Internet in B2B Marketing
Introduction:
The B2B (i.e. business-to-business) market consists of all organizations that are into the purchase of goods and services. The internet is an Information technology (IT) that has spread among business-to-business organizations at exponential rates. According to Avlonitis & Karayanni, in the year 2000, about $66 billion in business-to-business commerce was conducted on the Internet. It was said that the number of businesses connected to the internet rose from 4% in 1997 to 33% in the year 2000. The high approval and consequent use of the Internet by the business-to-business organizations is as a result of two factors. First, it has an overwhelming advantage over every other competitive information network owing to its interoperable idiosyncrasy, the operational and set up cost is low. Second, it possesses a superior interactive and informational communicative ability which gives it a twin function of being an exceptional marketing channel, as well as, a proficient communication tool. These two features result in the emergence of new network cooperative opportunities since it brings about the development of more effective inter-organizational relationships, (Wiersema, 2013).Synthesis of the ideas from the literature:
The impact of the Internet on B2B marketing is great. In the financial services industry, the Internet plays the role of providing guidance to managers on the adoption of e-commerce. The greater the use of the Internet tools, the higher the influence on the management of customer databases, on the sales management activities, relating to customer classification and market segmentation, conveying electronic catalogues to the customers, and making audiovisual presentations.
The Internet has been branded as the ultimate medium that improves interactivity and thereby reshaping the marketing paradigm. Thus, the greater the use of the Internet tools, the larger its influence on product management activities, as conveyed by quicker discovery of customer needs, quicker testing of new products, better product customization, and shorter product life cycles. As the Internet budget increases, the impacts it has on sales management activities also increases. These sales management activities includes customer classification and market segmentation, management of customer databases, creation of audiovisual presentation, and sending electronic catalogues to the customers. As the Internet budget gets higher, the impact on product management activities gets larger, leading to a quicker discovery of customer needs, higher product customization, swift new product testing and smaller product life cycles. Apparent gaps in the literature:
Avlonitis & Karaynni claimed that the Internet has been the auspicious theme for numerous studies and reports during the last decade (2000). However, there has been a lack of systematic empirical proof as regards the marketing activities that are influenced by the use of the Internet, and their resulting performance outcomes. Today, their statements still remain valid. Although the Internet adoption and use is still on the rise and has continued to have a great influence on business activities, the assessment made by Avlonitis and Karaynni are now outdated and there is need for an updated assessment of Internet marketing activities (Tiago & Tiago, 2012).
Gaps observed in other articles include differences in the aspects of the strategic positions which make the existing taxonomy questionable. Not all the factors that actually influence B2B marketing are considered in previous works. The main gap is that previous works indicate that the common challenges faced by B2B marketing are business related; however recent works have proved that it is rather technically related.
Conclusion:
Results have shown that there are several aspects of the previous articles on B2B that recent research works still concur with, however, some gaps still exists. Differences exist between B2B e-marketplaces in several aspects of their strategic position; thus, the existing taxonomy of B2B e-marketplaces can be questioned. Recent research works also shows that there are several factors that can determine the success and/or the failure of B2B market not indicated in the previous works. Also, results from recent works also suggest that the common challenges facing B2B market are not technically oriented but are rather business related. As regards the precarious impact that business model components have on the success and/or failure of B2B marketing, it could be concluded that the companies’ internal capabilities and assets, specifically, as well as their revenue and cost model, have a significant part to play.
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