Seres: Could you introduce IM Media to us?
D. Leblanc: IM Media is an IT services company with 6 employees formed in 1995. We are software developers and integrators, we sell hardware, software packages, etc. One of our partnerships is the development of a specialist package for the fishing industry as we are based in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France’s leading fishing port and Europe’s top seafood processing centre. We currently have around 100 customers, mainly based in Boulogne-sur-Mer, but also throughout France.

Seres: Why did you use an external company for tax-compliant electronic invoicing?
D. Leblanc: We wanted to set up a partnership for tax-compliant electronic invoicing following a request from a customer, who had been asked by Carrefour supermarkets to switch to electronic invoicing, quickly followed by two or three other requests. It should be pointed out that the majority of our customers work with major retail chains since Boulogne-sur-Mer is also the leading centre for sale and distribution of seafood products, and is consequently the top supplier to retail chains in this sector. Our current workload meant we could not develop an EDI translator ourselves. We therefore conducted a comparative study of electronic invoicing solutions from several companies. We initially looked at the cost, then the financial health and soundness of these companies in order to recommend to our customers the most cost effective partner selected.

Seres: Why did you choose Seres?
D. Leblanc: Its prices were among the most attractive and Seres proved to be a lasting and financially sound company with which we could establish a stable, long-term partnership. Our choice was then backed up by a comparative study already conducted by one of our customers.

Seres: How did working together go?
D. Leblanc: Perfectly! We firstly developed an interface between our Nautile application and e-Facture, then ran some full-scale tests in order to finalise it. Our partnership relationship was straightforward with just one contact person on each side. If they need additional explanations, our customers can ask the Seres sales department directly. We now already have seven customers running live, and five others which will be dealt with soon. We think we will have more and more requests in the coming months, since Casino, Auchan and Carrefour supermarkets among others are asking their suppliers to implement a tax-compliant electronic invoicing solution.

Seres: Have the results seen by your customers been satisfactory?
D. Leblanc: It should be pointed out that before being an area for optimisation in our customers’ minds, electronic invoicing solutions are for them first and foremost an additional cost. However, we can say today that our customers, like ourselves, are satisfied with the solution. Not enough time has passed to assess the benefits in terms of quality and quantity. They hope that dispute resolution will eventually be quicker. One thing is certain, Seres’ solution is moving in the direction of improving relationships between the various commercial partners, taking advantage of new technologies.