What is B2B?
B2B basically signifies the Business to Business transactions between a manufacturer and a wholesalers or a wholesaler and a retailer. This applies to products and services.
B2B marketplace explained
It is a business to business trade portal that allows manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors to promote their products and services to new international markets. Very useful resources, guides and tips are sometimes available as well.
These online portals, which are basically websites, allow businesses to advertise and promote their products and services by posting selling leads or offers. To simplify, a B2B marketplace encourages and facilitates the communication between buyers and sellers favoring a dynamic international trade.
Categories of B2B marketplaces
You will have more global (targeting world trade in general) and regional marketplaces (by country or by region such as Asia, Europe, USA, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean).
A quick tour of existing B2B marketplaces
Websites with it origins in Asia are the world leader in this domain with portals such as Alibaba.com and Tradekey.com.
Latam and Caribbean B2B marketplaces
Marketplaces are starting to play an important in developing regions as the internet connection is increasing at a rapid pace and companies are relying more on marketplaces to promote themselves. The leader in this region is a fairly new site that launched back in 2009 called www.mercatrade.com. They have targeted a region that represents 42 countries and a population of 600 million. What is great about this site is that you see features that are not necessarily seen in other marketplaces such as being able to search green, organic and fair trade products. You also have a dedicated search engine for tax free zones which are important trading platforms in the region.
B2B Portal