Launching a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace can help you cut fulfilment costs, reach more customers, and supercharge your sales.

But beware: A poorly built online marketplace can alienate customers and throw a wrench in your growth. So, it is crucial to use the right platform to launch your B2B marketplace.

In this guide, we will explain how to choose a B2B marketplace provider and highlight the four best platforms to elevate your online sales.

What is a B2B marketplace provider?

A B2B marketplace provider is a software solution to help you build a B2B eCommerce marketplace. It offers the back-end user interface to create a market, add vendors, support payments, manage orders, and more.

The B2B marketplaces built off these platforms serve as online meeting places for businesses and wholesalers. A marketplace can have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of vendors.

There are tons of benefits to operating a B2B marketplace — for your business, vendors, and customers.

Firstly, your business can list a wider range of products than is possible with a traditional online store through B2B partnerships with third-party vendors. That makes your company more useful for customers and encourages them to buy from your business.

Also, through a marketplace, vendors can get their products in front of more customers and benefit from your company’s strong reputation. They can also take advantage of seamless tools to manage and fulfill orders.

On the customer’s side, they can find everything they need in one place and compare prices among multiple vendors — making procurement a breeze.

In a nutshell, B2B marketplaces make buying and selling wholesale items easier and more accessible for everyone involved. This encourages sales and helps diversify your income.

Types of B2B marketplaces

Several types of B2B marketplaces exist, and it is important to know which type you want to build when choosing a B2B marketplace software. Let’s break down the three main categories of B2B marketplaces.

Distribution marketplaces

A distribution marketplace is a traditional B2B eCommerce store segmented by brand or vendor. It can help you create a large catalog of products from various wholesalers.

However, instead of bringing individual vendors onto the marketplace and enabling them to sell their own products, you’re in control of all sales. You have the final say about what is sold, the price of each product, and more.

An example of this kind of marketplace is Digikey. It sells electronics from manufacturers such as Panasonic, Texas Instruments, 3M, and others — but those vendors are not involved in the sales process. Customers pay Digikey directly for products, and Digikey is responsible for fulfillment. 

Choosing a distribution marketplace provider can help you build a one-stop shop for business customers in a specific industry.

Procurement marketplaces

A procurement marketplace is a platform where vendors can set up storefronts and establish their own catalogs of products to sell alongside your products. Essentially, they gather multiple vendors for a single industry, making it easy for business procurement officers to find what they need.

Customers can search for an item and compare pricing across multiple vendors. Alternatively, customers can visit a vendor’s storefront within the marketplace and check out the available products.

An example of a procurement marketplace is Pinpools, which brings together more than 1,000 chemical suppliers. Customers can search for the chemical they need and compare pricing, purity, and variants from different vendors, then choose the product that best suits their needs.

With a procurement marketplace provider, you can expand your product selection and collect revenue from sales by other vendors in your marketplace.

Global vs. regional marketplaces

B2B marketplaces can be global or regional.

Global B2B marketplaces connect customers and vendors around the world. They work well if your customer base is global or if you cater to businesses with international supply chains. Global marketplaces are best if your products can easily be shipped worldwide.

Choosing a global marketplace provider can enable you to reach more customers and accept payments in multiple currencies.

Meanwhile, regional B2B marketplaces cater to customers in a specific country or region. This makes sense for industries where the target customer base is confined to a specific geographic area. For example, in the restaurant supply industry, operating a regional marketplace can ensure vendors are able to deliver products to customers within hours before a busy dinner shift starts.

Picking a regional marketplace provider can help you better serve your customer base and boost repeat sales.

Key features of B2B marketplace providers

A lot rides on the marketplace provider you choose. For it to truly benefit you, it has to have the right features. 

It needs to support not only your own eCommerce operations but also those of any vendors selling on your marketplace. Plus, your provider needs to give you the flexibility to control how vendors operate in your marketplace, including what they can sell and how they interact with your customers.

With that in mind, let’s explore the most important features to look for when choosing B2B marketplace software.

