B2B portal: A Business Platform to Ultimate Productivity
Improvement

If somebody tells you that your present corporate website can
be converted to a B2B portal which will help you significantly
improve your company’s productivity in both of the two primary
factors: Revenue Growth and Cost Saving, and that the portal can
be launched in a matter of months with a very reasonable
investment, what will be your reaction? Read on to learn how
corporations all over the world are missing an opportunity,
which can revolutionize the way they manage their businesses.

What is a B2B portal?

A portal is defined as an access point to World Wide Web. A
portal is a combination of web pages, features and services
which become a primary destination for users. The word was first
used to describe the sites of popular Internet access providers
or search engines such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo! At a later stage,
the word “portal” evolved into something bigger covering
business websites, where a corporate portal or enterprise
information portal acts as a base for employees, customers,
suppliers and other associates of a company to access corporate
information and web services. A B2B portal is a distinct kind of
website with features to conduct electronic business and manage
significant parts of corporate business processes.

Benefits of having a B2B portal

Today, B2B portals are not just a fancy idea! They are an
absolute necessity for all enterprises of any type and size. The
advantages of having a quality B2B portal are massive.
Implementation of a true high quality B2B portal could have
immediate impact on company productivity.

Revenue Growth

Revenue Increase from Existing Clients Existing clients get
faster and easier access to product information, quicker
response to their requests, get better customer support and are
able to buy products online. Revenue Increase from Value Added
Services Once a B2B portal is set as the primary sales channel,
spared resources can be used to create more value added services
for clients. Some of the services that the portal may offer also
could be utilized to generate more value.

Cost Savings

Order Processing Cost If the B2B portal integrates supply chain
management solution, it will reduce the cost of processing
orders drastically. Studies show that similar solution can
reduce cost of processing a purchase order from US$ 70 down in
average to US$ 6 only. Sales and support costs Automated sales
and customer support features integrated in the solution is
capable of reducing overhead costs up to 30 percent.

Inventory keeping costs Clearer visibility and forecasting
ability thanks to various features of the B2B portal may help
companies considerably reduce inventory keeping costs.

Other key benefits include: Low customer acquisition cost
Effective portal branding on the Internet will help to attract
customers from new sources. The cost of acquiring customers
through online channels is always cheaper than other traditional
methods.

Improve customer service Ability to have constant interaction
with customers through the B2B portal helps companies serve
customers better. The B2B portal solution allows tracking the
whole ordering process from payment to delivery and brings
greater efficiency in customer service. or directly buy products
using the shopping cart Reduce sourcing time cycle The customers
can select products from the integrated marketplace of the B2B
portal and either sends purchase orders or directly buy products
using the shopping cart. Buyers handle all their procurement
related correspondence from a consolidated working page, which
helps them react instantly and reduce time in document
processing.

Community participation Company buyers and sellers can create
communities surrounding the B2B portal’s discussion board. This
helps getting valuable feedbacks on time, building new
partnerships using the networking ability of a community, and
disseminating important information to members easily.

Real time access to current product information Current
information of a product is vital for an accurate buying
decision. Updating product content and other information using
customized forms as it is necessary, the company can help buyers
and other associates to take critical decision promptly.

Control rogue spending Consolidated and automated procurement
and approval method stops maverick buying in a company.

Main components of a B2B portal

Supply Chain Management Supply chain management solutions can
deliver great values to company’s existing systems.
Implementation of these solutions will help achieving incredibly
high return on investment and will have tremendous impact on
company’s business, which include: better productivity, faster
order processing, greater visibility, the elimination of
maverick or unplanned purchasing, etc.

Marketplace This is the venue where the enterprises can post
their products for sale. A sophisticated shopping cart will be
integrated into the electronic marketplace in order to automate
the buying process.

Auction Electronic auction system can use both English and Dutch
auction methods. For convenience the auction component can be
integrated into the electronic marketplace. Online auction helps
liquidate surplus goods easily.

Reverse Auction This solution allows the company to automate
electronic procurement, where suppliers compete for business
real time online.

Storefront for Participants Each associate of the B2B portal
will get a Storefront that may reflect profile of the company,
its products, services or other information.

Forum A Forum or a Discussion Board is an organized, on-line
interactive message board where participants conduct discussion
on a set of topics by posting questions, comments and responses.

Internal Messaging System Elaborate Messaging System allows a
participant of the B2B portal send and receive messages from
other participants and the company. Since the messages do not
leave a secured server, participants would not be worried about
sending sensitive information over the Internet.

Classified Catalog based bulletin board allows company
associates to post important notices in various predefined
formats.

Directory of Companies This is a listing of all registered
associates of the B2B portal either by business category or by
alphabetical order. An advanced search engine tool is
incorporated in order to find a company based on data provided.

E-catalog E-catalog — a hierarchy of product and service
categories based on UNSPCS, a global products and services
classification method that covers the broadest collection of
industries and commodities available today, and designed to
facilitate e-commerce transactions by providing
geography-independent common nomenclature system.

Product Content Adding System Product adding mechanism based on
either easy-to-use wizard or simple but detail forms allows
users to integrate products or services with accurate and
up-to-date information.

Product Notification The system can generate an alert and send
by email to a user, who requested to inform once a particular
product or service gets added to the E-catalog.

Numerous other features could be incorporated to an existing B2B
portal depending on requirement, such as: News Aggregation using
RSS feed, Contact Management, Electronic Journal, Press Room,
Document Repository, etc.

Time needed to set up

Using ready made B2B Portal components from a provider like rel="external nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.rusbiz.com/">Rusbiz.com a medium size
portal can be built or integrated to existing website within
three to four months. By developing a B2B portal ahead of your
major competitors you can give your business a significant boost
and make your company stand out from the crowd.

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About Author

Nowshade Kabir is CEO of Rusbiz.com, a global B2B portal for
small and midsize companies. Our distinctive web stores along
with many outstanding features like e-marketplace, e-catalog,
supply chain management solutions, and trade leads section will
allow you to build robust Internet presence and manage key
business processes online. Rusbiz also develops Corporate B2B
portals.