The Community of B2B

A B2B marketplace handles a large number of participant companies as a community in order to organise a business platform filled with features that allow members to conduct various business processes over the internet and increase company productivity.

The resulting forum-esque environment drives competition and value through peer-review and discussion – but many buyers still value service, reliability and brand identity over a purely price driven market – this is what a business needs to get across in its own digital strategy, so that when buyers are directed from the marketplace they get a sense of who you are as a company.

The type of community created by a marketplace can also be cultivated in a dedicated website. By integrating aspects of a B2B marketplace into a parent or pure play site, a company can capitalise on the sense of trust and assurance garnered by UGC (user-generated content).

Much like in the B2C market, customer reviews and testimonials are worth their weight in gold to a B2B merchandiser. Review systems should be in place in any Ecommerce system that wishes to compete in the modern market.