Roadmap: B2B Marketplaces

We’re at the dawn of a renaissance in B2B commerce. We’re seeing a new generation of founders who are using new technologies and business models to bring B2B spend online.

As consumers we can buy basically anything online: car washes, deodorant, home renovations, even Albino Pac-Man Frogs. So why do restaurants have to order their most basic supplies over the phone? Why don’t dentists have an easy way to compare latex glove prices from different vendors? And why do most gas stations manage their fuel purchases in email and Excel?

Historically, digitally-savvy entrepreneurs have given more attention to B2C commerce than to B2B commerce—and we don’t blame them! B2C spend is more top-of-mind, and as consumers we benefit from companies like Amazon, Shopify, and Stripe every day.

But B2B markets are many times bigger than B2C markets (annual global B2B spend is more than $100 trillion), and they’re much more offline. Indeed, massive B2B markets like wholesale and logistics remain opaque and intermediary-driven, with orders and payments flowing via email, SMS, fax, and paper check.

In February, we hosted more than 50 founders at our B2B Marketplace Summit to discuss emerging trends in B2B commerce and payments, and we walked away convinced we’re on the cusp of a B2B purchasing renaissance that will spawn dozens of $1 billion+ companies with winner-take most dynamics. We’re seeing a new generation of founders who are using new technologies and business models to digitize B2B spend; most of these founders come from large, antiquated industries where they discovered offline purchasing workflows firsthand.

In this roadmap, we outline our learnings from the conference and reasons we’re so excited about B2B marketplaces as an emerging software category.