B2B Suppliers - B2B Portal News | MarketPlace | Directory | Products | Trade

Business to Business (B2B) market offers spectacular opportunities for manufacturers, suppliers, exporters, importers and service provider. A B2B market manages a large number of players as a business community.Do what you know exactly a B2B market? Based on the Internet B2B market tends to focus either on steep or flat markets. B2B Vertical markets automate the procurement procedure in an industry that brings together buyers and sellers at various levels of distribution in conjunction with transactions job.Brand: B2B market is a huge community of buyers and sellers. For employment in another market, the brand can be defined simply as a batch of images, images and feelings that are evoked in the psyche of your customers and prospects to reference your figure (or number of goods . In order to ensure that the image that is evoked is a routine check and constructive amount is a challenge in a job at branding. In the consumer goods reality, while expensive, branding is relatively simple: Building a brand through a coherent system of advertising that connects your goods or service to the images and emotions that you are looking for the consumer to correlate with you. B2B markets are one-stop job for many solutions Part? needs. Real time market allows buyers to move quickly resolution, two major indicators of productivity are part rising incomes and reducing costs. Products offered on a market are integrated into the eCatalog and seller? Web Store. B2B Exchanges are online marketplace for companies to purchase and trade in services of higher quality and new businesses. Buyers are unable to make final purchasing decisions to pay for poor substance of the goods resulting chance of 'job losses for businesses. To avoid this B2B markets take one form or another advanced eCatalog structure that offers a value of persuasion are proposal.There new benefits that can get to participate in a B2B market as a buyer participants easily.For B2B market offers as indicated below: Gain time? Provides accelerate acceptance, the command monitoring processes and economy. Access to the original suppliers? B2B market participation removes geographical fences and provides original approach suppliers.Increased sales? With a wider market, suppliers have the potential to increase revenue.Reduced sales and support costs? By automating sales and customer support processes companies can cut more costs about 25-30 head % High costs well.Reduced? Elegant Thanks to high supply chain costs can be reduced to 30 up percentages.B2B trade: The landscape is dotted with hundreds of B2B exchanges that have failed, showing that success is far from automatic. But many are still in operation. They have learned to go to reward opportunities and avoid disadvantages of this energy source of online merchandising. integrated sales channel in a market Business to Business covers all stages of the sales procedure, including quote, dialogue, billing and sending tracking.www.Made-India.com is an innovative and comprehensive online business-to-business (B2B) portal, which provides a professional platform for Indian exporters, manufacturers, suppliers and others who are involved in the import-export. Since its inception in 2007, Made-India has emerged as an international platform for thousands of consultants, importers - exporters, organizations and companies to transact business at the global level, without intermediaries.


Source : small-business-faq.blogspot.com

If somebody tells you that your present corporate website can be converted to a B2B portal which will help you significantly improve your company’s productivity in both of the two primary factors: Revenue Growth and Cost Saving, and that the portal can be launched in a matter of months with a very reasonable investment, what will be your reaction? Read on to learn how corporations all over the world are missing an opportunity, which can revolutionize the way they manage their businesses.

What is a B2B portal?

A portal is defined as an access point to World Wide Web. A portal is a combination of web pages, features and services which become a primary destination for users. The word was first used to describe the sites of popular Internet access providers or search engines such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo! At a later stage, the word “portal” evolved into something bigger covering business websites, where a corporate portal or enterprise information portal acts as a base for employees, customers, suppliers and other associates of a company to access corporate information and web services. A B2B portal is a distinct kind of website with features to conduct electronic business and manage significant parts of corporate business processes.

Benefits of having a B2B portal

Today, B2B portals are not just a fancy idea! They are an absolute necessity for all enterprises of any type and size. The advantages of having a quality B2B portal are massive. Implementation of a true high quality B2B portal could have immediate impact on company productivity.

Revenue Growth

Revenue Increase from Existing Clients
Existing clients get faster and easier access to product information, quicker response to their requests, get better customer support and are able to buy products online.

Revenue Increase from Value Added Services
Once a B2B portal is set as the primary sales channel, spared resources can be used to create more value added services for clients. Some of the services that the portal may offer also could be utilized to generate more value.

