Wholesale B2B buying continues accelerating as business purchasing shifts online. Recent studies show over 90% of B2B buyers now prefer digital self-serve channels during their buyer journey. For ecommerce brands, this presents tremendous opportunities to access new high-volume sales channels through digital B2B marketplaces.
This guide will explore:
- The buyer-supplier challenges B2B marketplaces solve
- Top 10 leading B2B wholesale marketplace platforms
- Key criteria for selecting the best B2B sales channels
- Strategies to optimize and manage your B2B distribution
Streamlining Wholesale Buying and Selling
Wholesale trade allows manufacturers to sell large volumes of inventory to distributors or retailers for resale to consumers. It enables specialization of production separate from distribution.
However, significant fragmentation can occur across wholesale supply chains:
- Suppliers struggle reaching qualified buyers at scale for bulk order volumes.
- Buyers face challenges identifying and evaluating suppliers across regions.
- Manual processes slow interactions for quoting, financing, logistics, and support.
B2B ecommerce marketplaces emerged to solve these buyer-supplier challenges by digitally connecting them through integrated platforms.
The Rise of B2B Ecommerce Marketplaces
B2B ecommerce marketplaces bring together multiple buyers and sellers within a unified platform for business products and services. They create centralized destinations for B2B wholesale trade conducted digitally.
Key B2B Marketplace Benefits
For Buyers:
- Discover and compare suppliers globally
- Centralize purchasing with workflow approvals
- Enable self-service researching and buying
For Sellers:
- Showcase offerings to high-intent buyers
- Manage orders, inventory and logistics
- Access multidimensional buyer data
B2B marketplaces can massively expand reach and realize supply chain efficiencies for both sides. They also foster innovation through digital capabilities and data insights.
According to Statista, B2B ecommerce gross merchandise volume globally is projected to reach $20.9 trillion by 2027, growing over 3X from $6.6 trillion in 2021. B2B marketplaces will continue capturing more of this trade.
Top 10 B2B Wholesale Marketplaces
B2B buying continues accelerating as business purchasing shifts online. Recent studies show over 90% of B2B buyers now prefer digital self-serve channels during their buyer journey. For ecommerce brands, this presents tremendous opportunities to access new high-volume sales channels through digital B2B marketplaces.
This guide will explore:
- The buyer-supplier challenges B2B marketplaces solve
- Top 10 leading B2B wholesale marketplace platforms
- Key criteria for selecting the best B2B sales channels
- Strategies to optimize and manage your B2B distribution
Streamlining Wholesale Buying and Selling
Wholesale trade allows manufacturers to sell large volumes of inventory to distributors or retailers for resale to consumers. It enables specialization of production separate from distribution.
However, significant fragmentation can occur across wholesale supply chains:
- Suppliers struggle reaching qualified buyers at scale for bulk order volumes.
- Buyers face challenges identifying and evaluating suppliers across regions.
- Manual processes slow interactions for quoting, financing, logistics, and support.
B2B ecommerce marketplaces emerged to solve these buyer-supplier challenges by digitally connecting them through integrated platforms.
The Rise of B2B Ecommerce Marketplaces
B2B ecommerce marketplaces bring together multiple buyers and sellers within a unified platform for business products and services. They create centralized destinations for B2B wholesale trade conducted digitally.
Key B2B Marketplace Benefits
For Buyers:
- Discover and compare suppliers globally
- Centralize purchasing with workflow approvals
- Enable self-service researching and buying
For Sellers:
- Showcase offerings to high-intent buyers
- Manage orders, inventory and logistics
- Access multidimensional buyer data
B2B marketplaces can massively expand reach and realize supply chain efficiencies for both sides. They also foster innovation through digital capabilities and data insights.
According to Statista, B2B ecommerce gross merchandise volume globally is projected to reach $20.9 trillion by 2027, growing over 3X from $6.6 trillion in 2021. B2B marketplaces will continue capturing more of this trade.
10 Leading B2B Ecommerce Marketplaces
Here are the top 10 B2B wholesale marketplaces globally that enable ecommerce businesses to significantly grow sales, expand inventory distribution and access new markets.
1. Alibaba
As one of the world’s largest B2B ecommerce platforms, Alibaba makes an ideal marketplace to scale globally.
- 40+ million active buyers
- Suppliers from over 200 countries
- Free to join, low fees
- Tools to manage orders and logistics
2. Amazon Business
Amazon Business taps into Amazon’s B2C platform and brings familiarity for business buyers.
- 5+ million business buyers
- Shared payment methods and reordering
- Support B2B and B2C sales
- Leverage Amazon’s logistics network
3. Handshake
Handshake connects makers to boutique U.S. retailers with its targeted B2B marketplace.
