Why B2B Sellers should consider marketplace according to Adrien Nussenbaum

As business buyers spend more online, B2B sellers face pressure to give them more of what they want in a single online destination. One option for sellers is to turn their websites into online malls.

The traditional way of conducting B2B business is changing: Rapid delivery, greater product choice and transparency over pricing are elements we’ve come to expect in both personal and professional settings. B2B companies can capitalize on these expectations through an online marketplace that they deploy to host other sellers while also selling their own products.

Specifically, three major trends—changing technologies, network effects and the changing business landscape—are driving B2B businesses to consider implementing online marketplaces.

Evolving technologies are redefining the expectations of B2B buyers. Today, instant access to products, reviews, and customer support have become the norm. Users expect a seamless, comfortable experience both in their private and professional interactions, leading B2B players to ramp up their digital investments.

The rising importance of network effects is also influencing the B2B industry, as businesses do not buy products in isolation anymore, but post and share online product reviews and comments, and increasingly expect to find everything in one place.

In addition, the business landscape has transitioned from local to global: Businesses are now competing with every other B2B company in the world, and buyers can source their purchases from a greater variety of actors. Companies that embrace these trends will outperform those that don’t.

Giving the customer what she wants

Being smart in retail essentially means giving the customers what they want: choice, price and service, the three core principles of retail. B2B companies must tweak their business models to ensure they can compete in the same way.

Forrester Research has noted that 82% B2B buyers would purchase again from the same supplier because of that supplier’s broad selection, and that 84% of B2B buyers would buy again from the same supplier because of consistently low prices.

An online marketplace is a business model that can meet and even exceed these criteria. It not only helps drive commerce but also offers a greater scope for expansion of sales and profits;

Quality of service has never been so important in commerce, with customers ready, willing and empowered to go elsewhere if a seller doesn’t provide what a customer wants and needs. An online marketplace allows an organization to offer improved customer service, greater product choice, and competitive pricing.

B2B marketplaces in action

An online marketplace can deliver in a variety of ways in the world of B2B. A distributor, whether with or without physical stores, can use a marketplace to significantly broaden his product offering without carrying extra inventory; these products can be complementary to those already offered, or new categories into which he wants to venture. Staples Exchange is an example of this type of B2B online marketplace.

For a manufacturer of B2B products, an online marketplace is a great means of federating and controlling its distribution network, providing the company with a new sales channel as well as streamlining its inventory management and gaining valuable insight into its performance. By granting customers a 360-degree view of every product—including pricing, origin and availability—and collecting customer feedback, marketplaces can tailor their product selection to their customer base. This is impossible on third-party marketplaces such as Amazon or Alibaba, where they have no control over other vendors or website visitors as a whole.

A single seller of B2B products can only store and distribute a finite number of products, however big its business. Furthermore, the threat posed by online-only sellers like Amazon.com and Alibaba Group cannot be under-estimated, but that’s not to say that most B2B companies are already beaten. Those in the B2B space have to think creatively about how to engage customers and add value to their purchasing journey. If they are unable or unwilling to innovate, they will see their customers flock to pure-players, which will dominate the market.

Article originally published in B2B E-commerce World.

Topics : Marketplaces

Lison Laissus

Written by Lison Laissus

Customer Marketing Manager

Subscribe to Our Blog:

Stay up to date with the latest marketplace news.