Cost Savings

Order Processing Cost
If the B2B portal integrates supply chain management solution, it will reduce the cost of processing orders drastically. Studies show that similar solution can reduce cost of processing a purchase order from US$ 70 down in average to US$ 6 only.

Sales and support costs
Automated sales and customer support features integrated in the solution is capable of reducing overhead costs up to 30 percent.

Inventory keeping costs
Clearer visibility and forecasting ability thanks to various features of the B2B portal may help companies considerably reduce inventory keeping costs.

Other key benefits include:

Low customer acquisition cost
Effective portal branding on the Internet will help to attract customers from new sources. The cost of acquiring customers through online channels is always cheaper than other traditional methods.

Improve customer service
Ability to have constant interaction with customers through the B2B portal helps companies serve customers better. The B2B portal solution allows tracking the whole ordering process from payment to delivery and brings greater efficiency in customer service.

Reduce sourcing time cycle
The customers can select products from the integrated marketplace of the B2B portal and either sends purchase orders or directly buy products using the shopping cart. Buyers handle all their procurement related correspondence from a consolidated working page, which helps them react instantly and reduce time in document processing.

Community participation
Company buyers and sellers can create communities surrounding the B2B portal’s discussion board. This helps getting valuable feedbacks on time, building new partnerships using the networking ability of a community, and disseminating important information to members easily.

Real time access to current product information
Current information of a product is vital for an accurate buying decision. Updating product content and other information using customized forms as it is necessary, the company can help buyers and other associates to take critical decision promptly.

Control rogue spending
Consolidated and automated procurement and approval method stops maverick buying in a company.

Main components of a B2B portal

Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management solutions can deliver great values to company’s existing systems. Implementation of these solutions will help achieving incredibly high return on investment and will have tremendous impact on company’s business, which include: better productivity, faster order processing, greater visibility, the elimination of maverick or unplanned purchasing, etc.

Marketplace
This is the venue where the enterprises can post their products for sale. A sophisticated shopping cart will be integrated into the electronic marketplace in order to automate the buying process.

Auction
Electronic auction system can use both English and Dutch auction methods. For convenience the auction component can be integrated into the electronic marketplace.

Online auction helps liquidate surplus goods easily.

Reverse Auction
This solution allows the company to automate electronic procurement, where suppliers compete for business real time online.

Storefront for Participants
Each associate of the B2B portal will get a Storefront that may reflect profile of the company, its products, services or other information.

Forum
A Forum or a Discussion Board is an organized, on-line interactive message board where participants conduct discussion on a set of topics by posting questions, comments and responses.

Internal Messaging System
Elaborate Messaging System allows a participant of the B2B portal send and receive messages from other participants and the company. Since the messages do not leave a secured server, participants would not be worried about sending sensitive information over the Internet.

Classified
Catalog based bulletin board allows company associates to post important notices in various predefined formats.

Directory of Companies
This is a listing of all registered associates of the B2B portal either by business category or by alphabetical order. An advanced search engine tool is incorporated in order to find a company based on data provided.

E-catalog
E-catalog a hierarchy of product and service categories based on UNSPCS, a global products and services classification method that covers the broadest collection of industries and commodities available today, and designed to facilitate e-commerce transactions by providing geography-independent common nomenclature system.

Product Content Adding System
Product adding mechanism based on either easy-to-use wizard or simple but detail forms allows users to integrate products or services with accurate and up-to-date information.

Product Notification
The system can generate an alert and send by email to a user, who requested to inform once a particular product or service gets added to the E-catalog.

Numerous other features could be incorporated to an existing B2B portal depending on requirement, such as: News Aggregation using RSS feed, Contact Management, Electronic Journal, Press Room, Document Repository, etc.

Time needed to set up

Using ready made B2B Portal components from a provider like Rusbiz.com a medium size portal can be built or integrated to existing website within three to four months.

By developing a B2B portal ahead of your major competitors you can give your business a significant boost and make your company stand out from the crowd.

Nowshade Kabir is CEO of Rusbiz.com, a global B2B portal for small and midsize companies. Our distinctive web stores along with many outstanding features like e-marketplace, e-catalog, supply chain management solutions, and trade leads section will allow you to build robust Internet presence and manage key business processes online. Rusbiz also develops Corporate B2B portals.

