Information technology brings the buyer and the supplier directly in touch with a business. Gone are the days of irritating middlemen - it is the age of automated e-marketplaces. BE Soft is taking advantage of this new IT trend to use information technology to open up new avenues of advertising, marketing and selling to consumers and businesses.
What is Business to Business?
In common terms, the meaning of 'Business to Business' is simple. Business to business or B2B means selling a good or service from one business to the other. For instance, a B2B transaction takes place when a chicken farm buys chicken supplies from a diary and poultry farm. In this case, the former is a business and so is the latter. Both are businesses and this is a legitimate transaction between two businesses.
Role of IT in B2B
Information technology in the form of the Internet opens up these trading areas. The marketplace becomes global removing geographical and cultural barriers between two businesses who deal in similar products. A business in China is able to deal and communicate directly with a business in Norway. These automated e-marketplaces increase the rate of production and profitability on the whole.
Role of BE Soft: BE Soft seeks to play the role of a facilitator in B2B transactions using information technology equipment. BE Soft provides the resources to enable business transactions in an efficient manner. It offers businesses an online portal, website or platform to advertise their products and services. BE Soft aims to make buyer- seller transactions convenient, even affording interested 'third parties' to play a hand in the transaction. These third parties can be employees or stakeholders in an organization.
The best part about gateway pages is that each page can be submitted separately.
Working of B2B
Automated B2B transactions can be divided into two basic steps. The first involves drafting the message which will be the advertising slogan. BE Soft argues that even businesses selling and buying from other businesses need to get their message out there on the website. The business needs to advertise its product including uses, characteristics and price. If buying something, it needs to advertise its need for a specific product or service with a target audience in mind.
Once the business decides on its message, the second step is to approach a B2B provider. This process is tedious as the business needs to commit itself before going online and doing business. The message needs to be formatted in accordance with the rules and guidelines of the provider.
IT B2B advantages
» Brings businesses and suppliers closer together
» Increases communication and financial transaction
» Makes goods and services available in all places for instance now a business in a remote area can acquire products not originally manufactured there.
» Increases business efficiency and learning as information is exchanged and new production techniques are learnt
» Helps buyers find new suppliers and vice versa
» Reduces time and cost of traditional B2B transactions
BE Soft aims to increase efficiency through the business to business method. It argues that a B2B transaction can only take place if the message posted imbibes elements of target audience, product specifications, price, usage, and business objectives. BE Soft also believes that message positioning is also paramount to the success of B2B.