Auctions

In an auction, a specific product or a specific quantity of products is being placed for sale. The auction starts and ends at a pre-set time. Buyers can then submit bids during that period of time. Auctions help sellers get the right price for products ranging from fish and flowers to chemicals and patents. Auctions can also be used to get rid of surplus assets and offer buyers the opportunity to find a bargain. Sometimes they are a combination of online and offline auctions, where traditional auction houses also make their auctions available online, either by themselves or in cooperation with Internet platforms. Most of these services are more than just a B2B Internet platform. They should rather be regarded as auction full service providers.

Catalogue

A list of products and services offered by the sellers. Some catalogues list product information on a general level, others are very detailed. Some are quite informative while others are more promotional. Some carry pictures and others do not. Catalogues facilitate the search for products and suppliers in industries with a wide range of products and producers. Prices published in a catalogue are generally fixed and often not disclosed to customers prior to registration since different buyers might have agreed on different prices.

Classified ads

Classified ads display offers of specific products for sale or wanted by a buyer. The ads are sorted by the type of product, brand or company. They very much resemble the "for sale" sections in newspapers or trade magazines and are often focused on an industry or a certain range of products. This function can also be called a bulletin board, where buyers and sellers post things they would like to buy or sell.

Online order

When an order can be placed online for the articles listed for sale in a catalogue or classified ad. Orders to various sellers can in this way be placed directly on an e-marketplace. 

Reverse auctions

Also called sourcing auctions or buyers' auctions, help uyers to find the cheapest supplier for a contract. Within the auction the potential suppliers submit offers, lowering the selling price for each submitted bid. They underbid each other until the supplier with the lowest bid wins the contract. Reverse auctions often take place on dedicated Internet platforms, but they can also be found as part of larger B2B Internet platforms or as an element within enterprise software for supply management.

Request for Quotation/Proposal/Bid (RFQ, RFP, RFB)

Usually an on-line form where the seller or buyer sends a request to sell or buy a product. The RFQ/RFP/RFB function can be used to request a price or proposal on a product in a classified ad, a product listed in a catalogue or products expected to be supplied by a company in a supplier directory. The request is then typically sent to the trading partners by email to be answered. 

Supplier directories

Supplier directories are databases of companies. Buyers can find new suppliers and suppliers can get leads. You can search by products or services, by region or by company. The benefit for buyers is a clearer view of potential suppliers for industries and regions they are not familiar with. Directories typically include a brief description of the product area of the company and contact details. 

System integration

A further step is if the e-marketplace offers companies (buyers and / or sellers) the ability to integrate the order process with their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems (from companies like IFS, SAP, Intentia, Baan, and IBS). Internet platforms with such system integration are sometimes called trading networks.

They are part of the e-business infrastructure of companies with the main purpose of enabling an electronic information flow without interruptions. They are not for finding new suppliers or customers but rather for making transactions and the flow of information efficient within existing trade relationships.