Take Your Business Global With Online B2B E-commerce Platforms

Internet has changed the way business is conducted. There was a time when it was all about having a good website with great Google page ranks. With the inclusion of E-commerce and Social Web 2.0, businesses are now evolving and adjusting to new ways of conducting various operations. From using emerging online business tools to improve productivity to leveraging social networking to improve marketing and increasing outreach while keeping the costs low, internet has revolutionized the way businesses operate.


E-commerce helping SMEs grow: New Opportunities
Internet based technologies, especially the e-commerce, offers SMEs the opportunity to cut business transaction costs and find new customers and suppliers. Also e-commerce creates a whole new opportunity for SMEs to reach out and explore markets, both domestic and international without being present physically. This was not possible earlier.

Online B2B E-commerce websites which facilitate the business oriented networking between the vendor and the client online are gaining momentum. There are many of them existing which have successfully helped small and emerging businesses to scale upto the next level by increasing footprints globally and better establish and manage vendor relationships.

Some of the top ranked B2B E-commerce networks are:

1. www.indiamart.com
2. www.trademart.in
3. www.alibaba.com
4. www.ecplaza.net

Thought there might be difference in features of the different B2B exchanges as listed above, the broad existent purpose for all of them is creating an online space for the sellers and help them get connected with the interested buying community globally. 

How do I list my company on these B2B exchanges?

Almost all of these platforms are free for listing your company on them. While some of their services are free, there are some services which the business needs to pay for. 

All you need to do to list your business on all of these platforms is just click on their names above and reach to the concerned website and register your business there as suggested. Eg:

Post reaching the website of IndiaMART, if youa re a new user, you need to register by logging in, which you can do by clicking the relevant category of whether you are a buyer OR a supplier, as shown in the screen capture below:

If you are a supplier, the platform automatically provides you options to fasten your sign up process and better achieve your business objective.

Suppliers can: 

• Create their website for free
• Advertise free
• Subscribe to trade alerts

These features help a business to create an online presence quickly and register online to be listed in their business directory of suppliers worldwide. Once your listing is done, you can get a free website as part of the platform in a few steps.

How does it help my emerging business to have a website?

• Reducing down cost of creating your own website and hosting it online
• If you have no technical knowledge on these B2B exchanges you can quickly just enter in the information you have and create the web presence

Great, but how do I connect with buyers globally?

Its as easy as the above step of getting your website up and running on IndiaMART as an example (as one of the B2B exchange platforms).

The screen capture above shows on the right hand side of the screen a listing of buyers and sellers across the world who are updating their requirements. If you are a seller searching for buyers of your product, you must ensure that you list your business in the sellers directory on the left most side of the screen, as shown in the screen capture below:

How can SMEs leverage such B2B exchanges?

For Small and Medium enterprises such B2B exchanges are a great opportunity as not only do they provide a platform to market and position your business strongly in front of many prospective buyers globally but also provide you quick access to many trade leads.

What if right now I don't have the scale to serve larger trade leads?

B2B exchanges like IndiaMART provide a platform where you can connect with relevant service providers/ vendors. Example, if you happen to bag a major order globally and you think your production capacity is limited to only a certain extent and you don't have the time to scale up by installing new machinery, you can go online and collaborate with a quality supplier and successfully deliver your orders, which further helps you slowly scale up to the next level of growth.

Be updated about relevant events globally

Networking is one of the best ways to start business relationships and participating in global events is one of the best ways to do the same. The B2B exchanges provide updates on global events which you can attend as a business. This will help you establish a brand recall in the target market. The screen capture below shows how you can see and access relevant events globally for your business.

There are many such such B2B E-commerce platforms emerging globally which help SMEs to work towards expanding and scaling up business to the next level of growth. List your business on these exchanges and take advantage of global networking.

Team IndiaMART Knowledge Services is always geared towards creating growth oriented opportunities for SMEs. To know more, how you can leverage the internet for your business, get in touch with our experts by dropping in a comment to this post!