PDF Print E-mail

Trading on the corporate level is very extensive and demanding process, which relies largely on the continuous communication and mutual exchange of commercial and logistical information. These include negotiating the terms of the conclusion of a specific business case, to receive inquiries, requests for quote, orders, invoices and other documents. In recent years, become part of commercial communication between companies also shared information on the joint development of new products or information about the market situation, marketing plans, financial results or business. Forms a closed chain stores, which very closely.

One of the main channels of communication between companies has become the Internet, whose importance in the B2B segment is now indisputable. First, of course, started using the best-known services, e-mail correspondence. Over time it became increasingly more prominent as search a variety of information about companies on the Internet, send and publish requests and offers on various advertising sites and last but not least, the direct trading via the Internet. Today there are many online applications that are closed and inaccessible to non-participating entities with which they are managed often very complex and sensitive business processes.

Trade between the companies, however, is not a steady process, customers are constantly looking for change and their suppliers, they find the best offers, follow the market price relations. On the other hand, suppliers are constantly looking back and appeal to new customers.

Many suppliers and customers quickly understand the benefits of new forms of electronic commerce, and thus began his potential business partners to communicate electronically right. The first simple model of electronic commerce, which has developed very rapidly, the form of bilateral trade, commerce called "one to one" (one-to-one). In the next stage, especially the trade began to develop systems to support sales in commercial networks and through business partners (agents), ie the system of "one to many (one-to-many). Until recently started to implement in practice the systems of electronic commerce based on the principle of "many to many (many-to-many).

The result of these conflicting business strategies, on the one hand there is the pursuit of very well established and secure system interaction between the permanent business partners and on the other hand, endless need for change towards greater efficiency and development towards new opportunities, distribution business and related internal business processes - a "house" or the concern in the steady string of subcontractors and manufacturing plants and distribution networks, often operating on a global scale - and external, that is marketing oriented, open outward to the market. Internal trade policy is now adapted to all enterprise applications from ERP systems through systems SRM (Supplier Relationshiop Management) systems to the manufacturing supply chain management SCM (Supplier Chain Management).

B2B e-commerce tools, as understood today, is mainly applied in the case of external business processes, aiming in particular to find a new business partner, whether the purchase or sale. One of the tools used in B2B built on the principle of a many-to-many are electronic marketplaces.