If somebody tells you that your present corporate website can be converted to a B2B portal which will help you significantly improve your company’s productivity in both of the two primary factors: Revenue Growth and Cost Saving, and that the portal can be launched in a matter of months with a very reasonable investment, what will be your reaction? Read on to learn how corporations all over the world are missing an opportunity, which can revolutionize the way they manage their businesses.

What is a B2B portal?

A portal is defined as an access point to World Wide Web. A portal is a combination of web pages, features and services which become a primary destination for users. The word was first used to describe the sites of popular Internet access providers or search engines such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo! At a later stage, the word “portal” evolved into something bigger covering business websites, where a corporate portal or enterprise information portal acts as a base for employees, customers, suppliers and other associates of a company to access corporate information and web services. A B2B portal is a distinct kind of website with features to conduct electronic business and manage significant parts of corporate business processes.

Benefits of having a B2B portal

Today, B2B portals are not just a fancy idea! They are an absolute necessity for all enterprises of any type and size. The advantages of having a quality B2B portal are massive. Implementation of a true high quality B2B portal could have immediate impact on company productivity.

Revenue Growth

Revenue Increase from Existing Clients
Existing clients get faster and easier access to product information, quicker response to their requests, get better customer support and are able to buy products online.

Revenue Increase from Value Added Services
Once a B2B portal is set as the primary sales channel, spared resources can be used to create more value added services for clients. Some of the services that the portal may offer also could be utilized to generate more value.

Cost Savings

Order Processing Cost
If the B2B portal integrates supply chain management solution, it will reduce the cost of processing orders drastically. Studies show that similar solution can reduce cost of processing a purchase order from US$ 70 down in average to US$ 6 only.

Sales and support costs
Automated sales and customer support features integrated in the solution is capable of reducing overhead costs up to 30 percent.

Inventory keeping costs
Clearer visibility and forecasting ability thanks to various features of the B2B portal may help companies considerably reduce inventory keeping costs.

Other key benefits include:

Low customer acquisition cost
Effective portal branding on the Internet will help to attract customers from new sources. The cost of acquiring customers through online channels is always cheaper than other traditional methods.

Improve customer service
Ability to have constant interaction with customers through the B2B portal helps companies serve customers better. The B2B portal solution allows tracking the whole ordering process from payment to delivery and brings greater efficiency in customer service.

Reduce sourcing time cycle
The customers can select products from the integrated marketplace of the B2B portal and either sends purchase orders or directly buy products using the shopping cart. Buyers handle all their procurement related correspondence from a consolidated working page, which helps them react instantly and reduce time in document processing.

Community participation
Company buyers and sellers can create communities surrounding the B2B portal’s discussion board. This helps getting valuable feedbacks on time, building new partnerships using the networking ability of a community, and disseminating important information to members easily.

Real time access to current product information
Current information of a product is vital for an accurate buying decision. Updating product content and other information using customized forms as it is necessary, the company can help buyers and other associates to take critical decision promptly.

Control rogue spending
Consolidated and automated procurement and approval method stops maverick buying in a company.

Main components of a B2B portal

Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management solutions can deliver great values to company’s existing systems. Implementation of these solutions will help achieving incredibly high return on investment and will have tremendous impact on company’s business, which include: better productivity, faster order processing, greater visibility, the elimination of maverick or unplanned purchasing, etc.

Marketplace
This is the venue where the enterprises can post their products for sale. A sophisticated shopping cart will be integrated into the electronic marketplace in order to automate the buying process.

Auction
Electronic auction system can use both English and Dutch auction methods. For convenience the auction component can be integrated into the electronic marketplace.

Online auction helps liquidate surplus goods easily.

Reverse Auction
This solution allows the company to automate electronic procurement, where suppliers compete for business real time online.

Storefront for Participants
Each associate of the B2B portal will get a Storefront that may reflect profile of the company, its products, services or other information.

Forum
A Forum or a Discussion Board is an organized, on-line interactive message board where participants conduct discussion on a set of topics by posting questions, comments and responses.

Internal Messaging System
Elaborate Messaging System allows a participant of the B2B portal send and receive messages from other participants and the company. Since the messages do not leave a secured server, participants would not be worried about sending sensitive information over the Internet.

Classified
Catalog based bulletin board allows company associates to post important notices in various predefined formats.

