Try it yourself: search for "steel drums" or "safety boots" and see how long it takes to reach a South African company that actually sells them. First come the sponsored links. Then come the big overseas marketplaces, shipping from the other side of the world. Somewhere further down, if you are patient, are the local businesses you were looking for.
Our owner and CEO got fed up with exactly this. Finding a South African supplier should not mean wading through pages of foreign websites and paid adverts. So we decided to do something about it, and built SupplyLoop.
Small fish in a very big pond
Thousands of South African businesses have spent time and money on a proper website. They list their products, their phone numbers and where they deliver. They have done everything right to be found online.
But on a general search engine they compete with the whole world, and with whoever pays for the top spots. A family steel merchant in Germiston or a packaging supplier in Durban is a small fish in a huge pond. The buyer down the road, who would happily support a local business, often never finds them.
What SupplyLoop does
SupplyLoop is a search engine with one rule: it only lists South African businesses. No overseas marketplaces and no paid adverts pushing the results around.
- Search in your own words. Type what you need, the way you would say it ("rivet gun", "bulk cardboard boxes", "laser cutting"), and SupplyLoop shows the suppliers that sell it.
- Narrow it down. Pick a province, or use Near me to see the suppliers closest to you first.
- Contact them straight away. Every supplier shows its phone number, email address and website, with a one-tap call or email.
- Ask for quotes in one go. Tick up to five suppliers, describe what you need once, and SupplyLoop sends the request to all of them. Their replies come to your email, and with a free profile you can compare them side by side.
There are already thousands of South African suppliers on SupplyLoop, and more are added every day.
Free, for buyers and for suppliers
SupplyLoop is free to use. You don't need an account to search, call or email a supplier.
If you run a business, you can also create a free profile. List what you sell, so buyers searching for it find you, and list what you buy, so SupplyLoop suggests suppliers for each item. If your business is already listed, you can claim the listing and keep it up to date. If it isn't, give SupplyLoop your website address and it adds your business for you.
Why Vali sponsors it
Vali is built for South African businesses, and most of them both buy from and sell to other South African businesses. Every order that stays local keeps money, jobs and skills in the country. That is the idea behind SupplyLoop's slogan: growing South Africa's economy, one link at a time.
We don't charge for SupplyLoop and we don't sell ads on it. We built it because finding a local supplier should be easy, and because South African businesses that have done the work to be found deserve to be found.
Open SupplyLoop and search for something your business needs this week.