B2B: você sabe o que é business to business?

Constant digital transformations brought changes at all sectors, especially in the way companies buy and sell their products. If you think about the B2C market, for instance, the number of e-commerce transactions is still increasing, because large retailers understand that offering their products on-line isn’t just a trend, but a matter of survival in the current scenario.

The B2B market has also established the marketplace system – a platform that shows buyers a host of sellers from different areas, and manages the whole business; it makes the search for new partners easier, as well as contact between companies.

According to the latest edition of the Webshoppers report, released in 2017, the year showed an increasing number of transactions carried out on marketplaces. The segment reached a transaction value of R$ 73.4 billion, with a growth of 21.9% compared to 2016. The estimate is even higher for 2018 and 2019.

In Brazil, the number of businesses that use this solution as one of their sales channels is growing day by day. A study released by Precifica (‘Scenario of Brazil’s Marketplaces’) analyzes three of the key players in the market. The data regarding the second quarter of 2017 revealed that the targeted platforms had more than 7,000 different sellers, an increase of 13.6% with regard to the previous quarter.

But do organizations know the real importance of joining a marketplace? Do they understand the competitive edge they can have if they stay ahead of their competitors in terms of visibility? In this article, we’ll show you how you can leverage this technology breakthrough, and optimize your business results.

Low investment

There’s no need to invest in infrastructure if you choose to join a marketplace, because the platform is readily available. Therefore, you can forget any concerns about website development, hosting, domain and publicity. These factors decrease the investment level, which is then limited to the value of a contracted plan, or a commission on the sale or total transaction value – which can be negotiated.

Visibility

In the platform, the supplier company can insert your brand and register all important information on your business – such as product catalog and social networks. As a B2B sales channel, thousands of buyers are part of this ecosystem, and are interested in new supply sources. To be successful, it’s important to make a complete registration, with well-groomed images and correct texts, in order to make buyers’ search easier.

Control and management

Sellers get notifications of opportunities generated by buyers and can participate in bidding processes, which increases their chances of selling. Additionally, the marketplace enables to manage processes and analyze performance through quotation, order and billing charts, and allows also the monitoring of performance indicators, response time and negotiations.

Sales increase

This tool is another channel that allows you to increase sales with low investment. Any company with digital presence can search opportunities, and apply for and answer to RFQs from buyers (who wouldn’t have any visibility if they were outside the community). The buyer has benefits also by adding new sellers, and achieving savings and more security in their procurement processes.

There’s undoubtedly space for those who want to take advantage of expansion opportunities, but you must think strategically about virtual actions that can drive volume and conversions, and contribute also to the growth of on-line sales and purchases.

 

*Fabrizio Tassitano is Product Director at Mercadoe

Source: Clipping Segs.com.br