- 65,000+ small U.S. retailers
- Free to join; retailers pay shipping
- Strong support for branding
- Curated partnerships over promotions
4. NuORDER
NuORDER empowers brands and retailers through digital wholesale ordering, virtual sampling and data analytics.
- 500+ leading apparel/footwear brands
- 60,000 retailers globally
- Customized brand experiences
- Provides insights into buyer behavior
5. Joor
Joor serves as the digital wholesale platform for fashion, simplifying interactions through mobile tools and virtual showrooms.
- 12,500 brand partners
- 325,000 boutique retailer members
- Curated retailers for high-end fashion
- Replicates tradeshow interactions online
6. Ankorstore
Ankorstore supports independent lifestyle brands growing globally through its community of 300,000 European retailers.
- Generous payment terms, low fees
- Provides branding support
- Focus on long term brand building
- Strong seller support model
7. Faire
Faire enables independent makers to easily access over 700,000 retailers globally through its fair and transparent B2B marketplace model.
- No long-term contracts
- Supports smaller minimums
- Handles duties/logistics complexity
- Good payment terms for sellers
8. Global Sources
Global Sources leverages its 50 years of experience connecting international B2B buyers and suppliers through trade shows and dedicated online marketplaces.
- 10 million registered B2B buyers
- Virtual events alongside shows
- Expert consulting services
- Targeted recommendations to qualify buyers
9. DHGate
DHGate serves wholesale buyers and sellers focused on manufactured product categories like consumer electronics and home goods.
- +2 million registered buyers
- 30 million product listings
- Global warehousing and shipping
- Wholesale discounts and incentive programs
10. Tundra
Tundra commits to empowering emerging brands through a community feel and commission free sales structure as a digital B2B marketplace.
- 30,000 global retailers
- Commission free sales model
- Dedicated account management
- Enforces MAP pricing protection
Evaluating B2B Ecommerce Marketplaces
With an overview of the capabilities of top marketplaces, conducting evaluations is critical to identify the best channels aligned to your ecommerce business goals and products.
Here are key factors brands should consider when picking B2B sales platforms:
Buyer Composition
- Size of buyer community
- Quality and characteristics of buyers
- Retailer types (independent, major chains)
- Geographic locations target
Business Terms
- Membership, subscription or listing fees
- Commission rates
- Payment timing and terms
- Long-term contract requirements
- Volume discount tiers
Platform Tools & Services
- Seller storefront setup
- Account management capabilities
- Order/inventory management features
- Integrations with sales channels or ERP
- Reporting and analytics on buyers and products
Logistics & Distribution
- Does marketplace handle shipping?
- Are warehousing services integrated?
- Can sellers export order data?
- What delivery methods are supported?
Identifying the marketplaces stacked with your ideal buyers and offering favorable commercial terms along with technical capabilities to manage B2B wholesale distribution is key to maximize sales.
Best Practices for Managing B2B Ecommerce
Launching on a new B2B ecommerce marketplace can propel wholesale order volumes for merchants. But solely setting up a seller account is not enough to harness the power of these global sales platforms.
Here are best practices brands should adopt:
Streamline Onboarding & Integration
Smooth onboarding ensures you correctly configure your seller account, link to your product catalogs, integrate order management workflows and confirm buyer payment methods. Rushing this can jeopardize launch.
Centralize Inventory Visibility
Sync your marketplace listings with your core commerce and order management systems. This provides real-time visibility across all sales channels to align inventory availability commitments to buyers.
Optimize Listings for SEO
Treat marketplace listings similarly to website product pages. Include relevant keywords and metadata that maps to what buyers search for to drive discovery.
Analyze Performance
Leverage marketplace analytics on product, account and order data. Identify your fastest selling items and most valuable buyers to tailor sales and marketing.
Following these best practices helps merchants launch new B2B sales channels successfully and maximize wholesale order potential.
Accelerating Wholesale B2B Commerce
B2B buying continues accelerating as business purchasing shifts online. Recent studies show over 90% of B2B buyers now prefer digital self-serve channels during their buyer journey. For ecommerce brands, this presents tremendous opportunities to access new high-volume sales channels through digital B2B marketplaces.
This guide has covered:
- The wholesale trade complexities B2B marketplaces resolve
- 10 leading global wholesale marketplace platforms
- Evaluation criteria for identifying ideal sales channels
- Strategic best practices to optimize B2B distribution
The world of business commerce continues moving to digital channels across sourcing, buying and selling. Wholesale B2B marketplaces enable ecommerce brands to tap into surging online growth by centralizing commerce interactions at scale.
Now is the time for brands to start expanding globally by evaluating these B2B sales marketplace platforms based on their specific products, capabilities and buyer targets. The incremental sales volumes unlocked can transform ecommerce businesses to reach new heights.
