Small Sellers Have a Big Appetite for B2B Marketplaces

B2B marketplaces are having a profound impact on how small businesses conduct and manage their transactions across all industries. These websites offer numerous benefits that make them appealing as options for purchasing, assembling, and selling items quickly. Here are some of the benefits:

Creating and Launching a New Product

Over 50 percent of small businesses in the US use one or multiple marketplaces. A B2B marketplace is one of the best places to start and launch a new product or service. They bring together an endless pool of affordable product designers, manufacturers, marketers, shipping, and delivery talent. Products can be easily tested and fine-tuned before going to the market, or they can be rapidly scaled up in times of high demand.

Building an Online Presence

Being part of the marketplace offers you the opportunity to engage with buyers and sellers, thereby building trust and a profitable relationship over time. It’s a chance to get validation from the market by being rated through points and reviews.

New clients approaching you would have something to look at to make up their minds about your product and business. Some of these interactions are searchable by potential clients outside the marketplace, increasing the visibility of small sellers all over the web.

Marketplace Tools

One of the most appealing aspects of marketplaces is the tools they provide for free to small sellers. These include cloud services for shopping, apps, payment options, inventory and delivery tools, accounting tools, and marketing and advertising tools.

By tracking, the big marketplaces can evaluate and automatically reorder when sellers run out of inventory. Some sellers use multiple marketplaces to reach larger and more diverse audiences by utilizing various tools. In the United States, 75 percent of small sellers who use marketplaces use more than just one.

Mobile and the Future of Delivery

The future of international trade is digital. With over 60 percent of all B2B transactions starting online, most small sellers can only catch up by joining marketplaces that have the ability to build and scale international trade platforms that are responsive, mobile, and where they and their products are instantly available through search. Amazon, Alibaba, and DHL are all experimenting with drone delivery to supplement e-commerce growth. This will reduce the cost of high-tech delivery for small businesses that cannot afford to build and operate these themselves.

This isn't just true for one-stop shops. Niche services such as Flexport, Kitmondo, and Globality supplement the major leagues. Powered by technology and the ongoing expansion of international trade, there is still a sense that we are at a watershed moment in the relationship between small sellers and B2B marketplaces.

Sweet Tips from Ally:

In order to gain a competitive edge, SMEs must recognize and take advantage of B2B marketplaces. You can easily save time and money while building customer trust by using the right B2B marketplaces.