All these conditions are maybe right and, probably mass scale adoption of e-marketplaces won't take place another several years. However, don't think that companies should relax. As some industries are more advanced in their adoption of B2B technology, companies should constantly check where they stand. If their competitors are already practicing e-business actively; or many of their suppliers are by now on some sorts of exchanges, this is the right time for these companies to consider their online business approach seriously.

The sooner companies understand the benefits that they can reap from B2B exchanges the better it would be for them. For suppliers e-marketplaces offer benefits like liquidity improvement, cost savings, better inventory management, demand forecasting, dynamic pricing etc. Buyers benefits include: cost reduction, real-time purchase, best available price and many others. Research indicates that companies, thanks to B2B exchanges, can gain remarkable cost reductions: 20 to 40 percent of overhead expenses, 5 to 15 percent of buying cost, Purchase Order processing cost from US$ 75 to just US$ 6-8; and decrease of document errors from 20 percent to less than one percent.

Apart from these benefits, early adoption of B2B marketplaces also has great implications for companies. Early birds get considerable information advantage over their competitors; have enough time to learn from trial and error and participate in setting the rules for the exchanges as opposed to - forced to abide by the rules as it would be the case for late-comers.

Whatever approach the companies decide to take in their quest of B2B technology, one thing is for sure that the e-marketplaces are here to stay. Over time, they will definitely evolve and their business models will also change, however, there is no doubt that a major portion of e-business will transact through e-marketplaces in near future.

About The Author

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO, of Rusbiz.com, a global business to business e-commerce portal with feature like storefronts, aggregated catalog, e-marketplace, trade leads, internal messaging system supply chain solutions, etc. With a doctorate in Information Technology, Dr. Kabir has worked an advisor to government projects and has over 12 years experience in International Trade. An author of many B2B and business related articles; he publishes a bi-weekly E-zine for online business community. You can subscribe to his newsletter free of charge from http://www.rusbiz.com.

nowshade@rusbiz.com