For industrial suppliers in South Africa
Start selling your industrial products online.
Mercatura gives your business an online store, a customer ordering system and a place in a trusted industrial marketplace, without the cost or complexity of building it yourself.
Low monthly cost. No large setup fee. No technical skills required.
Want to see the buyer's side? Browse the demo catalogue
Your business. Online.
Mercatura creates and manages everything your customers need to find your products, request quotes and place orders online, under your own brand, inside a trusted industrial marketplace.
We onboard your business
We take your products, services, pricing, company information and customer list, even if today that lives in spreadsheets, PDF catalogues or WhatsApp chats, and set up your online store for you.
You start selling
Your customers browse your catalogue, request quotes and place orders online, any time of day. You keep your own identity and brand while new buyers discover you through the Mercatura marketplace.
Modernise when you're ready
Add a professional website, business email, customer records, WhatsApp ordering, inventory links, marketing and automation, one piece at a time, when each one becomes useful. Start small, grow into it.
Built for fastener suppliers, bearings, pumps, valves, hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical, welding, tools, PPE, motors, hose and fittings, fabrication shops and every industrial supplier still running on phone calls, email and Excel.
Buyers trust suppliers inside the Mercatura network.
Seeing your business inside the Mercatura network should reduce the perceived risk of dealing with an unfamiliar supplier. That is what our verification is for: real checks a buyer can inspect, not anonymous star ratings.
Apply to be a founding supplierWhat buyers can inspect on your profile:
- Company registration & directors
- Bank account verification
- Physical address & contact details
- Trading history & references
- Industry certificates & authorised distributorships
- VAT registration & B-BBEE information
Re-verified periodically. Reviews and real transaction history add to it. They don't replace it.
More than a website.
A trusted trade network.
Every supplier on Mercatura is part of a connected ecosystem. Your customers get one login, one dashboard, across all suppliers in the network.
Unified customer login
One account across all suppliers. Customers log in once and order from anyone in the network.
Cross-vendor order history
Customers see all purchases, quotes, and invoices in one place, across every supplier.
Shared trust & credibility
"Powered by Mercatura" on your site signals professionalism. Trust builds across the entire network.
More suppliers, more value
Every new supplier makes the network more valuable for customers, and brings more customers to you.
Every supplier portal carries this badge, building shared reputation across the network.
Run more of your business through Mercatura.
Selling online is only the beginning. Add each of these when it becomes useful, one piece at a time, with your data already connected.
Your own professional website
We build and host your marketing site: your branding, your domain, services, certifications, industries served, with products linking straight into Mercatura. No second system to maintain.
Optional serviceBusiness email
Addresses like [email protected], plus shared sales@ and accounts@ inboxes, hosted, backed up and working on phones and Outlook. We migrate you off your old hosting.
Optional serviceCustomer records
Every customer, contact, order, quote, invoice and conversation in one place. Because Mercatura already sees your marketplace sales, much of it fills itself in.
Included foundationsQuotes & invoices
Industrial buying runs on quotes, not shopping carts. Customers request a quote, you adjust pricing and delivery, send a branded PDF, and convert it to an order and invoice when they accept, with full history.
Core featureStock & catalogue management
Stock levels, variants, warehouses, price lists and customer-specific pricing. Send us your ugly spreadsheet or PDF catalogue and we’ll turn it into a structured online catalogue.
Core featureWhatsApp ordering
Your customers already run on WhatsApp. Get a shared sales inbox where the customer is recognised automatically, product links and quotes go out in-chat, and everything lands on the customer record.
Optional servicePut repetitive work on autopilot
You don’t need to understand AI. Tell us what consumes your team’s time: answering product questions, chasing unanswered quotes, retyping emailed orders, building catalogues from PDFs, and we’ll show you what can be automated, with a person approving.
Automation add-onsMarketing that brings orders
Google Ads, SEO, promotions, email campaigns and landing pages. Run as a managed service, measured in the same dashboard as your sales.
Managed serviceKnow your numbers
Revenue, quote conversion, top products and customers, dormant customers, products people search for but you don’t stock. The data builds up from day one.
