Is the B2B market ready for digitalization?

Is the B2B market ready for digitalization?

B2B ecommerce in Europe has grown significantly over last ten years. merXu is set to benefit from an acceleration of B2B buying transitioning online, allowing companies and their suppliers to find each other and transact digitally.

Business owners and procurement managers are simply spending too much time finding professional and reliable sellers. Manufacturers on the other hand struggle to expand their businesses internationally, facing challenges with payments and logistics experience. We’ve seen the B2C space transition into a largely seamless experience today – one that is almost expected. merXu is looking to expand this accessibility and ease of purchasing to the B2B ecosystem in Europe.

Do you think the COVID-19 pandemic is working to your benefit? Are customer behaviours and habits changing due to COVID-19?

We believe that digitalthat the digital transformation can bring tangible and lasting benefits to all. The current situation forces us all to rethink how we operate, how we build and maintain business relationships. We believe that we will function in a reality that combines two worlds: physical and digital. We are basically sure that one world cannot exist without the other. We all have to adapt. Physical interactions do not disappear but business processes, procedures, interactions, document exchange, searching, buying - all this can and should be changed, facilitated, automated so that entrepreneurs have more time to deal with their core business.

On your webpage we can read – Merxu is B2B online marketplace. Please elaborate more on your business model.

merXu’s primary role is to connect buyers and sellers and help them transact. It is designed exclusively for companies - both small and medium-sized enterprises as well as large entities. It allows for online trading in non-consumer goods such as building and construction materials, chemicals, electrotechnics, HVAC, industry and machinery building,  PPE and tools for professionals.

Where did you get the idea for such a business?

We have  extensive experience in e-commerce, especially in the B2C segment. However, we can see that the evolution that has been taking place in the consumer sector over the past years is now taking place in the business world, and at a rapid pace. The B2B market is changing dynamically and we want to participate actively in its digital transformation. That’s why we have committed ourselves to the goal of supporting companies from this sector in their digitisation by providing a comprehensive and advanced tool combining user experience at the highest level - comparable to B2C platforms - with functionalities that significantly streamline business operations of enterprises.

What are the similarities and differences between B2C platforms and merXu?

merXu is designed exclusively for companies. It was created with business needs and the specifics of the B2B e-commerce in mind:

• merXu is dedicated exclusively to companies.
• Each registered company is verified to ensure maximum security for sellers and buyers
• Both sides of the transaction have full knowledge of who they are dealing with and can contact each other on an ongoing basis via platform messenger
• All messages are automatically translated by merXu so each party can communicate in their own native language
• Buyers and seller can also verify each other by ordering professional business verification reports; merXu works locally with business information companies and provides those reports for free
• Sellers can list products catalogues, set up shipping policies, create tier pricing mechanisms, set minimum order values, open for negotiations and also configure buy now process.

Thank you for the interview!