Weiku.com: Pioneering the Transformation of the B2B Model

HANGZHOU, China, May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- On February 9, Alibaba, a leading B2B Company, suspended trading of their stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Ma Yun, Alibaba's chairman of the board, made a statement saying that they are determined to privatize the Company and to carry on comprehensive reforms in their business in order to serve customers better. There are many doubts over its delisting. Some analysts point out that the problem of its business model is one objective cause.

From the view of its business model, they used a traditional platform to focus on attracting suppliers. It led to a surge in the number of paid members, which may have brought high profit in a short term, however, in the long run, maintaining large numbers of suppliers made it difficult to ensure the integrity of its members. Some fraud events have come up and buyers' confidence has been blown away from the B2B marketplace. Consequently, the number of buyers has decreased and the demand of both suppliers and buyers could not be fulfilled.

What can the B2B industry learn from Alibaba's delisting? B2B platforms should pay attention to actual trade volume between buyers and suppliers, placing buyers' interests as their top priority. They should transform from focusing on the increase of paid members to improving buyers' purchasing experience. During this transition period from traditional B2B, some new emerging B2B platforms have made innovations on their business models that will garner them advantages in the marketplace.

Focus on suppliers' quality

The number of suppliers on new B2B e-commerce platforms is relatively small. For one thing, it's favorable to control number of supplier's and to select good ones and avoid vicious competition. For another, ordinary qualified members would be better served by new B2B platforms than by traditional platforms. Both will improve the satisfaction and confidence of new platforms' users and will make it easy for buyers to find high quality suppliers there.

Fair product ranking system

Take Weiku.com, for example. It has adopted a fair product ranking system that has been closely related to suppliers' quality, integrity and trading volume. Its in-station search results, which are totally different from that of "bidding ranking" adopted by traditional B2B ranking systems, are fully under the principle of natural order, reflecting the activeness of both buyers and suppliers. Such a ranking system can continuously stir suppliers to provide better products and services for buyers. It helps to improve purchasing efficiency and safety on a B2B marketplace, leading to mutual benefits for both buyers and suppliers.

The B2B industry is now going through a period of reform. Weiku.com, as a representative of the emerging B2B e-commerce platforms, has realized the importance of helping lower the risks of global procurement and improving buyers' purchasing experience. Their new B2B business model, which focuses on improving suppliers' quality and offering transparent purchasing information, will pave the way for the future of the B2B industry.

SOURCE Hangzhou WeiKu Information Technology Co., Ltd.