Mercell Connect helps you find and invite relevant suppliers for below-threshold or invitation-only tenders directly within your existing procurement workflow.
Many public tenders below the thresholds are never published, meaning buyers often invite the same familiar suppliers. Mercell Connect changes that by connecting you to the wider Mercell Bidding network. It allows you to discover companies based on what they actually offer and where they deliver, rather than relying solely on existing relationships.
How Supplier Matching Works
When you reach the supplier invitation step of an eligible tender, Mercell Connect automatically presents a list of suggested suppliers.
The Automatic Match: The system evaluates your tender's title, description, and CPV codes, and matches them against the supplier profiles in our network.
Search and Filter: You will see all profiles that match this initial criteria. If you want to cast a wider net, you can use the manual search function to find additional suppliers who did not match the automatic setup.
Understanding Supplier Profiles
When reviewing the suggested list, you will encounter two types of supplier profiles. Both profile types appear in your potential invite list, and you can invite either:
Extended profiles: These enriched listings give you immediate context. They include a company description, CPV codes, keywords, and delivery regions. This extra detail helps you quickly recognise the supplier's capabilities and verify if they operate in your area.
Profiles: Suppliers using a free Mercell account have a standard profile. This shows their company name, organisation number, and location.
It is the supplier's choice to create an Extended profile or retain their default profile.
The Connection in Practice
Because Mercell Connect is built into your current platform, there is no separate portal to log into. Here is how the workflow looks in practice:
Start your tender: You begin a below-threshold tender that is open only to the suppliers you choose to invite.
Automatic matching: Mercell matches suppliers to your tender based on their Mercell Connect profiles.
Review the candidates: You view the suggested suppliers, using their profiles to assess what they do and where they deliver.
Send the invitation: You make the final decision and send the invitations directly through the platform.
Receive bids: The invited suppliers can now bid on a tender they might otherwise never have seen.
Important Guidelines
When using Mercell Connect, you remain in complete control of your procurement process.
Total Buyer Control: A robust supplier profile never guarantees an invitation. You always make the final decision on whom to invite.
Fair Competition: No supplier can pay to rank higher in your search results, and no one can purchase an invitation.
External Invitations: The system remains flexible. You can still manually invite any company via email, exactly as you do today, regardless of whether they are on the Mercell network.
Article Ref: 101120260900