Business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces are platforms that connect industry buyers with retailers. B2B marketplaces are the fastest growing B2B ecommerce sales channel, generating $260 billion in sales in 2023.
The big benefit of B2B marketplaces is convenience. List your products on a wholesale platform, reach a ready-made audience of B2B buyers, and generate sales from people who are motivated to buy.
Sounds simple enough, right? Still, there’s a lot to consider when selecting the best B2B marketplace for your brand—from identifying the channels your customers use to a platform’s integration and payment options.
In this article, we’ll review the six best B2B marketplaces to help you scale your B2B sales.
What is a B2B marketplace?
A B2B marketplace is a platform where businesses sell products to other companies. Buyers use B2B marketplaces to outfit their businesses with office supplies, find equipment and materials for manufacturing, or purchase inventory to resell through their own business.
Five benefits of selling through B2B marketplaces
As B2B continues its transition to online, the marketplace model is thriving. Sixty percent of business buyers now say they look to wholesale marketplaces when making a purchase.
Let’s take a look at why so many B2B transactions happen through an online marketplace:
1. Marketplaces increase buyer trust
The decision-making process for B2B sales differs from business-to-consumer (B2C). Business buyers need to know they’ll produce a return on their investment when purchasing from you. Through its existing reputation, a marketplace can reassure customers that their shopping experience will be safe and trustworthy, making it easier to convert buyers through the platform.
2. Marketplaces fit with existing purchasing processes
When searching for new products, a B2B marketplace is the first port of call for a quarter of business buyers. Instead of finding and onboarding new B2B customers manually, upload your inventory to those marketplaces to showcase products where customers are actively looking for them.
3. Marketplaces help businesses expand into new markets
Major B2B marketplaces like Amazon Business and Faire have an existing international presence. Use their network, experience, and connections—and sell your products to international buyers—by selling via the marketplace.
4. Test and validate new product ideas
Thinking of opening a new product to B2B buyers? Quickly test and validate the idea by listing it for sale on a marketplace. Immediate orders indicate it’s worth investing more resources into expansion.
5. Reduce operational costs
Beyond a listing service, B2B marketplaces offer fulfillment, payment processing, and reverse logistics. Using these features may reduce your operational costs and free up time, which you can invest into other activities such as strengthening B2B customer relationships.
Luke Lee, CEO of clothing brand PalaLeather, says his company sells “through Amazon Business and Alibaba because of their established reputation and large customer base. They are well-known platforms with a global reach.”
The downsides of B2B marketplaces
B2B marketplaces offer undeniable advantages to businesses looking to reach buyers at scale. But before setting up shop, consider these disadvantages to marketplace selling:
Marketplace fees eat into profits
B2B marketplaces take many tasks off your plate—but they charge for the luxury. Many platforms charge for payment processing, sponsored listings that appear higher in searches, and commissions for introducing you to the buyer. These fees can eat into tight B2B profit margins.
B2B marketplaces have strict terms and conditions
From policies restricting the types of products you can upload to the payment terms you can accept, you’re at the mercy of a marketplace’s rules when selling through their platform. Go against these rules and risk having your profile blocked.
Marketplaces own the customer experience
While some B2B marketplaces have functionality to brand your storefront and email your customers, options for retention strategies on marketplaces are limited. It’s hard to build (and, most importantly, maintain) strong relationships with your B2B customers. Those relationships are the foundation that most profitable B2B ecommerce businesses thrive on.
Six top B2B marketplaces to sell online
1. Faire
Faire is a leading online wholesale marketplace for independent retailers and brands. Hundreds of thousands of independent retailers shop on Faire for apparel, home decor, food and beverages, beauty and wellness products, jewelry, paper and novelty items, kids and baby merchandise, pet products, and more.
Faire benefits
- Simple setup: Brands get a free storefront and there are no set-up costs, subscription fees, or commitments.
- Extended payment terms: Eligible retailers can buy now and pay later with 60-day payment terms.
- Seamless integration: You can instantly sync orders, inventory, and catalog to your Shopify admin and manage everything from one place.
