A new decentralized e-commerce platform aims to allow online shoppers and e-commerce stores to combine purchasing power and microdistribution to access bulk pricing and discounts.

Buying.com says that they have multiple solutions to the many issues faced by customers, describing themselves as ‘e-commerce reinvented’.

According to the company, the four key elements of their project are MicroDistribution, purchasing power, storefront creation, and fragmentation. MicroDistribution are channels powered by decentralized networks and distribution ledgers. Purchasing power, means manipulating wholesale pricing advantages by offering customers ‘direct to consumer’ pricing via peer to peer networks. Storefront creation implies creating an e-commerce platform that would let online retailers engage with the decentralized network seamlessly. Fragmentation aims to allow smaller scale retailers to challenge larger global retailers for market share, by offering integrated back office operations coupled with the aforementioned microdistribution and peer networks.

Describing the benefits for users involved with buying.com, the company says manufacturers can enjoy faster distribution and access to consumer markets, as well as increased global reach; online retailers can price their items as low as possible and buy directly from manufacturers and wholesalers, and consumers will also enjoy low prices and access to a greater number of products.

The company says, Buying.com customers can also be assured of their transactions being secure, as the platform combines the best of blockchain to offer a digital ledger that “offers fraud-proof solutions and auto-verifies transactions for a tamper-proof, secure, immutable audit trail.”

The platform will run using built-in tokens called BUY. These tokens operate an incentive scheme for Node operators to help scale up the network’s progress. BUY tokens can be used to complete transactions on the site, and can also be earned by recommending buying.com to others.

The ICO pre-sale has started on Oct. 1 2018, with BUY tokens released for purchase at $0.07. A further pre sale and two crowdsales will follow (total token sum value = $50,500,000).

By Q4 of 2018 the team plans to have fully launched the BUY tokens and blockchain enhancements on their website, as well as unveiling the Buying.com DApp. The launch of the Mobile Direct Product App enabling consumers to carry out group purchases, is scheduled for the Q2 2018. The team also plans to further develop Prime Protocol features by the end of the year.

The website states, the team behind Buying.com boast a vast range of diverse experience. CEO Raghu Bala worked at Yahoo and Wharton MBA, and CSO Joshua Jahani is formerly of Deloitte, Jean Gabriel founder, Marcel Van Eeden from Deloitte, Bill McIntosh as the CMO is from Harvard and formerly at AOL.

Buying.com is associated with brands such as Nescafe, HP, Sony, and Panasonic, with their partnerships with companies such as Dropshipper.com and Snapforce, according to the website. In August 2018, they presented their work to attendees of the BlockShow conference in Las Vegas.