Service as a driving force
For B2B, it’s not good enough to merely differentiate by price or broad assortment alone.
Companies must leverage their expertise to create real value for their customers by solving their pain points via exemplary service. B2B buyers will return again and again to the marketplace that offers the most compelling B2B service features.
This focus on nurturing customer experience brings the historical relationship-based way of doing B2B business into the digital age, and appeals to both customers and companies alike.
Technology spend
No matter what industry you’re in, a successful business in the current climate must also be a technology company.
Especially for successful marketplace models, there is a clear correlation between revenue and the number of developers. Each developer equates to somewhere between $2 and $4 million in revenue.
For B2B companies to run a successful marketplace in the long-run, they need to invest in the technology side of the business.
Marketplace types
There are myriad use cases for B2B marketplaces, but your overall goals will influence the way you set up your marketplace or the business model behind it – so do your homework before getting stuck in.
There are options for operating your own marketplace selling your own products, known as first-party, or third-party, where you sell products from external merchants. There’s even the possibility to start as a pure marketplace player by selling only third-party products.
Some examples of popular marketplace use cases include aiming to scale your business at low risk, diversify your product range, get access to more customer insights, or go Direct-to-consumer (D2C) without undermining your dealer network. Each one of these goals will impact how you initially set up your marketplace.
Define marketplace KPIs
Never dive into a new sales channel without first
defining your KPIs. These should be agreed upon
and communicated clearly to all stakeholders
for maximum transparency, so there can be no
disputing whether the marketplace is successful or
not.
Examples of important KPIs to consider include
revenue, sales, reach, and customer satisfaction.
Don’t forget, one person’s understanding of
revenue or reach might differ from another’s, so
it’s crucial during the initial stages to clearly define
what each metric signifies.
Interested to know more about marketplace KPIs?
Check out this Spryker guide here:
Wise merchant selection
Similarly to the KPIs, consider first what the goal of your marketplace is when deciding what your merchant strategy will be.
Questions to ask yourself include, how many merchants do you want in total? How much competition are you willing to let in? What product range or extra services does the merchant offer?
As the marketplace operator, your business will be in the driving seat and able to control which permissions to give each merchant – but, onboarding the correct merchants in the first place which align with your overall goals will save you time and money.
Speed is crucial
A crucial success factor for B2B is the ability and speed at which you can implement new features and functions.
This can include speed of evolution in terms of adapting business models to suit modern best practises, speed of recognising customer needs and reacting to them, and speed of trial and error – taking small risks by trying new things via a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
Speed is one of the main denominators separating the top players in the market from everyone else. So, for your marketplace model to be a success, your company must keep speed at the top of the agenda.
Choose the right marketplace partner
Stand-alone marketplace solutions are appealing due to lower initial prices, but they come at the expense of higher maintenance costs down the road.
Invest in a marketplace-native commerce platform which is best suited for building sophisticated solutions such as complex B2B marketplaces. While the initial investment might be higher, the overall returns will work out to be more cost- effective.
Consider all your business needs and strategic goals when choosing not only the marketplace platform to go with, but also your implementation partners. Ensure that all parties have the knowledge and know- how to scale your business appropriately.
If you have an existing e-commerce solution, you’ll need a marketplace partner who is able to build it on top of your legacy technology. If you’re diving into digital commerce from scratch, you’ll want a partner who offers you the flexibility and composability to solve your exact complex business needs.