B2B eCommerce

A website following the B2B business model sells its products to an intermediate
buyer who then sells the products to the final customer. As an example, a wholesaler
places an order from a company's website and after receiving the consignment, it
sells the endproduct to the final customer who comes to buy the product at the
wholesaler's retail outlet.

B2B identifies both the seller as well as the buyer as business entities. B2B covers a
large number of applications, which enables business to form relationships with their
distributors, re-sellers, suppliers, etc. Following are the leading items in B2B
eCommerce.
 Electronics
 Shipping and Warehousing
 Motor Vehicles
 Petrochemicals
 Paper
 Office products
 Food
 Agriculture

Key Technologies
Following are the key technologies used in B2B e-commerce −
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) − EDI is an inter-organizational exchange
of business documents in a structured and machine processable format.
 Internet − Internet represents the World Wide Web or the network of networks
connecting computers across the world.
  Intranet − Intranet represents a dedicated network of computers within a
single organization.
 Extranet − Extranet represents a network where the outside business
partners, suppliers, or customers can have a limited access to a portion of
enterprise intranet/network.
 Back-End Information System Integration − Back-end information systems
are database management systems used to manage the business data.

Characteristics of B2B eCommerce

Multiple decision-makers. In B2B, there are often four or more decision-makers involved in
the purchase process. In practice, this may require multiple user roles in the checkout /cart
process with multiple stages taking many days (or weeks).

Longer decision cycle. The B2B buying cycle is much longer than for B2C – so the lead time
between initial contact and receiving any payment are longer. But also, customer expectation
is different - wanting to change exact details of the order through the process.
 Customer-specific discounts. In B2B, the variations in price lists, discounts, and even
available products are generally more complex than for B2C. This is historical. Whether
necessary is not the appropriate question when building a B2B eCommerce solution as this is
usually a fixed requirement in all but the smallest businesses.

Conflict with direct sales channels. Many B2B businesses have an established sales team who
will be unhappy with online competition that can be seen to decrease their performance bonus.
Careful thought must be given to how this is introduced.

International markets. B2B eCommerce is often used as a way of reaching

international markets, maybe in small numbers. Regulations, legal and cultural issues
can cause more of an impact than for B2B eCommerce and this impact is
exaggerated if products are small in number and high in value.
Architectural Models
Following are the architectural models in B2B e-commerce −
 Supplier Oriented marketplace − In this type of model, a common
marketplace provided by supplier is used by both individual customers as well
as business users. A supplier offers an e-stores for sales promotion.
 Buyer Oriented marketplace − In this type of model, buyer has his/her own
market place or e-market. He invites suppliers to bid on product's catalog. A
Buyer company opens a bidding site.
 Intermediary Oriented marketplace − In this type of model, an intermediary
company runs a market place where business buyers and sellers can transact
with each other.

a) Supplier- Oriented Marketplace (eDistribution)

A supplier oriented model is a model wherein a number of suppliers set-up an online marketplace to
establish an efficient channel to sell to a large number of businesses. The supplier has the prerogative to set
his/her own price based on the needs of the buyers. Suppliers are usually searchable by the products or
services they offer. The loyalty of businesses and goodwill in the market is crucial to have success in this
business model.
Cisco’s marketing is a fine example of the supplier-oriented B2B marketing strategy. Cisco first launched
its website in 1994. By 1998 there was heavy traffic on the website, one million views per month. The
popularity was due to check on their orders, technical assistance or download software. In the same year,
Cisco stated that launching its online applications saved them US$363 million per annum.
The company owns an online marketplace named Cisco Connection Online. In 1997, it sold US$1 million
worth of network (routers and switches) products to a wide range of businesses.
B) Buyer Oriented Marketplace (eProcurement)
A buyer-oriented model revolves around the demands of individual buyers. This business model is most
popular among big corporations with greater purchasing power and high volume purchases. The buying
business sets up an online portal to accept quotations from various different sellers. The quotes start to flow
in and after careful analysis, the buyer can decide which seller to transact with. That way, Buyer Oriented
B2B model allows buyers to bring down their administrative costs and also get the best price from the
suppliers.
GE’s electronic bidding site, known as GE TPN Post acts as a buyer-oriented marketplace. To use this site,
the buyers need to pay a nominal fee. Post that they can share their project requirements on the website.
Suppliers who can meet the requirements start making bids for the project. Once there are plenty of bids to
choose from, buyers can go ahead and decide which one gives them the best bang for their buck.
In addition to bringing buyers and sellers close to each other, Buyer oriented marketplace model allows both
parties to expand their network, build partnerships and eventually strike more profitable deals than
otherwise possible. To build a highly versatile website, the business would need 3rd party integrations. Be
careful about the solution you are choosing to build your b2b ecommerce website.