Included foundationsLinks to your accounting system
Synchronise customers, products, stock, orders and invoices with Sage, Pastel, Xero, QuickBooks or a custom ERP. Larger customers can pay for custom integrations.
Planned capabilityRFQ marketplace
Later, buyers post a parts list once and verified suppliers, including you, respond with price, availability and lead time. Built on the verification buyers already trust.
Planned capabilityThe message is simple: start small and add these when they become useful.
The marketplace in every buyer's pocket.
Your customers already run their workdays on their phones. The Mercatura mobile app puts your catalogue, quotes and orders there too, and gives you a supplier app to approve quotes and watch sales from the workshop floor.
- Buyers: search your stock, request quotes, approve orders and track delivery.
- Suppliers: approve quotes, check today's orders and get low-stock alerts.
- Reps on the road: your full catalogue and customer prices, offline-friendly.
Concept mockups. The app ships after the founding supplier launch.
Apply to help shape it
Try the seller dashboard yourself.
Open a working example of what a supplier uses every day: quotes, orders, invoices, WhatsApp chats, email and AI helpers. Click around. Every customer and number is fictional.
Dashboard Sales, quotes and unpaid invoices at a glance. 
WhatsApp inbox AI drafts the reply. You decide what is sent.The buyer catalogue shows what your customers see: search, supplier profiles, a cart and quote requests.
Start selling for less than a sales rep's petrol.
One simple fee on the orders Mercatura brings you. No large setup fee, no technical project to manage. Payment processing fees are separate. Money from your sales goes straight into your own account.
1% of your online sales
Minimum R1 000 per month · Maximum R10 000 per month
Priced for small and medium-sized suppliers.
If you sell nothing online in a month, you pay the minimum. If you sell a lot, the fee caps out. Your best months don't get punished.
Founding suppliers pay no platform fees for their first 6 months.
Optional services, priced separately
Website and domain, business email, CRM extras, marketing, ERP integrations, WhatsApp, automation and custom development. Take them when they're useful. The core offer stays simple.
Apply to be one of Mercatura's first 50 suppliers.
We're choosing a small founding group of industrial suppliers in and around Cape Town. Places are limited, and we can't take everyone. Founding suppliers help shape the platform, get hands-on setup, and pay no platform fees for their first 6 months.
Tell us about your business below. If there's a fit, we'll set up a conversation, and after that, a short Letter of Intent that sets out clearly what is and isn't binding. Applying doesn't guarantee a place, and it doesn't commit you to anything.
Questions suppliers ask us
What does it cost?
1% of the sales you make through Mercatura, with a minimum of R1 000 and a maximum of R10 000 per month. No large setup fee, and payment processing is separate. Takings go straight into your own account. Founding suppliers pay no platform fees for their first 6 months.
I already take orders by phone, email and WhatsApp. Do I have to stop?
No. Mercatura connects to how you work today and modernises it gradually. WhatsApp ordering, emailed purchase orders and your existing customer list all come with you.
Do I need technical skills or staff?
No. We onboard your products, pricing and customers for you, and run the infrastructure. If you can use email, you can use Mercatura.
Do I keep my own brand?
Yes. You get your own branded store and can keep your own domain and identity, while also appearing in the trusted Mercatura marketplace.
What does Mercatura Verified mean?
It means we have checked the business behind the listing: registration, bank account, premises, trading history and relevant certificates, and buyers can see what was verified. It is re-checked periodically.
Is the marketplace catalogue real?
Not yet. Listings on the demo catalogue pages are examples showing how the platform works. Founding suppliers go live with their real products and branding.
Am I locked into anything?
No lock-in contracts. The founding Letter of Intent sets out clearly what is and is not binding before you commit to anything.
What happens after I apply?
A person reads your application and replies within two working days to set up a conversation about your business and whether Mercatura is a fit.
Will everyone who applies be accepted?
Not necessarily. We're starting with a small group so we can set up each store properly and learn from it. If it isn't the right time for your business, we'll tell you.