As an individual, most of us have used, at least once, a B2C marketplace, where we can choose many of the products that we need, on a single platform. It makes it easy to do our shopping, and it often costs less than buying inside a store, or on a specialized e-boutique. So, why wouldn’t you do the same when it comes to buying for your company? If you have never done so yet, chances are this will change soon enough. Here is why.
No More Wasted Time
Not so long ago still, buyers had to find their vendors, one by one, which meant a lot of vetting to do. This time is not necessarily a great investment for a company. Although it is true that the buyer may find a product at a good price in the beginning, chances are that it will fluctuate and go down in the future, in the marketplace, while it will remain the same for the company that has signed a contract directly with the firm supplying it. On a B2B marketplace, the prices are constantly adapted by suppliers, in order to keep their share of the market. Therefore, buyers are sure to be provided with the best deal possible, or at least, a very competitive one.
Also, a buyer cannot talk to every supplier of a given product. Certainly not today, as we live in an international market, where sometimes the best price can still be available, even though it is shipped from halfway around the world. The biggest B2B marketplaces tend to cover a fuller spectrum, so that companies find the deal that they were looking for, through one of the suppliers found on the site.
Insurance of Quality
What new buyers need to be good at, is finding the right platform on which they will proceed to do their shopping. Some B2B marketplace will focus on greater numbers of suppliers, while others will place the emphasis on making sure that all products ordered on their site will be of optimal quality. This is precisely the kind of platform that one needs to look for. Otherwise, it can be extremely difficult to judge if the price is right, before ordering. Being a buyer on such platforms also provides you the opportunity to change suppliers whenever you want, but also finding a new platform to buy from, if you are not satisfied, which also simplifies the whole process.
A Greater Capacity to compare
When company buyers were in charge of vetting each company, one by one, they basically had to do the work which is already done on the B2B marketplace: Define the product (characteristics) and a price at which you can buy it. If one looks at the presentation of the product on such platforms, he will find all the information on all similar products, all at once, making it an easy task, when it comes to choose between them all. The only difference will be that they won’t have it in hands. But then, most of the time, you can buy a single one to discover its real value, before starting to order larger quantities.
