eBay has added a business-to-business (B2B) trading facility for smaller companies on its US-based online auction site.
vnunet.com, 17 Mar 2000
eBay has added a business-to-business (B2B) trading facility for smaller companies on its US-based online auction site.
Business Exchange is the provider's first foray into the growing B2B market and is targeted at companies with fewer than 100 staff.
The facility enables users to shop from 34 business-related categories, including computer hardware, software, electronics, industrial and office equipment. This totals nearly 60,000 listings.
An eBay spokesman said any decisions to extend Business Exchange to international sites, such as those in the UK, Canada and Japan, would be up to individual country managers. But he said the company's German website has been operating a portal aimed at medium to large-sized businesses since November.
The spokesman said eBay decided to create Business Exchange when it noticed that businesses were trading networking systems, such as Cisco routers, on the site.
According to researcher GartnerGroup, the worldwide B2B market will increase in revenue from $145bn (£92bn) in 1999 to $3.9 trillion in 2003.
IBM and outsourcing supplier CommerceQuest have promised to provide connectivity and integration services to 65 business-to-business (B2B) trading communities by the end of the year.
Barclays Bank will pilot the first of its business-to-business internet services next month in partnership with Oracle and the management consultancy arm of Arthur Andersen.
Consumer portals Yahoo and America Online (AOL) have both announced plans to create online business-to-business (B2B) markets.
Eight UK banks are backing a scheme intended to boost confidence between businesses trading online.
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