C) Intermediary-Oriented Marketplace (eExchange)

An intermediary-oriented model consists of marketplaces that allow buyers and sellers to communicate and
transact with each other. Marketplace owners maintain a log of buyers and sellers and the chief aim is to
earn a profit from such associations. Also, understanding the top practices for b2b ecommerce is important.
The prototypical example of an intermediary-oriented marketplace is the eCommerce behemoth Alibaba.
The company was founded in 1999 as a B2B portal to connect Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers.
The magic moment happened in 2012 when two of Alibaba’s portals recorded $170 billion in sales. In 2015
it created a record by racking up sales and profits far greater than all US retailers, including Walmart,
Amazon, and eBay combined.

Just in Time (JIT)

JIT is a method of ecommerce supply chain management that is designed to cut

costs, increase efficiency, and decrease waste by receiving goods when they are
needed. It effectively means having enough inventory available to meet customer
demand but no more than just enough, so you need to stockpile the remainder
pretty quickly thereafter.

Other B2B Models

B2B Models that Can Help in Connecting with Your Trading Partners
The direct connection B2B model
This model outlines the process in which your business is connected directly
to all your trading partners for transferring electronic documents amongst
them. The IT organization connected with your business is considered to be
responsible for all sorts of business-related tasks like translation, tracking of
all documents, assisting technical support, and mapping. Once the
community grows under this model, the immediate priority goes onto
continual monitoring of communications and managing trade partner calls
to resolve their issues quickly.
Network B2B model
The inception of this model came into the picture when the direct model
resulted in multiple complexities. Thereby, the companies decided to
execute exclusively via a B2B Service Provider, which was known to be a
Value-Added Network (VAN), before the invention of the internet. Under
this model, a single connection was established to the Service Provider who
used protocols like AS2, SFTP, FTPS, FTP over VPN, RosettaNet. Similarly,
the trading partners connected with the Service Provider by choosing the
respective connectivity protocol that was most desirable as per the
company’s requirements
Hybrid B2B model
The conjoined combination including the direct and network models gave
birth to this particular model. In a motive to save on the Service Provider
transaction fees, businesses will get in touch directly with their trading
partners with whom they have the maximum volume of transactions
through the medium of the internet. Doing this, the business is constantly
benefitted from the Service Provider for the cause of trading with a huge
number of lower-volume trading partners.
Managed B2B model
This model is a platform where the company outsources its entire B2B
process requirements to an outside service provider and benefits by
lowering the resource needs. This also cuts down the additional costs and
complications of the process. The model works on a system that lets the
Service Provider receive the business documents through a direct medium of
your ERP system. It is then responsible for activities like mapping,
translation, data centre operations, technical support, and document
tracking. The Service Provider will deliver the ready documents to your
trading partners directly or through the network.

So this was again another kind of subdivision when it comes to

B2B businesses.

An e-auction is a transaction between sellers (the auctioneers) and bidders (suppliers in the
business to business scenarios) that takes place on an electronic marketplace. It can occur
business to business, business to consumer, or consumer to consumer, and allows suppliers to
bid online against each other for contracts against a published specification.
This kind of environment encourages competition, with the result that goods and services are
offered at their current market value.
1. Types of eAuction
2. eAuction Process
3. Benefits for Buyers
4. Benefits for Suppliers