- Faire Direct: When retailers order with your brand through your Faire Direct link, you’ll pay 0% commission.
Considerations
- There are commission fees on inbound orders placed through the marketplace and additional fees associated with managing returns.
- Faire requires sellers to list their full catalog at the same prices as other wholesale channels. This ensures consistency and builds trust in retailers that shop on the platform.
Pricing
- 15% commission + $10 on marketplace opening orders
- 15% commission on marketplace reorders
- 0% commission on direct orders
“The premium nature of many Faire retailers that buy our products means we’re reaching potential fans and brand ambassadors.” —Sherry Shannon, Vice President of Sales, Very Great
2. Alibaba
Alibaba is one of the world’s largest marketplaces. The Alibaba Group holds several B2B marketplace subsidiaries under their umbrella, including Taobao, Tmall, and AliExpress.
Gaining a net income of around CN¥65.6 billion in their 2023 fiscal year, Alibaba allows B2B brands to reach a wide variety of global retailers looking for everything from large stock orders to bespoke items.
Alibaba benefits
- Alibaba has a global network of retailers using the marketplace to buy inventory.
- Brand profiles need to be verified by Alibaba before they start selling, which builds trust before potential customers view your products.
- Alibaba automatically translates a B2B storefront into 18 different languages to improve accessibility and expand internationally.
Considerations
- Competition is fierce, making it harder to stand out.
- Shipping timescales are longer since most retailers operate in Asia and may use epacket.
- Profit margins and brand equity are lower when many product listings are similar, forcing brands to compete on price.
Pricing
- Alibaba’s standard selling plan costs $3,499 per year and includes $500 in keyword advertising credits.
- The premium plan costs $10,999 per year and includes $2,000 in keyword advertising credits and US-based customer support.
3. Ankorstore
Ankorstore is a wholesale marketplace designed to connect independent buyers and sellers in Europe. More than 250,000 retailers use the platform to buy inventory, connecting with over 20,000 brands selling B2B products through their marketplace.
Ankorstore benefits
- Offer payment on delivery or 60-day terms to your B2B customers.
- Greater control over wholesale pricing with no restrictions on how inventory is priced.
- Customers and offices across nine European countries including in the UK, Germany, Sweden, and Spain.
- Shopify integration available.
Considerations
- Minimum order value is £100, excluding VAT, which can be off-putting for small businesses or first-time buyers.
- Ankorstore is best suited to niche brands and independent retailers, which might not make it a worthwhile option if you’re an established and already well-connected brand.
Pricing
- 24% commission on opening orders
- 12% commission on orders thereafter
- No fee for B2B customers you invite directly to Ankorstore
4. Novi
Novi is a new B2B marketplace that differentiates itself by focusing on clean, transparent products. The platform verifies marketing claims, formula ownership, and sustainable packing so you can sell to B2B customers that value the same things you do.
Novi benefits
- Connect with retailers that share the same core values as you.
- Expand retail distribution by selling to B2B customers whose audience base values the same principles.
- Build trust and credibility around your sustainability claims with Novi’s seal of approval.
Considerations
- Market size is much smaller than generic B2B marketplaces due to the focus on values.
- You need documentation and evidence to prove any claims are factually accurate.
Pricing
- On request
5. Amazon Business
Amazon Business is a platform for buyers to purchase items from other businesses. Mostly used for business-owned purchases (rather than discovering inventory to resell), it’s one of the biggest B2B marketplaces in the world. Amazon Business is forecasted to reach $83 billion in GMV by 2025.
Amazon Business benefits
- Reach a global audience through the marketplace.
- Use Amazon’s reputation and supply chain network.
- 20% of UK buyers and 15% of US buyers make purchases through Amazon Business.
Considerations
- The high level of competition makes it difficult to stand out.
- There’s a lack of control over how you sell and communicate with B2B buyers.
- There are limitations over which product categories can be listed on Amazon’s B2B marketplace.
