B2B E-commerce:- Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is the largest form of e-commerce. It is e-commerce between two organizations. It is also known as e-business and is experiencing an explosive growth rate on the internet. Companies are now mutually buying and selling products and services on the internet. is the sale of goods or services between businesses via an online sales portal. Instead of manually receiving orders – by telephone or email – sales representatives receive orders digitally, reducing overhead costs. Business-to-business (B2B), also called B-to-B, is a form of transaction between businesses, such as one involving a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer. Business-to-business refers to a business that is conducted between companies, rather than between a company and an individual consumer. Business-to-businesstandds in contrast to business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-government (B2G) transactions.
Business-to-business (B2B) refers to a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when:
- A business is sourcing materials for its production process (e.g. a food manufacturer purchasing salt).
- A business needs the services of another for operational reasons (e.g. a food manufacturer employing an accountancy firm to audit their finances).
- A business re-sells goods and services produced by others (e.g. a retailer buying the end product from the food manufacturer).
In B2B commerce it is often the case that the parties to the relationship have comparable negotiating power, and even when they don’t, each party typically involves professional staff and legal counsel in the negotiation of terms.
The following are the advantages of B2B e-commerce:-
- Managing inventory more efficiently.
- Adjusting more quickly to customer demand.
- Getting products to market faster.
- Cutting lower prices on some supplies.
- Lesser human intervention.
- Reduction of overhead expenses.
- Reduction in errors.
- Increased efficiency.
- More advertising exposure.
Building blocks\Key components:-
Following are the Building blocks\Key components B2B e-commerce:-
- Application server:-
An application server is required to develop, manage and execute B2B services and traffic for higher performance and non-stop service. It manages connections and applications, makes services available during upgrades, monitors security, detects dead connections and endures a fault-tolerant B2B environment.
- B2B integration server:-
An integration server is necessary that a large number of systems and protocols must work together to support B2B e-commerce.
- Personalization software:-
The personalization software makes it possible for a company with multiple buyers (partners) to display or provide only the content that is unique to the partner. It takes into consideration factors like stored partner profile, purchasing behaviour and user-privileges. Its goal is to provide a tightly focused B2B interface and interaction with each partner.
- Content management facility:-
Content management is essential in order to serve the content to the appropriate user.
- E-commerce packages:-
E-commerce packages is a set of programs which includes customer service and product management, a storefront for direct delivery, a shopping cart and order-fulfilment modules.