B-to-B e-commerce

Author: Narayanadas
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: The golden nuggets of wisdom from this book's aggregation mechanism can operate effectively under the following conditions:
◎ The cost of processing an order is high relative to the cost of acquiring goods.
◎ The products are specialized, not generic.
◎ The number of individual products or inventory keeping units (SKUs) is exceptionally large.
◎ Suppliers are highly decentralized as a whole.
◎ Buyers cannot understand complex dynamic pricing mechanisms.
◎ Procurement is implemented through pre-negotiated contracts.
◎ It is possible to establish a massive catalog containing a large number of suppliers (ton tacata, dō).
The matching mechanism can operate effectively under the following conditions:
◎ The products are either generic or semi-generic and can be traded immediately without face-to-face interaction between buyers and sellers.
◎ The transaction volume is large relative to transaction costs.
◎ Buyers and sellers have sufficient maturity to handle dynamic pricing.
◎ Companies use spot procurement to smooth out supply and demand fluctuations.
◎ Logistics and order fulfillment can be implemented by third parties, usually without revealing the identities of buyers and sellers.
◎ Demand and value are volatile.
B-to-B is a major category of e-commerce. To compete in this field, one must not only have insights into industry trends but also have full control over the entire process from product conception to delivery. This requires B-to-B e-commerce practitioners to possess extremely high qualities. By studying this case collection in depth, you will discover: