secure products and services at competitive rates for their clients.

It took time to develop the idea into a functional Inocircle propriety technology platform. Two years ago, Inospace began offering discounted courier services through the Courier Guy. This resulted in a successful project that saw tenants reduce transportation and freight costs.  

Sher says Inocircle fulfils the space-as-a-service product and is an example of how Inospace is reimagining the tenant–landlord relationship by offering useful business tools.

Inocircle’s value add goes beyond cost savings and efficiencies – it is about creating a streamlined customer journey.

‘By streamlining how we work with our clients through this platform, we are improving efficiencies for our clients and enabling them to focus on the operations and growth of their businesses,’ adds Sher.