Earlier, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers used to take orders face-to-face, on-call, or through fax. But now the scenario has changed because the B2B sellers are going online and making the best use of the eCommerce platforms.

According to Statista, the B2B eCommerce sales in the US are expected to reach around $1.2 trillion in 2021, up from $889 billion in 2017.

The B2B eCommerce marketplaces are gaining popularity and all of this has been possible because of the Amazon Business. It is a B2B marketplace by Amazon that offers business owners access to the retail giant’s vast network of suppliers for easy ordering and discounts on bulk volume. The platform already surpassed $10 billion in the year 2018 and according to RBC Capital Markets, it will generate a revenue of $31 billion by the year 2023.

Amazon Business Platform Screenshot

These numbers have helped the B2B sellers realize the value of eCommerce platforms and understand how important it is to stay ahead in the competition. 

If you want to start a B2B eCommerce store then it is important to choose the right kind of business model. Here are the possible business models for a B2B eCommerce business:

  • Supplier-Oriented Business Model
  • Buyer-Oriented Business Model
  • Intermediary-Oriented Business Model

Suggested read to learn in-depth about the above-mentioned business models: B2B eCommerce Platforms For Multi-Vendor Marketplaces in 2020

Top Features of a B2B Multi-vendor Marketplace

When you are starting an eCommerce platform for B2B, there are a few important features that need to be considered. I have classified these features based on their importance with respect to the Admin of the B2B eCommerce marketplace and the vendors. Let’s take a look at them!

Essential Features For The Admin

  1. Multilingual & Multicurrency Functionality:  Both of these features help you scale your business at the global level. These integrations help the buyers to search for the products or requirements in their native language and pay for the same in their own currency. It provides convenience to the buyers and ensures the success of the eCommerce marketplace.
  1. Multiple Payment Gateways: Buyers feel safe when they purchase things by using their preferred online payment mode. It is important to add multiple payment gateways in your B2B eCommerce marketplace so that your buyers and vendors rely on your platform.

  2. Vendor Subscription Plan: If the admin has started a B2B eCommerce marketplace, he/she definitely wants the revenue eventually. So, an annual or monthly vendor subscription plan is the best option. It can help the admin earn the revenue by providing better selling opportunities to the vendors in exchange.
Amazon Business Subscription Plan

4. Product Management Features: The product catalog feature helps in avoiding issues like incorrect product descriptions, poor quality images, and other attributes. Additionally, product review management acts as a factor driving more sales with the help of positive product reviews on the website.

5. Warehouse Management: This is a unique feature with respect to a multivendor eCommerce platform. It enables the admin to track real-time inventory, add multiple warehouse locations for operations that are efficient. It is an easy to configure feature and is managed by the admin of the B2B eCommerce marketplace.

Essential Features For The Vendors

6. Easy Vendor Registration: A good B2B eCommerce marketplace should provide a hassle-free register and product listing to the third-party vendors. They must have an exclusive profile to showcase their listed products to the customers.

7. Real-Time Inventory Updates: This is another must-have feature that provides real-time inventory updates to the vendors for better inventory management. It helps in adding the stock at the right time by providing information related to the stock level.

8. Discount Features: Vendors can offer bulk price discounts and minimum order discounts to the customer by using this feature. It acts as a crucial factor to encourage the buyers to buy more quantity of the products.

9. Tax Management: There is a need for better tax management because of the varying tax rates for different categories in different regions. Platforms integrated with this feature enables the vendor to input the correct tax details for all the products.

Quickbooks Tax Management Option

10. Ordering Process: This feature is necessary so that the buyers can purchase the products easily. Here is how this feature works for the vendor:

  • RFQ (Request for quotation) – The admin can set a minimum order quantity for buyers who want to send quote requests.
  • RFP (Request for proposal) – This feature enables the wholesaler to send a request for a proposal to the buyers.
  • Bidding & Auction – As the name suggests, it enables the buyers to bid and vendors to auction the products to the several buyers bidding on them.
  • Order negotiations – It is an important step that includes several negotiations between buyers and sellers before making the final decision.

Planning to Start a B2B eCommerce Marketplace? Choose the best B2B eCommerce software – Yo!Kart Multi-vendor eCommerce Platform. Visit: https://www.yo-kart.com/ for more details.

Top 5 E-commerce Platforms For B2B Marketplace

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