Directory of Companies
This is a listing of all registered associates of the B2B portal either by business category or by alphabetical order. An advanced search engine tool is incorporated in order to find a company based on data provided.

E-catalog
E-catalog a hierarchy of product and service categories based on UNSPCS, a global products and services classification method that covers the broadest collection of industries and commodities available today, and designed to facilitate e-commerce transactions by providing geography-independent common nomenclature system.

Product Content Adding System
Product adding mechanism based on either easy-to-use wizard or simple but detail forms allows users to integrate products or services with accurate and up-to-date information.

Product Notification
The system can generate an alert and send by email to a user, who requested to inform once a particular product or service gets added to the E-catalog.

Numerous other features could be incorporated to an existing B2B portal depending on requirement, such as: News Aggregation using RSS feed, Contact Management, Electronic Journal, Press Room, Document Repository, etc.

Time needed to set up

Using ready made B2B Portal components from a provider like Rusbiz.com a medium size portal can be built or integrated to existing website within three to four months.

By developing a B2B portal ahead of your major competitors you can give your business a significant boost and make your company stand out from the crowd.

Nowshade Kabir is CEO of Rusbiz.com, a global B2B portal for small and midsize companies. Our distinctive web stores along with many outstanding features like e-marketplace, e-catalog, supply chain management solutions, and trade leads section will allow you to build robust Internet presence and manage key business processes online. Rusbiz also develops Corporate B2B portals.

Andrea Lopez - Mumbai

The IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) plans to sign a contract with WorldSpan as one of the GDS providers for its B2B portal I-Top 8. The portal has already registered 50 members so far and hopes to expand its membership base once completely in place. Says Biji Eapen, president of IAAI, "We have just concluded our trial run with Amadeus and are now in the process of finalising the details of the contract with WorldSpan."

As reported by Express TravelWorld earlier, the B2B portal will hold payment gateways in addition to hotel reservation and car rentals. "Members will be able to create a profile for their own sub-agents and clients," adds Eapen.

Source: expresstravelworld

LUND, Sweden & COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Apptus, a global provider of Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) solutions, today announced that the major directory service of Denmark, De Gule Sider, has successfully implemented Apptus platform to launch their brand new site Allbiz.dk, a business to business directory service.

"We’re very excited and proud to accomplish our vision to develop a state of the art B2B directory. This has been possible thanks to the Apptus Theca Platform, set to give deep, precise and highly structured search results," says Patrick Mesterton, Online Marketing & Sales Director, DGS.

Allbiz.dk focuses on B2B customers and services exclusively. It is an excellent tool for small and medium sized companies when searching for new suppliers, customers or partners. In one single place Allbiz.dk provides information that is essential for development of B2B relations such as key financial figures for evaluation of companies.

The search engine behind allbiz.dk is highly flexible and capable of accommodating the most advanced search queries of our users. This has been made possible thanks to the great technical expertise at Apptus. Thanks to the flexible mind of their employees we have a solution that meets our market requirements, says Pernille Eiberg Brocks, Product Manager, DGS.

Allbiz.dk is the latest search solution that Apptus has created for DGS during the last few years. DGS has with the help of Apptus turned their site into a first-rate service which has doubled the amount of data, users and performed searches, whilst keeping the same platform thanks to the Apptus Theca® flexible and advanced solution.

For us it’s stimulating and rewarding to work closely with an advanced company such as DGS and the Allbiz.dk project, says Michael Atlevi, CEO at Apptus. It’s a company that moves in new directions on the market. Furthermore it’s a proof of the excellency of our Apptus Theca® platform. It is scalable both in volume load and complexity and handles a company in serious growth. Apptus Theca® is continually being refined and developed at a pace that ensures and strengthens our customers’ leading positions over the years.

About Apptus

Apptus is a private company, headquartered in Sweden with offices in Canada and England. As the Nordic leader within the field of search and database technology, Apptus provides solutions and products that ensure accessibility for customers with growing data sets and strong demands for search logistics, relevant results and connections to the customer's own business. Apptus primarily supplies solutions to customers within the fields of e-directory and e-commerce. Among the customers are Bokus, CDON, De Gule Sider, Eniro, Hitta, Lokaldelen and Lunarstorm. Apptus conducts research in search and database technology. Apptus’ keywords are quality, result and growth. For more information, please visit www.apptus.com.

