¤ B2B Service

What is B2B?

E-Commerce, globally, is entering a new phase. While the first phase was fueled by the vision and innovation of business-to-consumer (B2C) companies, the next phase will be defined by the leadership and market success of companies engaged in business-to-business or B2B e-commerce. B2B refers to electronic transactions between and among companies and their employees and suppliers. It involves the transaction of goods or services between businesses as opposed to between a business and a consumer. Manufacturers and wholesalers are components of the B2B category. For example, a company that makes tomato ketchup would sell it to dealers, retail shops and direct customers like hotels/restaurants who are themselves businesses. A retailer may engage in both B2B (with suppliers) and B2C (with consumers) transactions.

B2B can also encompass marketing activities between businesses, and not just the final transactions that result from marketing. B2B can also be used to identify sales transactions between businesses. An example of B2B involving marketing activities and sales transactions is a company selling photocopiers to other businesses.

B2B typically takes the form of automated processes between business/trading partners and is performed in much higher volumes than B2C applications. In order to understand the opportunities for B2B e-commerce we need to look at how a business operates in a market and identify the opportunities that exist for introducing internet solutions in streamlining the business processes.

Consider for example a producer of tinned food products such as Heinz (tomatoes, fruit, soup etc). Who do they buy and sell from? What commodities do you think they need? How are they likely to manage inventory? What sorts of relationships do they engage in with suppliers, distributors and customers?

Here is a list of some common business activities that could be integrated into a B2B implementation:

• Finding customers through sales and marketing
• Obtaining quotations, negotiating price, specifications and contracts
• Procurement of raw materials, components and supplies: Integration of a business with its vendors using an internet based e-procurement system.
• Inventory management and control
• Warehousing: Enabling just-in-time (JIT) ordering/shipping and moving warehousing costs to suppliers
• Distributed web-based database applications for companies spread across wide geographical area to keep track of sales, inventory, stock transfer and internal order management.
• R&D. Product (or service) development
• Selling to retail and wholesale customers and through distributors
• Invoicing
• Managing Human Resources (Staff)
• Managing Property
• Enabling distributors and customers to do your marketing for you
• Sales & Marketing reporting system between a franchisor and its franchisees or between a manufacturer and its distributors.
• News reporting system by journalists spread across the country to the newspaper's head office.

The above is a short list, however the possibilities are endless. The B2B area is wide and any requirement conceived can be translated into an internet based B2B solution. If you are interested in implementing B2B for some or all of your business functions, write to us detailing out your requirement and we shall work out a B2B solution for you. Computer solutions provides custom B2B solutions that implement your business methods so as to preserve the processes that you have crafted with your direct experience of the market and that give you a competitive edge.

If you wish to implement B2B for some or all of your business functions, write to us detailing your requirement.

OneStopB2B.com: a Global B2B marketplace managed by Computer Solutions.

Business-India.in: a India B2B marketplace managed by Computer Solutions.