Multi-vendor support (and all that comes with it)

If you plan to launch a procurement marketplace, your B2B marketplace software must give you a way to onboard vendors. It should also provide your vendors easy ways to customize product listings and build their own storefronts once they are on your marketplace.

Additionally, your software should enable you to require approval for new product listings so you can control what is sold on your marketplace. You should also have a way to set policies for your marketplace, including shipping rules and refund policies. 

Finally, if you plan to charge a fee for products vendors sell, look for the ability to charge different rates for different vendors.

B2B ordering tools

Business customers often need hundreds or even thousands of a specific item — for example, pens, computer monitors, or parts for a manufacturing process. So, it is important that your marketplace software supports seamless bulk ordering.

In addition, customers should be able to search for a specific product easily and filter their results by vendor, price, delivery timeframe, and more. Look for marketplace solutions that offer advanced search functionality.

Customer management

The best B2B marketplace software will enable you to create unique profiles for each customer on your marketplace. 

Different customers might see different product catalogs or prices based on their contract with your company. They could also see account-specific payment terms, shipping options, or customer support channels.

Order management

Search for software that gives you options for managing and fulfilling orders. Specifically, check that the provider gives you a way to set up order validation workflows and offer cross-channel sales options, such as buying online or picking up in-store.

You should also be able to integrate with shipping services to automatically generate shipping labels, send tracking codes to customers, and minimize fulfillment time.

Financial management

Through your B2B marketplace platform, you should be able to process customer payments using various payment methods. These could include procurement cards, bank transfers, and contract-based credits. 

Also, keep an eye out for providers that can generate invoices for every order and automatically send them to customers. The best ones will also help you manage sales tax across multiple jurisdictions. 

Sales reporting

With the right marketplace software, you and your vendors will have access to detailed sales analytics. Hunt for providers that enable you to see what products are selling the most and which customers are buying what products (and from which vendors). Also, look for the ability to monitor product return and customer retention rates. 

Integrations

Many B2B marketplace platforms integrate with inventory management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and accounting software. These integrations can make it much easier to run your business and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Check to see what integrations are available from each of the B2B platforms you are considering. If an integration is not available for key software your business uses, you may be able to build a custom integration if your chosen marketplace offers an API (application programming interface).

Expert tip: At DJUST, we can connect with any legacy order system using an API. This way, your business can run smoothly and integrate quickly without you having to overhaul your order process.

Ease of use

Choosing a B2B marketplace software that is easy to use can help you get your marketplace up and running more quickly. It can also save you time and money in the long run. A user-friendly software will require less training for your employees and reduce the chance of costly errors when managing orders.

Expert tip: Look for software providers that offer support for launching your marketplace. At DJUST, our development team works with your company to ensure your transition to our marketplace software is as smooth as possible.

Top B2B marketplace providers in 2024

Now that you know what to look for in B2B marketplace software, let’s take a closer look at our four favorite providers in 2024. 

Note that most providers offer pricing by quote only. You will need to contact providers directly to find out how much it will cost to build a marketplace with them.

DJUST

DJUST is a powerful online platform for building a B2B marketplace and putting your business in front of more customers. We might be a little biased (after all, we are DJUST!), but we know our platform is the overall best B2B marketplace provider in 2024.

With DJUST, you can create a distribution marketplace that works with all your existing order processes and pricing options. You can offer a dedicated catalog view, bulk discounts, and customer-specific pricing. Plus, you can issue quotes and create an online bidding process.

DJUST helps you increase revenue by tailoring the items customers see based on their past purchases. Customers can re-order items in seconds, and the checkout process is completely frictionless.

On the back end, DJUST makes it easy to validate orders and set up automated workflows. You also get access to advanced inventory management to make order fulfillment as seamless as possible.