About Allbiz/De Gule Sider

De Gule Sider® is the leading information service in Denmark with more than 374 million look ups per year in 101 telephone directories, at degulesider.dk, allbiz.dk, mobil.dgs.dk and information service 1811. De Gule Sider A/S is the largest publisher of telephone directories in Denmark with an annual number of copies exceeding more than 7 million directories. De Gule Sider employs approximately 600 people. De Gule Sider is a part of European Directories S.A. - one of Europes largest directory publishers with companies in several European countries.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://newsroom.cision.com

Source: (BUSINESS WIRE)

A new online digital independent news source focusing on the Canadian music industry has luanched in the wake of this year's Juno Awards ceremony.

FYIMusic.ca will provide music industry news, event information, and a spotlight on Canadian performers, says site Publisher and Editorial Director, David Farrell.

FYI launched April 7th, the day following the annual Juno Awards, Canada's music industry salute to its performers, composers and arrangers. FYI provided reports from Calgary where the event was staged, capturing the behind-the-screen dramas and the jubilation of winners and their teams.

The site will be up-dated daily with a weekly summary sent out to several thousand dedicated e-mail addresses belonging to musicians, managers, agents, talent buyers, record companies, promoters, music publishers, broadcasters and the media, site developers describe.

Farrell, a founding partner of FYIMusic and veteran Canadian music industry reporter, previously co-published The Record. He has been reporting on Canada's music industry for over 30 years. Farrell will be joined by Richard Flohil, a longtime music journalist and raconteur. Flohil will contribute editorial content to FYIMusic.ca weekly.

Along with Farrell, publisher FYIMusic was founded by YANGAROO, Inc., a Toronto-based digital media distribution firm and developer of Digital Music Distribution System (DMDS) and Gary Slaight, former President and CEO of Standard Broadcasting.

"FYIMusic.ca will be on the frontlines of reporting on business developments in the Canadian music industry," Farrell added. "We'll also be spreading the word about talented Canadian artists at home and abroad."

Despite ranking in the top six record markets worldwide, Canada has been without an authoritative trade publication for several years. Initial response to the launch of FYI has been enthusiastic with many in the industry commenting that the business is long overdue in having a trade to report on developments and connect the industry coast-to-coast, the publisher described.

"FYIMusic.ca will serve as the information resource from Canada for the entire industry," said John Heaven, President and CEO of YANGAROO, Inc. "Our DMDS technology will distribute FYIMusic to key industry players that use DMDS throughout the country and elsewhere."


FYIMusic.ca is powered by technology partner YANGAROO, Inc.
YANGAROO's patented Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS) is a leading secure B2B digital delivery solution for the music and advertising industries. DMDS is a web-based delivery system that pioneers secure digital file distribution by incorporating biometrics, high-value encryption and watermarking. DMDS replaces the physical distribution of musical recordings and advertising to radio, media, retailers and other authorized recipients with more accountable, effective and far less costly digital delivery of broadcast quality media via the Internet.

YANGAROO's DMDS has made over five million deliveries of over 11,000 songs from more than 500 record labels to destinations which include radio stations representing over 35 US broadcast chains.

(Source: mediacastermagazine.com)

Makemytrip.com recently launched Holiday Plus, a holiday tour package product for international and domestic destinations. The package includes pick up and drop (from the customer’s home), air fare, hotel room, meals, sightseeing, visas etc.

Complete tour packages have been in demand in the industry recently. The company has forayed into the ‘complete tour package’ travel segment due to continued growing demand. Sachin Bhatia, Co-founder, Makemytrip.com, says, “Currently, our focus is on holidays. We have both low value and high value packages for our customers. Low value packages are mainly for South East Asia, while high value packages are to Europe and America.” They company has employed mainly Hindi, English and Gujarati speaking guides, who will meet the tour group at the airport. Bengali speaking guides will be available for groups from West Bengal.

The company has 20 retail locations across India, where a client can walk in and buy a package. “Since its launch, the product is getting a huge response. As we have retail shops in India, we get many walk in customers.” Close to 26 per cent of the holiday product’s transactions comes from the Business to Business (B2B) model of the portal.