Types of e-auction
Classic reverse auction – Multiple sellers compete to obtain the buyer’s business.
The buyer can see all the offers and may choose which they would prefer.
Predominantly used for procurement.
 English auction –English auctions are where bids are announced by either an
auctioneer or the bidders, and winners pay what they bid to receive the object. The
most common and straightforward form of e-auction, they’re intuitive, user-
friendly, and can help to reduce transaction costs.
 Dutch auction – Dutch auctions start at a high price, which is then incrementally
lowered until a buyer accepts the price. The first person to bid wins the auction, which
makes them good for quick decisions.
 Japanese auction – Here the buyer sets a high price which decrements at pre-set
amounts at pre-set intervals e.g. £500 every 2 hours. If a supplier is happy to provide
the goods and services at that price, the transaction then goes ahead.
 The process of a B2B e-auction in brief
1. Create, test, launch, receive and score requests for proposal (RFP) responses.
2. Determine the ‘lot strategy’ – A lot is the term for the item(s) that engage suppliers to
submit bids i.e. the products or services that are being sold. A lot strategy is therefore
the seller’s strategic combination of these items to increase competition and the
opportunity to reduce costs.
3. Train participants – A pre-auction training session allows suppliers to overview the
auction tool, answer any questions, and hold a mock auction.
4. Conduct and monitor the e-auction – Ensuring the bidding activity is running
smoothly is essential. A buyer or company representative should be ready to intervene
if problems need solving.
5. Evaluation of bids – The sourcing team and user departments conduct post-auction
analysis based on pre-defined criteria.
6. Consumer-to-consumer E-auctions – The C2C marketplace has increased over time
too, with more companies entering the space to facilitate C2C transactions. Popular
among sellers looking to maximize their sales potential by connecting with customers
they otherwise would not reach. Common online platforms include sites like Etsy,
eBay, and Craigslist – websites that offer free or low-cost classified advertisements,
auctions, forums, and individual pages for start-up entrepreneurs too.
Since there are minimal costs involved, the margins are kept higher for sellers and lower for
buyers. There’s also an undeniable convenience; rather than trying to sell in a physical store,
consumers can simply list their products online and wait for buyers to come to them.
Likewise, buyers only have to search through listings for the items that they want.

The benefits of B2B e-auctions

For buyers
An e-auction provides procurement professionals with competitive prices for their products,
pitching the suppliers directly against each other to see who can offer the lowest prices. It also
streamlines the procurement process and saves time, since each supplier is not required to
submit a full proposal.
For suppliers
E-auctions tend to be open, allowing smaller businesses to compete in the process, which in
turn also enables suppliers to compete in new sectors. A winning bid can lead to more
business, as most buyers will look to source their ‘non-core’ products from their existing
supplier.
Software Agents
Software Agents are program that performs specific tasks on behalf of their users,
Independently or with a little guidance.
re agents are the useful tools to help individuals to undertake their activities on E-Commerce
ndings.
How did the word Agents was taken from?
e (A Latin Word) Agent is taken from a latin word Agere means act upon something or to do.

re Agents are:
piece of software but It is not just a Program.
a system situated within and a part of an environment and acts on it.
pable of complex assignments without intervention, rather than a tool.

Fundamental properties of Software Agents are:

Autonomy:
Agents operate without the direct intervention of
humans or others, and have some kind of control over their actions and internal state.
Social ability:
Agents interact with other agents (and possibly with humans) via some kind of agent
communication language(i.e: KQML(knowledge query manipulating language)).
ndamental properties of Software Agents are:
Reactivity:
ents perceive their environment, (which may be the physical world, a user via a graphical user
erface, a collection of other agents, the Internet, or perhaps all of these combined), and respond in
mely fashion to changes that occur in it.
Pro-activeness:
ents do not simply act in response to their environment, they are able to exhibit goal-directed
haviour by taking the initial
ents can be made more intelligent with the following additional properties:
ptively:
elect actions that follow from knowledge and goals.
 boration:
are able to modify knowledge and behaviour based on experience.

onality:
an plan and execute multi-agent problem solving.

What Do You Mean By Emarketing?

An email marketing campaign is an effective marketing channel, an element of the
digital and direct marketing strategies that you can use to promote your business.
You can integrate it into your marketing automation efforts so that customers are
aware of the latest offers and items on sale.

What Are The Major Types Of E-Marketing?

 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
 Pay-per-Click (PPC)
 Social Media Marketing.
 Content Marketing.
 Email Marketing.
 Mobile Marketing.
 Marketing Analytics.
 Affiliate Marketing.

What Is The Best Example Of The Digital

Marketing?
 Authority is gained by the American Express credit card.
 user content is at the center of Airbnb.
 Promoted events on Lyft with the creation of promoters in the marketplace.
  A Domino’s franchise and new technology are embraced by the Domino’s
industry.
 Is it Sephora’s omnichannel omnichannel path? .
 There is an emphasis on solutions with Slack.

What Are The Four Major Business Markets?

es sell products primarily to producers, resellers, government agencies and investors.

Management issues in e business:

 Competing on price. The first thing nearly all participants wanted to talk about is
whether ecommerce sites should discount their products to remain competitive.
 Managing offline retailers.
 Integrating chatbots.
 Maintaining investment from the business.
 Boosting revenue.