Why businesses, government need to keep up with B2B ecommerce trends

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The rise of the platform economy in the last decade has catalyzed transactions and made supply chains more efficient. Through companies such as Amazon, Alibaba, Uber, and other online structures, a wide range of economic activities have been made not only possible, but also fast and convenient. While the global economy is reorganizing, businesses and government bodies must also improve its operations to keep up with the changing landscape.

In devising a supply chain management strategy that delivers results and can be sustained with minimal cost and effort over the long haul, many leading companies have begun to engage in collaborative strategic sourcing. Taking the best of the sharing economy marketplace platforms, they apply it to their global supply chain to strengthen networks, improve data accuracy and efficiency, and save costs.

The possibilities in the use of marketplace platforms are endless, and the same can be said for its application in global supply chains. From assisting the public in finding and purchasing trusted care products and services to reducing the complexity of B2B procurement, this article explores a marketplace’s benefits for business and government agencies.

Addressing the challenge of rising business costs

Precisely because procurement processes are often costly and paper-based, there is plenty of room for improvement. When United Overseas Bank (UOB) announced that it’s developing a B2B virtual marketplace for its small-and-medium-enterprise (SME) customers, it cited cutting purchasing costs as one of the main reasons.

Online marketplaces in the B2C and P2P environments are new channels to market products and are extremely cost-effective. Through a marketplace, businesses and government agencies can negotiate bulk purchase deals. Buyers are also able to check for best prices for particular goods or services and alternative products that may be cheaper or of better quality.

Other opportunities for saving costs come from improved purchasing data, the simplification of sales and support processes, a more reliable and efficient supply chain, and increased customer as well as supplier satisfaction.

More efficient processes

Although price is important, the quality of the goods or services supplied and their on-time delivery is critical to the experience and output offered by a business or government agency. The factors above are largely affected by how efficient the procurement process is.

Compared to B2C transactions, B2B purchasing is more complex in nature, requiring more paperwork, research, and documentation. Business and government agency employees are often tasked with repetitive and mundane tasks, such as having to request for numerous separate price quotations for products and sometimes even shipping.

A network which connects all parties on one single platform with one point of contact for the entire procurement process can greatly reduce costs, time, and effort. With such an infrastructure in place, business or government agencies can then divert their focus from handling queries to sourcing strategically.

Another benefit of using marketplaces for procurement is that suppliers have their own microsites where they can update their product descriptions, prices, and shipping options.

Since marketplace platforms are modeled after successful B2C ecommerce websites, they’re relatively simple for employees and suppliers to use. The simplicity of the B2C online shopping experience can be matched, even down to payment processing if payment gateway capabilities are provided.

Data accuracy

In B2B procurement, data is of paramount importance. Decision makers rely on the quality and accuracy of the data entered into the system which means that discrepancies, queries, and disputes due to inaccuracies in a paper-based system can be detrimental and costly.

Sans the paper-driven bureaucratic processes, buyers and sellers can easily and securely exchange online documents. The accumulated procurement transaction data can then be used to inform strategic sourcing decisions and contract negotiations.

Stronger relationships and a more powerful network