Pricing
- $39.99 per month plus referral fees from 8%, depending on the product category
6. Droply by Abound
Droply by Abound is a new wholesale dropshipping marketplace geared toward independent businesses. More than 70,000 brands currently list 800,000 products on the platform. Popular categories include handmade goods like accessories, jewelry, and stationery.
Brands list their catalogs on Droply, where retailers can select and integrate products into their online storefronts. When an end-consumer makes a purchase from a retailer, the brand fulfills the order on the retailer’s behalf.
Abound benefits
- There’s no fee to sell through Abound.
- All retailers are verified before joining the platform.
- Showcase your brand values, which retail businesses can filter when discovering new products.
Considerations
- Droply is a dropshipping marketplace, which means you’ll also be responsible for holding inventory and fulfilling orders on behalf of your B2B customers.
- There’s a focus on handmade or original products, making it less of a fit for large-scale off-the-shelf products.
Pricing
- 10% commission of MSRP when you make a sale to retailers
How to succeed with B2B ecommerce marketplaces
Deciding to launch a new B2B operation is no small feat. Prepare for launch and improve the chances of success with these B2B marketplace best practices.
Use real-time inventory management software
With B2B on Shopify, you’ll benefit from a single ecommerce back end that powers every B2B sales channel. One of the biggest time savers is a real-time inventory management system that ensures you’ll never sell out-of-stock products to B2B marketplace buyers.
Zac van Manen, digital growth manager at BA Creative, says, “Some merchants manage different B2C and B2B inventory, so ensuring that these two points of reference are kept separate and up to date can be tricky.
“Good ERP integrations make this much easier, especially for B2B merchants, but there are considerations to make about which products are sold to which customers—and what this means for your logistics and fulfillment teams.”
Alongside ERP integrations, check that your B2B ecommerce platform offers analytics to track data across all sales channels. Shopify allows customers to create company profiles for stakeholders to sign in and view past orders, make new ones, and generate invoices—all without interrupting your sales team.
“B2B on Shopify allows us to leverage technology to streamline and automate our wholesale processes,” says Andy Knox of automotive brand Van Compass. “We can maintain a high level of focus on retail consumers.”
Use a product information management system
One way that B2B customers differ from B2C is a demand for expert knowledge from the brands they buy from. Meeting that demand can become tricky when you’re working with a large number of SKUs across multiple channels.
Easily manage a distributed product catalog with a product information management (PIM) system. It’s software keep data consistent across wholesale marketplaces and your B2B online storefront by storing and syncing the following information:
- SKU numbers
- Product titles, images, and descriptions
- Product tags and categories
- Wholesale and tiered pricing structures
- Minimum order values for B2B orders
Apps like Jasper PIM integrate with your Shopify store to syndicate new inventory across each B2B marketplace you’re operating on. These workflows ensure B2B customers encounter accurate information, regardless of where they place their order.
Outsource order fulfillment
You’ve done the hard task of converting a B2B marketplace prospect into a customer. Next, you’ll need to deliver those products to buyers as quickly and accurately as possible.
Fulfilling B2B orders is vastly different from direct to consumer (DTC), because buyers make larger orders. Instead of shipping a single unit to a customer, you’re shipping items in bulk—sometimes more than 100 units—through a B2B marketplace transaction.
To handle B2B order fulfillment at scale, partner with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider such as:
Check whether your chosen B2B marketplace offers a fulfillment service. Amazon Business, for example, offers Fulfilled by Amazon.
The advantage of using a third-party distribution network is that you can lean on its supply chain. From international warehouses to advanced fulfillment technologies, you’ll get products to your B2B customers faster. Meeting delivery expectations is critical for B2B customer retention.
Start selling on B2B marketplaces
There’s no doubt that marketplaces are a valuable sales channel for B2B organizations. Reach millions of buyers in your industry who are already using wholesale marketplaces to source inventory for their own business.
Make your B2B marketplace operation a success with Shopify’s B2B platform. Manage inventory, product information, and sales analytics from one dashboard, regardless of where you’re selling.
Shopify can help you expand into B2B with ease.
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