Are you about to structure up a B2B eCommerce marketplace real soon? Surely, you must have determined what and how to execute. But before you go head-on, here are a few things you need to know. We will answer some of the B2B FAQs that people are dying to know.
Read till the end to get a free, comprehensive guide on B2B eCommerce.
B2B FAQs
What Are The Models Of B2B eCommerce?
What Should A B2B Website Must Have?
How Does B2B Work?
What Do B2B Prospects Look for?
B2B Marketing Strategies To Follow.
What Are The Models Of B2B eCommerce?
This is one of those B2B FAQs that B2B entrepreneurs mostly search the answer for. B2B has various working models, but the most familiar of them are-
Source: Yourstory
Unmediated Joint B2B, mostly suitable for a small B2B company.
Source: Yourstory
Structured B2B
Unlike Unmediated B2B model, The service provider is candidly associated to the business enterprise.
Source: Yourstory
Amalgam B2B and
It is an amalgamation between Unmediated and Structured B2B models
Source: Yourstory
Outsourced B2B
This whole structure workes on outsourcing, they look for external service providers to handle and provide them with the task.
What Should A B2B Website Must Have?
People in this sector who want to improve their sales have many queries. What should their B2B marketplace include to boost sales is one of the noteworthy B2B FAQs among all those questions.
Clear Message
If the homepage of your message doesn’t throw a clear message about your products or services, then it’s pointless to have a homepage like that because it clearly screams “High Bounce Rate.”
People visiting your site must not feel lost or clueless about your products and services.
Strong, Relevant, and Substantial Content
Substantial content not only attracts traffic but also binds them. Blogs, articles, etc., related to your sphere that you put on your website not only solve people’s queries but also give an impression that you are well aware of your sphere, creating a factor of trust.
Optimization
If your website is flexible and open to changes and modification from time to time and according to the need, it will benefit your business. The optimizable structure of your website will help you cope with the changes in the consumer market. Enormous scaling space is what every B2B website must-have. An easily upgradable website will save you money because restructuring the whole website will cost more.
How Does B2B Work?
This is one of the most common B2B FAQs. You already know what a B2B eCommerce marketplace is. Well, obviously, that’s why you are going to spawn one.
There are mainly 3 different categories of B2B ecommerce marketplace and their functions vary largely.
- Software and Website Development Companies
- Acquisition and inventory exchanges
- Infomediaries
Software and Website Development Companies
These companies provide software, app, and website development services to other companies that are on the lookout of these services.
These companies have a systematic working frame, including-
Content Writers
They are responsible for producing content that is capable of attracting generous traffic. Based on the queries, content writers produce relevant contents for blogs, ads, etc.
They also strategize content according to the queries provided to them.
SEO Managers
They administrate several things; some of them are-
- Search Engine Optimization of the website.
- Traffic Inflow Tracking.
- Searching and collecting queries in coordination with the BDE to provide the content writers.
- Observe the behavior of the traffic visiting the website and the blogs and plan social media strategies accordingly.
BDE (Business Development Executives)
They are responsible for picking up the prospects, funnel them, and converting them into clients. They also observe the nature of queries made by people and provide them to the SEO managers so that the queries can be further answered through substantial content developed by the content writers.
Developers
team of qualified developers who coordinate with BDE, discuss the demands of the clients with them, and work on the development of the software, applications, extensions, etc. whatever the client demands.
After the testing is done the developers carry out the installation procedure.
Testers
The testers then test the developed app or software frame to check if it’s running smoothly.
Acquisition and Inventory exchanges
B2B marketplace where wholesalers, manufacturers, etc., list their services and products here. It becomes a podium where the people anticipating getting a good bargain on bulk purchases are connected directly to the suppliers across the country and globe.
Eg. Alibaba, IndiaMart, etc.
The working frame of these kinds of companies makes them sort of a mediator or connector between vendors and buyers.
These sorts of companies can either be B2B dropshippers or a full-fledged multi-vendor marketplace with warehouse and shipping facilities for the vendors and buyers. Alibaba is a fitting example of a dropshipping B2B company.
Infomediaries
Online Companies that gather and combine information regarding a particular subject on behalf of their clients in exchange for money. They act similarly to a personal agent for the companies retrieving data for the use of their customers.
Eg. Justdial.com
What Do B2B Prospects Look for?
Another one of the most important B2B FAQs is, what do B2B customers generally look for?
Well, the answer is quite simple and logical since they are investing a generous amount of their capital to buy resources or inventory, and the decision will affect many individuals in the company. Hence, they always look for value for money.
Their decisions are not on impulse, and they will always weigh the product against its price to compare if it’s justified.
If you really want your prospects to turn into leads and clients then you will have to pitch your product accordingly.
As promised, here’s your B2B guide to building a successful marketplace.
B2B Marketing Strategies To Follow
The last of the B2B FAQs is what sort of marketing strategy should be followed regarding B2B.
Here are a few things that you should keep in mind while planning your marketing strategy if you really want your marketplace not to stumble down.
- Firstly, some initial affinities can be observed in the structure of B2B and B2C but the functionalities hold grand differences and so does the marketing strategies of both spheres.
The goal of B2B customers is not instant gratification. Unlike B2C, they look for such resources to fulfil their needs, on whom they can depend even in future because the shipments are generally enormous or the services provided are of long term.
- Secondly, the target audience of B2B is totally different. They are quite arduous to define. A B2B platform might have fewer but larger clients.
B2B platforms never target an individual for marketing but approach other businesses through precise planning.
- Thirdly, prospect and lead funnel have some remarkable variation.
Eg. A simple B2C multivendor marketplace & eCommerce company providing software services.
The client conversion strategy is totally different from that of B2C; prospect follow-up and leads are cleft into various levels.
- Fourthly, The purchasing entity is not an individual but each one of the people that will be affected by the decision (stakeholders).
Now that you know how different the mass of consumers of B2B and B2C are from each other, here is the answer to one of your most anticipated B2B FAQs.
Engage With Your Customers
Engaging with your customers is very important. B2C marketplaces are expert in Audience engagement. They engage with their potential audience on every platform they think can possible can gain them customers.
Spawning a B2B marketplace doesn’t mean you don’t have to or can’t engage your consumers. How else do you expect to spread the word of your platform’s existence and the services you provide. To get customers and keep them aware of your new products and services, it is necessary to engage with them.
Understanding Customer Psychology
It is important to understand the psyche of your customer if you want to boost your sales. These are the points you can keep in mind while observing the customer mindset.
- A thorough scrutiny of buyers’ mindset and how it works.
- Pricing factor for B2B consumers.
- Decision-making elements.
- Colour Psychology (For B2B consumers).
- Emotional factor of the buyers.
About CedCommerce
CedCommerce has been offering the necessary technical solutions specifically made for building one such platform. CedCommerce’s B2B extensions are ready-made and reasonably priced solutions for building a website like Alibaba or website like IndiaMart. A B2B eCommerce business website armed with these features will undoubtedly possess the best in class features.