Natbuild is Australia’s leading trade hardware and building supplies buying group. Continually striving to deliver more value and increase engagement with members and suppliers, Natbuild embarked on an ambitious technology project in late 2014 to develop a software platform to more efficiently communicate with their audience. A key driver of the development project was to reduce the number of external IT providers, licensing and support costs, and business continuity risks. Natbuild wanted to consolidate the numerous existing platforms into a single “Source of Truth”. Hence the birth of TradeNet, a custom built platform specifically designed to meet the needs of one of Australia’s largest buying groups.

TradeNet’s first version was launched to buying group members in July 2015 and soon after to buying group suppliers.

Throughout the following years, TradeNet matured and additional modules were added as new challenges arose within the Natbuild group. New modules were typically introduced in May and October during the Natbuild conferences, with additional updates delivered throughout the year.

By October 2021, 12 modules had been added to the TradeNet suite, encompassing all aspects of back-of-house operations for one of Australia’s largest independent buying groups.