Are You a Startup or an SME? B2B Marketplace Is for You

B2B Marketplaces are thriving each day. Post-pandemic, B2B buyers and sellers have all adopted digital marketplaces to create a robust online presence of their brand. The Canadian marketplaces are the most efficient and effective way to buy and sell goods by ample business owners.

Research by Digitalcommerce360 states that most B2B ecommerce websites, log-in-portals and marketplaces increased from $1.39 trillion in 2020 to $1.63 trillion in 2021. Isn’t this increase massively in just a year?

The acceleration in ecommerce sales in 2021 is due to the realization and acceptance of the buyers and sellers to go online such as Canada online Marketplace, to drive the sales. While looking for the best Marketplace to buy and sell in Toronto, know that you are entering a giant global marketplace that will always have a bright future. Gartner says that by 2023, 70% of the enterprise marketplaces will have many B2B buyers and sellers.         

What is B2b Marketplace?

Gone are those days where B2B marketplaces used to act as a matchmaking platform to connect buyers and sellers across the globe, and then the purchasing took place offline. 

With Canada’s online Marketplace, secure and quick deals between various business founders and shipping logistics have started.

B2B marketplace is a business-to-business digital platform that connects many buyers and sellers. Here many businesses from specific industries sell their products to other businesses. The transactions involved here between various businesses are different from business-to-customer (B2C), consumer-to-business (C2B), consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-government (B2G). Therefore, the target audience is very different as compared to other platforms.

For example, owning an electronic store would need products to sell. In a marketplace buy and sell Toronto, this buyer or businessman can research various brands and sellers and then purchase products from various suppliers and manufacturers who will help replenish the stock whenever needed with bulk orders.

Types of B2B Marketplace

1. Vertical B2B marketplace

In Canada Marketplace, a vertical Marketplace is the one with buying and selling of products of a single niche or industry. All kinds of commerce of that industry happen in a vertical marketplace. For instance, pharmaceutical or electronics or construction etc.

2. Horizontal B2B Marketplace

This kind of Marketplace caters to products from different industries. For example, in the real estate business, you can find construction supplies, office decor items, and furniture from such marketplaces. Here the customer base is broader depending upon the nature of the business. 

3. Hybrid B2B marketplace

The hybrid Marketplace is a mix of B2B and B2C. It consists of products, services, B2B and B2C segments.

For example, Freelancer is a B2B service marketplace, and Amazon and Alibaba are considered B2B and B2C products. If we talk about eBay, it is a combination of B2B, B2C and C2C product-based marketplaces.

Any marketplace with more than one business model type is considered a hybrid marketplace.

Which is the best B2B Marketplace?

This is a tricky question. But the best Canadian online marketplaces differ for each industry per the requirements. When choosing an online marketplace for your startup or SME business, several factors must be considered to create the right online presence for your brand. They are:

• SaaS ecommerce platform which is mobile-friendly and has the required integrations and extensions
• Attractive pricing structure with loyalty discounts and transparency in the pricing
• Attractive and responsive UI/UX design
• AI technology enables to track of user patterns and creates a personalized shopping experience
• Accurate ecommerce operations relating to inventory management, categorizing products, natural time order management etc
• A good support community, flexible return policies, Compliance with GDPR and privacy policies
• Various payment options and International supported payment gateways
• Built-in marketing strategies integrations such as email marketing, SEO plugin, analytical tools etc.
• Choose the platform type as Hosted, on-premises or cloud-based
• Choose a vertical marketplace to start with instead of a horizontal one
• Make sure the Marketplace has a massive database of buyers and sellers

What are the types of B2B marketplaces based on the business model

• B2B Marketplace for products

Marketplaces that connect different businesses for product supply fulfillment. For example, Amazon, storehippoetc

• B2B Marketplace for services

Marketplaces that cater services to each other are known as service marketplaces. Upwork is a perfect example of a B2B service marketplace. It connects freelancers with employers.

Being a startup or an SME, let’s dive into some of the benefits of B2B marketplaces 

• Standardizing the approach to bringing products into the market -In Marketplace buy and sell Toronto, the seller can streamline the process through the B2B marketplace with the built-in features.

• Access to a broader customer base – Once you plan to enter the B2B marketplace, you get the benefit of the local as well as the global trade expertise. This leads to growth in sales with a wide range of customer bases across the globe. All you must do is to have sufficient resources to deliver your products to global buyers. The B2B marketplaces give overseas reach without spending much on marketing.

• Reduces operations costs– generally, a hefty amount goes into managing the operations and marketing. The money once spent on overseas business trips can now be saved by startups and SMEs simply by logging into one of the B2B marketplaces and start displaying the products to a global audience.

• Trial and error of new products – Coming up with innovative or similar products with a new brand name may take a lot of time to reach the ideal target audience. With the B2b marketplace, it becomes super easy to test the new product in the market by offering good discounts or free samples and requesting customer feedback in return. With positive ratings and the Marketplace’s AI algorithm, your product is sure to reach heights within a short period.

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• Stay ahead of the competition – It generally becomes difficult for SMEs to thrive in the global market when similar products or services exist, even if the SME has little innovation. With a B2B marketplace, one can stay ahead of the competition with other competitors with affordable investment into the transaction service fee.

To Sum up!

There are ample Canadian online marketplaces existing in the market which has shown amazing growth. However, for startups and SMEs to grow faster in sales, there is nothing better than B2B marketplaces. The proper selection of Marketplace will help you thrive in the market with a cost-effective solution.