What is a B2B Marketplace?

Similar to how consumers can purchase clothes or food online, a B2B marketplace applies this philosophy for businesses to sell products to other businesses. The concept is that the marketplace, or online platform, services as a middleman between service providers and customers.

Take wholesale warehouses for example. Restaurants and small businesses buy their food and supplies from larger businesses at higher quantities for lower costs per unit. Where this method gets unique is when marketplaces find innovative ways to deliver customer experiences through their online platforms.

For example, The Steel Store is the first open and independent platform for industrial materials. It’s an independent and autonomous virtual marketplace that helps customers in the steel industry manage risk, improve cash flow, reduce inventory, and grow sales.

The tech for B2B marketplaces can be disruptive in many ways, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, business intelligence, and machine learning. The general idea is to bring a community thinking to the corporate world, which is why it's so powerful.

The upside of a B2B Marketplace

Online marketplaces have a clear advantage with everything being digital. For customers, all supplies or services can be managed through computers or smartphones, making for a convenient solution. With that comes the ability to categorize all services, see which regions suppliers are located in, search for certain prices, and even more customizable.

For service providers, there are advantages to secure more deals. There are more accessible customers, no geographical barriers, and overall more customers to tap. The internet is a global economy and all suppliers can use this to their advantage.