Key features

• Multiple order flows: Issue quotes, enable bids, or let customers re-order items in seconds by SKU.
• Custom pricing: Create unique price lists for different customers or groups.
• Multi-lingual catalog: Sell to businesses worldwide by offering your catalog in multiple languages.
• Customer segmentation: Segment your customers to provide top-tier support or get insights into your sales.
• Omni-channel support: Sell across all your existing channels, including by phone and email.

What to consider

DJUST works especially well for companies with multiple pricing systems or that want to offer custom contract-based prices. The software is easy to use, and it provides access to a wide range of back-end order management tools. Overall, DJUST is an excellent option for fast-growing businesses.

Oro

Oro is a marketplace software provider that offers highly flexible marketplace tools. It lets you build multiple marketplaces for different regions and add unlimited vendors to sell alongside your business.

Vendors get access to a self-service portal to make their selling experience more seamless. They can set up branded storefronts and take advantage of Oro’s inventory management tools.

Oro especially stands out for marketplaces built around services and bookings. The platform enables you and your vendors to sell memberships and subscriptions, and you can require customers to have a membership to shop on the marketplace. There’s also a built-in calendar tool for booking appointments and managing your and your vendors’ availability.

Key features

• Integrated calendar: Sell and manage bookings using an integrated calendar.
• Built-in CRM: Track leads and get a holistic view of what your customers are buying on your marketplace.
• Branded storefronts: Vendors can create branded storefronts within your marketplace using a self-service portal.
• Custom pricing: Offer custom pricing based on customer segments or for individual accounts.

What to consider

Oro’s software can be used to create B2B, B2C, or D2C marketplaces — it is not specifically made for B2B marketplaces. So, there is some extra setup and configuration required to cater to business customers.

VTEX

VTEX is a digital commerce platform provider that offers marketplace features for companies that want to allow third-party sellers. You can add vendors you already work with or search VTEX’s supplier network for vendors to add to your marketplace.

VTEX provides a comprehensive order management system, making it a good option for companies that want complete control over their marketplace. You can monitor inventory for all of the vendors and products in your marketplace, plus fulfill orders on behalf of your vendors.

This software also supports omnichannel marketplace sales. You can ship items to customers, offer buy online and in-store pick-up options, or dropship items from third-party suppliers. 

Key features

• Multi-vendor support: Add trusted vendors or find vendors to add to your marketplace from VTEX’s network.
• Sales dashboards: Monitor all of your vendors’ sales and offer self-service portals so they can track their own performance.
• Split B2B payment processing system: Automatically split customer payments between your company and vendors on your marketplace.
• Dropshipping: Offer products from even more suppliers with dropshipping.

What to consider

VTEX does not offer quote-based pricing or custom account-based pricing for business customers. So, it may not be the best platform if your business offers different prices on the same products for different customers.

Spryker

Spryker offers a highly customizable B2B marketplace platform that allows you to cater to the unique needs of customers in different industries or regions.

With Spryker, you can set up multiple front-end interfaces for your marketplace, offering a unique experience for different customer segments. For example, you can have one marketplace front-end for US customers and another for European customers. Each interface can have its own product pricing, currencies, tax rules, shipping rules, and more.

On top of that, Spryker has search functionality to help customers find what they need. They can search your full site or view products by vendor. Customers can also apply custom filters and search in multiple languages.

Key features

• Multi-region support: Build region-specific marketplaces with different pricing, currency, and shipping rules.
• Data exchange: Instantly share data such as inventory, customer profile updates, and more with your vendors.
• Custom pricing: Offer custom pricing based on customer segments or accounts.
• Integrated customer service: Enable sales representatives to place orders on behalf of customers.

What to consider

Spryker is a complex B2B marketplace solution, so expect it to take longer to implement than other software.

The bottom line

Launching a B2B marketplace can help you reach new customers and boost your business’s sales. These marketplaces enable you to sell more products from a wider range of vendors and even enable suppliers to sell their products alongside your own.

There are many B2B marketplace software platforms to choose from, but our top recommendation for 2024 is DJUST. With DJUST, you can enhance your customer experience, sell across multiple channels, and expand your product catalog to cater to your customers’ needs.