Things to look for in a B2B Marketplace Software

While apparently, the B2C sector has been at the forefront of the eCommerce transformation across most industries, taking away the limelight. Significantly, it is the global B2B eCommerce market that is actually valued more than five times. According to Statista, it is projected to reach CAGR in excess of 18% by 2028. 

The growth of the sector is expected given that for B2B eCommerce the appeal transcends beyond just cost benefits and wider product/consumer base. Popular B2B platforms have effectively set up global supply chains, redefined procurement for merchants, streamlined operations like inventory and sales, aggregated fragmented markets, and a lot more. 

At the heart of this transformation has been technology.

Technology that understands the intricacies of B2B, its needs, and key drivers that foster better user experiences, and eventually lead to growth. Since B2B eCommerce platforms extend benefits beyond B2C, they need to offer the right tools to the users to execute their strategies.

In this blog, let us understand some key features that B2B platforms need to provide to their users to foster effective business dealings.

Key Growth Drivers in B2B

The difference in online B2B interactions with respect to B2C is that the buyer is a business entity, and for them, the purchase triggers vary greatly from end consumers.  Sales for the B2B buyers are prioritized by factors such as ROI, and the long-term value the product or service adds to the business. The sellers, therefore, prepare for the sales process with a more informative, and flexible strategy. Some key drivers that are integral to B2B eCommerce are as follows.

Flexibility

With the possibility of greater volumes involved, B2B interactions may involve a flexible strategy from the sellers. Pricing, order delivery date, payment terms, and other variables can be subject to the buyer and the order volume.

Long-term value

B2B is more long-term relations driven. Time is invested in arriving at the product most suited to the business goals ― implying a longer sales cycle, but after that, chances of repeat orders are much higher.

Data

The more the better. Because of the possible sustained importance of the product/service. B2B buyers use the maximum data available in the form of descriptions, compliance certificates, dimensions, performance, and other pivotal parameters to arrive at purchase decisions.

Custom Processes

B2B sales can be dynamic, with each sale potentially bringing in additional variables of prices, taxes, order specifications, logistics requirements, and more. For instance, requirements from a retail store would be different from a wholesaler’s.

B2B Features key to meeting these requirements

Based on the key drivers you can identify the essential requirements that would be needed in your B2B eCommerce platform. These requirements are met by features that allow the primary platform participants to interact and carry out their roles.

Request For Quote (RFQ)

The RFQ functionality allows sellers to stay open for price negotiations. The buyers ask for price estimates by submitting a quote form. The sellers can then respond to these requests with pricing, delivery, and payment terms.

Direct communication channel

Direct communication channels allow sellers or buyers can communicate and mutually agree with the terms and conditions regarding the order.

Product Catalog Management

Detailed product information is the cornerstone of B2B purchase decisions. Product Catalog allows the marketplace operators and sellers to add detailed product information along with relevant media like images and videos. Moreover, to allow buyers to efficiently search for the product, Product Catalogs can assist the users in categorizing the product precisely

Data Migration

The import feature allows easy migration of data by the marketplace operators. This can help in easier and faster marketplace set-up.

Services and Products

B2B marketplaces can potentially connect users from across the supply chain, offering finished and unfinished products. Allowing sellers to offer services linked with the products or exclusively broadens the scope of the marketplace, and makes it a comprehensive platform for the users.

Custom Invoice

Since orders can vary in the B2B domain, offering flexibility to the sellers with features like Custom Invoice fosters streamlined B2B interactions.

Option to Hide product prices

Sellers can implement their pricing strategy with ease, by hiding the prices of the products or services they offer on the platform.

Bulk Order Management

B2B sellers may want an ecosystem that encourages bulk orders. Their pricing, sales efforts, packaging and logistics (if in-house is preferred) will be modeled around it.  Optional features of bulk discounts and minimum order quantity can allow sellers to focus efforts towards higher volume sales.

Launch a purpose-built B2B marketplace

eCommerce success hinges on user traction. Build a platform that has key B2B features as mentioned above. Yo!Kart B2B is a B2B eCommerce marketplace solution that is engineered to drive fulfilling user journeys with key platform features. Let’s see some of these features in the video shared below.

Just like these features, Yo!Kart B2B ecommerce software is ingrained with essential eCommerce functionalities, business APIs & payment gateways pre-integrated out of the box. Moreover, an intuitive UI/UX, and logic-driven workflows, are all encapsulated in a value-driven package.