Some time ago, I wrote two consecutive articles discussing the direction and prospects of B2B products. They may have been relatively extensive. During this period, I also received feedback from some friends. I would like to express my sincere thanks! Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. If there is anything wrong, please comment. hehe.
In fact, there is no contradiction between what these two articles say. The product direction is to explore the profit direction from the scope and depth of the product; the platform development trend is to explore the operation strategy and operation direction from a more macro perspective. Whether it is a large B2B platform, an industry B2B platform, or other platform operation methods, as Mr. Xiao of Yidatong said, the platform only provides "dating agency information matching" services, which can no longer fully meet the needs of merchants. Platform products must extend from information matching to online transactions to find more profit models. Therefore, the evolution of platform products from commodity matching to commodity trading is an inevitable trend in the development of the platform. What we have to do today is to create conditions for online transactions and escort the completion of transactions.
Below, from a product perspective, I will take the electronic components industry as an example to analyze and explain the industrial characteristics of the B2B platform and the design points of transaction-related products for reference.
1/ Search function:
Product search is one of the customer experiences that best reflects the characteristics of an industrialized platform. Faced with massive product supply information, professional search tools are a must for the platform. However, a deep understanding of the product can enable you to truly search for products and improve the stickiness of the website. For integrated circuit components (IC), the characteristics of the IC, in addition to the model, are also reflected in the batch number and packaging method. When we design and develop industry search tools, we need to integrate these product elements into the search or advanced search criteria options to facilitate buyers to accurately find the products they are looking for. The following website search page screenshots are from Weiku.com.
Reminder: Corresponding to such a product search experience, you must also consider more professional product management. Only when these independent attributes of the product can be clearly reflected in the process of product entry, uploading, editing, etc., can the product be accurately matched and displayed during the search process. Although some websites often like to use tags, the search efficiency based on a large number of products is far less effective than independent field search matching.
Further consideration: For the electronic components industry, a considerable number of IC products have substitutes. How to intelligently match the substitutes in the search and display them in the search results is actually to maximize the search function. Adding appropriate descriptions of alternative products can greatly improve the professionalism of the platform and bring more trading opportunities to suppliers and buyers.
2/ IC product inventory and spot certification:
The electronic components industry trading market is characterized by spot trading, and price fluctuations are often relatively large. The traders with spot goods are the most powerful. Most traders do not have spot inventory and rely on purchasing goods from these traders who have spot stocks and then reselling them to users. Therefore, for users or traders who do not have stocks in stock, they must dynamically understand who has which components in stock, so that quotations for those in stock are meaningful and transactions can be arranged. Therefore, the "Trader Spot Certification" product is very valuable to traders who have spot stocks. Huaqiang Electronic Network has been relatively successful in this regard. It links "spot certification" with the ranking of website product search results, so that suppliers with ready-made products are more prominently displayed on the website, attracting more transaction inquiries. It is this linkage between online and offline services that has brought a lot of benefits to Huaqiang Electronic Network.
3/ Product maintenance:
Since the trading characteristics of electronic components are spot transactions, and spot prices sometimes fluctuate greatly, for example, the earthquake in Japan directly caused an increase in the price of high-end electronic components, causing frequent changes in commodity prices and inventory quantities. Therefore, in the electronic components trading platform, the form of directly importing Excel files in the background is generally used to directly update almost all the company's product information at one time, and cover new product content according to model, batch, packaging standard and other characteristic attributes. Old content. This function is almost the standard for maintenance/update of IC component products. Traders maintain/update their own product inventory information documents (Excel format), and synchronize product data with external trading platforms through this Excel format document, update online product content, and improve work efficiency.
From the above three points, we can already see that the services of industrialized B2B platforms have a stickiness for both buyers and sellers that large B2B platforms cannot match. Moreover, it is easier to form an online trading environment. Of course, these products and services alone are not enough. Electronic component platform operators can also deepen and push forward the service content in the following aspects, and seamlessly integrate them with the online transaction process.
1/ Realize smooth transition from information platform to trading platform
For B2B operators preparing to shift from information service platforms to transaction-oriented service platforms, the biggest pain is to bear the risk of loss of relatively stable revenue from the platform. Judging from the current situation, more than 95% of the revenue of the B2B trading platform for electronic components is based on the release and matching of product information, including honest products. Of course, there are many objective reasons for this. Therefore, for product design oriented to the transaction process, although the underlying product data structure is the same, it still needs to be more cautious and comprehensively considered to achieve a smooth transition. That is, it is necessary to retain profitable products and design concepts on the commodity information platform, and at the same time, it is necessary to strengthen guidance on suppliers to enter commodity inventory quantities and commodity quotations in order to connect to the online transaction of commodities. For example: give relatively high search rankings to products/merchants that can disclose inventory quantities and quotations on the website, etc. Avoid the confusing situation of having a commodity information platform and a commodity trading platform at the same time. At the same time, in the order status of unfinished payment, the seller is allowed to modify the transaction order price, and then requires the buyer to pay online, which in disguise makes the trading system have a bargaining function and is in line with offline trading habits;
2/ Transaction guarantee service
On the premise of realizing a smooth transition from a commodity information platform to a commodity trading platform, platform operators should strive to develop new transaction-related products, such as transaction guarantee products. My understanding of the transaction guarantee service is: for online transactions between merchants that occur on the B2B platform, the operator provides a service to guarantee the payment of the online transaction by controlling the cash flow. Platform operators can cooperate with banks or other third-party payment companies to supervise transaction funds during the transaction process, protect the interests of buyers and sellers to the greatest extent, and guide the smooth completion of transactions;
There are many other related services, such as logistics, transaction loans, etc. It all depends on your in-depth understanding of the needs of the industry and industry merchants in practice, and the development of more platform products and services that meet the development needs of the industry, so that the B2B platform can develop faster and more maturely.
I don’t know when the blowout of industry B2B platform transactions will come. It depends on the market environment, its own products and services, the operating habits of merchants, etc. However, if you are prepared, you have a greater chance of standing out from the crowd of competitors. What’s even more fulfilling is that you have participated in the cultivation of market and merchant habits, and your growth and rapid development are well-deserved!
Author: solemn
Article source: iResearch Expert-Zhuang Yan