Why B2B Companies Should Embrace Wholesale Ecommerce Marketplaces
In this post-covid world, the change in buyer behavior from offline to online is drastic. A sizable 60% of the B2B buyers say they are open to purchasing on digital marketplaces.
Therefore, Roland Berger titles this as “the sun rises over B2B marketplaces” because there lies a huge growth opportunity.
As a business owner, you should embrace the changing dynamics and consider utilizing wholesale marketplaces for your business growth.
In this article, we’ll discuss five reasons why wholesale marketplaces are great for your business.
1. Increases your brand awareness by expanding your business network
When you join a wholesale marketplace, your brand visibility automatically goes up because the internet has made the world a close-knitted place where it just takes you a few seconds to connect and conduct trade.
And thanks to the wholesale marketplaces that make your business accessible to all without any location constraints and geographical barriers. They provide a convenient way for buyers and sellers to interact under a single platform.
The best part is that when you choose to sell on a marketplace, you don’t really have to invest thousands of bucks in building your independent website and audience through SEO and paid ads.
To make this clear, let’s take the example of SeeBiz. It’s a U.S.- based wholesale marketplace that builds, optimizes, and advertises an online store for you, provided you buy their annual subscription.
So, with SeeBiz and other marketplaces, you don’t have to worry about building your own audience.
They have an active, pre-built audience to which you can sell your products.
2. Gives you a high ROI
Many wholesalers think joining a marketplace will cost them a fortune, but that’s not true!
Most of these marketplaces have yearly and monthly plans you can choose from according to your budget.
Investing in wholesale marketplaces comes with low-risk and high returns.
For instance, if you bought a subscription for $650 and you find a customer who places a bulk order with you for $1000.
Now, not only will this cover your investment but you’ll also earn a profit of $350.
This transactional value shows that the profit you generate on wholesale marketplaces is higher than the subscription charges you have to pay.
And on average, you earn higher than what you invested in the first place.
Survey data showed that those selling products on a marketplace make 38% more ROI than those using their own website.
Here’s another interesting stat from the same resource: Those who sell on two marketplaces increase revenue by 120%.
And this is huge!
3. Insulates your business from the challenges of the wholesale industry
Do you ever wonder why some wholesale businesses survived while others collapsed during the pandemic and why some are doing better than others amidst this recession?
The answer is that these businesses have an online presence alongside their offline counterparts.
Because if you see, amidst the pandemic, physical interactions were limited and everyone strictly adhered to the SOPs.
People started working from home and buying-selling shifted from in-person to online.
Businesses with online presence benefited greatly from this shift. But, unfortunately, many wholesalers with no online presence faced huge losses.
And certainly, you wouldn’t want the same to happen amidst this recessionary period.
While wholesale will always be around no matter how bad the economy gets but who survives and thrives will depend on how quick one is in adopting the marketplace trend.
So, the best way to prepare yourself for uncertain times is by building an online presence and diversifying your income streams.
Doing this, you’ll be able to meet the evolving demands of the buyers.
4. Simplifies the process of establishing an online presence
Many business owners run away from coming online as they think the entire process is complex and costly.
But building an online presence on a marketplace is way easier than you can even imagine.
Even if you’re the least tech-savvy person, you can digitalize your business with little to no effort.
The basic procedure is pretty short. In most cases, all you need to do is:
1. Choose a plan and payment method.
2. Upload your data (product images and product details)
And you’re there in the B2B online wholesale world.
Best part? Signing up on a marketplace is a cost-effective option compared to creating your own e-commerce website which costs you thousands of dollars.
Staying ahead of the competition is the main element that helps you become a successful wholesaler.
And out of the 701,229 total wholesalers currently operating in the U.S., only 97,828 have an online presence.
While many wholesalers or your competitors are still relying on their brick-and-mortar stores only, you can ramp up the game and capture the market share way before they think of doing it.
You can do this by going digital, building trust, and positioning yourself as a leader in your industry/niche.
