CHAPTER 11· BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS INTERNET MARKETING
The exchange process
Traditionally, the exchange processwould be initiated by the seller, who will attempt to sat-
isfy the demands of the buyer either by producing goods and services that explicitly meet
the buyer’s needs or by aggressive sales and communications campaigns designed to per-
suade the buyer to purchase a particular product or service. However, in recent years, the
nature of interactions between buyers and sellers, who form an important part of the
exchange process, have been changing. Blenkhorn and Banting (1991) discussed the con-
cept of reverse marketing in the mid-1980s. In the reverse marketing scenario, the buyer
initiates the exchange process by making the seller aware of his purchasing requirements
and in doing so changes the nature of the relationship as there is potentially more buyer
involvement at earlier stages, i.e. input at product development stage. Online it is not only
the direction of the motivation to purchase that is changing but also the number and type
of partners engaging in the exchange process and the structure of the supply chain.The buying function
In addition to market exchanges, the organisational buying functiontypically involves a
decision-making process that is different from consumer purchasing behaviour.
Organisational buying decisions are influenced by the following key factors: the power
and number of individuals in the buying groupinvolved in the purchasing decision, the
type and size of purchaseand choice criteriainforming the purchase decision, and the level
of riskinvolved.
The buying group. Webster and Wind (1972) identified different profiles for partici-
pants involved in an organisational buying group: users, influencers, buyers, deciders
and gatekeepers. The composition of the buying group varies according to a com-
pany’s requirements regarding financial control and authorisation procedures.
The type and size of purchase. These will vary dramatically according to the scale of the
purchase. Companies such as aircraft manufacturers will have low-volume, high-value
orders; others selling items such as stationery will have high-volume, low-value
orders. With the low-volume, high-value purchase the Internet is not likely to be
involved in the transaction itself since this will involve a special contract and financ-
ing arrangement. The high-volume, low-value orders, however, are suitable for
e-commerce transactions and the Internet can offer several benefits over traditional
methods of purchase such as mail and fax (e.g. speed of transfer of information,
access to more detailed product information).
Choice criteria. The buying decision for organisations will typically take longer and be
more complicated than consumer purchasing decisions, as professional buying groups
assess product specifications against their buying requirements. To assist in this evalu-
ation, many B2B-specific portals have been created on the Internet, with the aim of
uniting buyers with sellers who have the products that match their requirements.
Such portals not only provide information about potential suppliers, but also enable
searching of product specifications and standards and parts catalogues.
The level of risk. This varies depending on the type of product. In the case of routine-
purchase, low-cost goods required, say, for maintenance or repair purposes the level of
risk associated with a wrong purchase is low. However, in the case of a high-cost prod-
uct, for example either a capital equipment purchase or a bulk quantity of raw
material used in a manufacturing process, the associated risk of making a wrong pur-
chase is high. The Internet affords buyers and sellers the opportunity to be well