Makemytrip.com recently introduced real time international ticketing online. The portal enables its customers to block a ticket immediately, by depositing booking fees of Rs 5000. The rest of the amount can be paid by the customer in three to four days. This facility eases the pressure of the hefty amount charged by international airlines. All airlines flying from India are reflected on the portal.

Currently, both the website and call centre, book around 100 tickets each day. According to Bhatia, “It is the beginning; we are sure that our online booking numbers will pick up next month. They should double by next month, but call centre bookings will remain about the same.”

TravelAgentMall.com, a B2B portal, aims to achieve a worldwide presence, by end 2008. With an investment of Rs 2.5 crore (approximate), the portal aims to touch a turnover of Rs 400 crore by March 2009.

“Our first priority is to enter the Middle East, Europe and Australia. Once we get in there, we have plans to enter China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, by this year end”, says Vikas Kannan, Marketing Head - Global, TravelAgentMall.com. The portal, which was launched in India this February, has registered over 10,000 Indian agents, already. In USA, the portal launched in March and registered more than 35,000 travel agents from the country.

According to Kannan, the portal has signed a deal with a German consolidator to enter European marketing. Elaborating on expansion plans, Kannan says, “We plan to start our operations in Europe within a month, while operations from the Middle East and Australia will start by June 2008. By the end of this year, we will operate from most countries worldwide”. The portal is in talks with consolidators from Australia and the Middle East and is expected to sign a deal by mid April 2008.

Apart from expansion plans, the portal will see the addition of new features and facilities, this year. Currently, the portal offers only air ticketing facilities on domestic and international routes. “We are awaiting an approval from Amadeus; once it is clear, we will add hotels and car rental facilities, as well,” says Kannan. The portal plans to offer about 6,000 domestic and 15,000 international hotels, online, in India. According to Kannan, the portal is looking for railway bookings, once the Indian Railways grants an API (Application Program Interface) approval. “We will also look at bus bookings by mid 2008, along with railway bookings”, adds Kannan.

TravelAgentMall.com will provide access to special fares offered by international and domestic consolidators. Every agent will be provided with a unique user name and password to login to the website. The portal is a part of USA-based Travel Technology company called Wizie.com.

Business to Business or B2B refers e-commerce transactions between businesses. It is a term that originated and is almost exclusively used in electronic commerce and usually takes the form of automated processes between trading partners. Or you can also perceive B2B as the transactions that happen within an industrial value chain before the finished product is sold to an end user or a consumer.



B2B can also describe marketing activities between businesses, not just the final transactions that result from marketing, though the term can be used to identify sales transactions between businesses. As an example of B2B we can consider a tyre manufacturing company supplying tyres for an automobile company.



How B2B web sites help Business in International Trade?



For example, let’s say a Textile Factory (China) wants to Search/Export to a Garment Factory (India) who is also looking for good textile for his garments. B2B plays the interface between them and help them in all the steps to make the final deal. Then let’s say a Wholesaler/Importer of Garments (Canada) wants to Source/Import from Garment factory (India). B2B Website helps them locate Garment factory according to the Importer specification and helps them import.



Textile Factory to Garment Factory from Garment Wholesaler/Importer



So with this example we learn how B2B helps Exporters to search and contact Buyers/Importers and again helps the Imports to Source/Locate the specific Manufacturer/Exporter for the product he is interested in.



B2B Portals are those which provide information about services/information/products provided by businesses which can be used by other businesses. B2B portals are usually categorized on the basis of the business type and services they render. It acts as a platform for the businesses to display the product/services and attract potential customers. Or we can say B2B portals are meeting place for buyers and sellers across the globe.



Cost Effectiveness is an important aspect of the b2b portals. The companies operating in different countries cannot always catch their business deals through advertisement campaigns. It will not be feasible for a company to spend big amounts on advertising and wait for the results. So for these companies business to business portals are really helpful. They can register in the portals and get business from there.



Portals operate in different styles. But most of the portals have two different kinds of membership for businesses.



1) Basic membership: This membership is free, which will provide the company listing for them in the portal and limited access to other businesses or trade leads from the portal.



2) Premium membership: This membership is not free. Here companies have to pay some fixed amount for registration. This will give enhanced company listing and unlimited access to other businesses and trade leads. Some portals also provide mail feature and other attractive offers.



