Business-to-Business Is Booming:
Part 1 of 2
by Sacha Cohen

If 1999 was the year of online shopping, 2000 could very well be the year of business-to-business e-commerce. Think about this mind-boggling statistic for a moment: Forrester Research projects that annual business-to-business e-commerce will soar from $43 billion in 1998 to 1 trillion by 2003. And a new study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicts that by 2003 one-quarter of business-to-business purchasing will be done online. The research firm estimates that B2B e-commerce will account for $2.8 trillion by then, equal to 33% yearly growth since 1998. Those are some serious numbers to consider, ones that will change the face of e-business as we now know it.

Although B2B may not be as "sexy" as online consumer ventures like Amazon and eBay, it’s overflowing with opportunity for job seekers, businesses and investors alike. Forrester Research predicts that, on average, B2B sites will save participants anywhere from 18 percent to 45 percent through quicker ordering of supplies, speedier delivery of goods, fewer errors, better information and more opportunities to find the lowest-priced products and services.

The buzz about B2B has been growing for the past few months, and if you haven’t already learned about this market, now’s the time. According to an article in the September 1999 issue of Business 2.0, so-called electronic hubs (also known as "vortexes," "vortals" and "butterfly markets") focus on a specific industry or specific industry processes and create value by bringing together buyers and sellers. Take a look at Chicago-based PlasticsNet.com, a vortal for the $370 billion-per-year plastics business. The site includes an online plastics-industry job bank, an education database, extensive classified postings, and supplier Web sites and searchable catalogs. Think of it as one-stop-shopping for everything plastic.

Then there’s Wall Street darling VerticalNet.com, which as of this writing was trading at around $150 per share, up from its offer price of $16 in February. The site bills itself as "the Internet's leading creator and operator of vertical trade communities." It’s broken down into nine communities, including healthcare and science, advanced technologies and communications.

If you’ve been considering a move to a Web-related career and you have a manufacturing or industry-specific background, now may be the time for you to look into the B2B space. Not only should you look at the job postings on B2B sites, you might also consider working for the sites themselves. On e-Steel, for instance, the company lists openings in client services, engineering and product development, among others. Someone with a background in the steel industry and a through understanding of e-commerce would probably be a strong candidate.

As e-business continues to evolve and mature, such trends as B2B e-commerce are important to keep on your radar. Who knows, if you get on the ball now, you could find yourself at the top in no time.

* Stay tuned for the second part of this article covering some key movers and shakers in the B2B space!