In the present day world, web is having its influence in each and every sector. Most of the businesses doing Import or Export have their business listed in the leading b2b portals. They are reaping the benefits of the web based business world.

Toboc is an International B2B Portal which offers business solutions for Importers, Exporters, Transporters, Brokers and other services. Here we provide International Trade Leads for businesses across the globe. Trade Everything Everywhere. Please visit us at http://www.toboc.com.

Who buys your product? If you're like most manufacturers, you probably fall into one of two camps. You may be part of an established supply chain for a very large manufacturing company like Ford or Hewlett-Packard. Or you may be selling to a number of different companies, most of whom you probably know well. In either case, the universe of possible additional sales can seem painfully finite.

But there is a way you can expand the number of sales prospects exponentially. The United States Department of Commerce reported that e-commerce sales reached $36.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, an increase of 18 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. You can be part of this.

What E-Commerce Can Do for You

E-commerce aimed at consumers (also called business-to-consumer, or B2C, e-commerce) is a way for you to experiment with the world of retail without risking a significant upfront investment. Instead of spending time and money setting up bricks-and-mortar stores and training salespeople, you can get started with nothing more than an e-commerce Web site and some inventory to sell. Since much of your e-commerce site will be handling standard online shopping transactions, you'll find e-commerce templates are readily available. Or you can use a complete solution like eBay, which requires no online expertise at all.

With an e-commerce site, you'll have:

* Direct access to customers. Sales without middlemen deliver a much higher profit margin on each transaction. And since you'll be interacting with your customers, you'll have the chance to learn from them, and fine-tune your product offerings.
* A bigger group of sales prospects. If you have distributors now, e-commerce lets you extend your reach. A larger arena yields more sales possibilities, although you have to be cognizant of existing channel relationships. Potential problems can often be sidestepped by offering your products to a different market, so you're not competing with your current distributor/retailer network.
* Opportunities to innovate. Finding customers outside your existing relationships also frees you from the specs you have to adhere to now. If you have an idea for a better product, you can act on it.

How Business-to-Business E-Commerce Could Change the Way You Do Business

E-commerce in the business-to-business (B2B) arena shares many characteristics with B2C online marketing, and also offers other new opportunities for the savvy business person. Researchers at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business studied these changes in the business environment and detailed the following trends in companies using e-commerce between businesses:

More production outsourced. The Internet reduces the cost of finding buyers and sellers by making the search and evaluation process easier and faster. Thus, manufacturers can reach more potential customers at a lower cost, which enables sales that otherwise could not have occurred. And as the costs associated with purchasing are driven down, classic "make or buy" decisions are changing, and more and more production capability is being outsourced. So the entire universe of possible sales for manufacturers increases.

* New buyers with different needs. Creating an e-commerce presence makes you part of the global market, and there are many ramifications to this. For example, buyers in the Southern hemisphere may need goods that are out-of-season in your area. Or manufacturers in developing countries may be seeking parts that would be considered out-of-date in Western countries. These could be excellent opportunities to move old inventory.
* Streamlined internal processes. B2B e-commerce improves efficiencies by reducing the costs of many business processes. For example, changing the way you process a purchase order, using an automated online system instead of a human being with a telephone, will result in a permanent cost savings.

The best practices suggested by these trends include: (1) making sure you're part of the group that buyers find when they go online looking for suppliers, so you're in the consideration set, and (2) automating whenever possible, and saving your expensive human capital for back-up.

Driving Traffic to Your E-Commerce Site

Putting up a Web site is just the first step. Here are some additional steps to take in order to promote your site:

* Put your URL everywhere. Incorporate your web address into all your advertising.
* Use coordinated email and direct mail campaigns. As many marketers have discovered, some people will only respond to a physical piece of mail, others will only respond to e-mail. Using both media in your direct marketing efforts will avoid shutting out entire groups of potential customers.
* Target your Web advertising. You can buy banner space on the specific Web sites your target audience tends to visit. You can also choose to have your banners appear only to users in a certain geographical area. And you can use marketing tools like Google's AdSense to place your display and text ads on sites related to any search terms you choose. (See the tips below for more on search engine marketing.)
* Go viral. Short movies or games that people like enough to pass from person to person are called "viral." While challenging to create, these can be a very inexpensive way to drive visitors to your e-commerce site.