A B2B marketplace is an online platform where businesses buy from other businesses, with many sellers listing products in one catalog run by the platform operator. It looks like a consumer marketplace on the surface, but the mechanics are business ones: buyer accounts for companies, net prices and VAT invoices, prices that drop with quantity, minimum order quantities, pack units, and often purchase approvals or integration with the buyer's procurement system.
For suppliers, the hard part is rarely the application form. It is the catalog: B2B buyers search by part number, filter by technical attributes, compare net unit prices across pack sizes and expect a data sheet for every item. This guide covers the main types of B2B marketplaces with real examples, what operators ask of sellers, and a field-by-field list of the product data you need before you list.
B2B marketplace vs. B2B webshop vs. consumer marketplace
Three channels are easy to confuse, and they need different data:
- B2B webshop: your own store with trade accounts, customer-specific prices and reorder lists. You control the catalog structure. Our comparison of wholesale vs retail covers how trade pricing differs from consumer pricing.
- B2B marketplace: a third-party platform with many sellers and business buyers. The operator sets the category tree, required fields and file formats, and your listing competes next to other suppliers of the same part.
- Consumer marketplace: bol, Kaufland or Amazon's consumer store. Prices include VAT, shoppers buy single units, and content is written for consumers. Some consumer marketplaces add a business layer on top, which is how Amazon Business works.
Business buyers rarely use one channel. McKinsey's B2B Pulse survey found that B2B buyers use an average of ten channels in their buying journey, so a marketplace listing usually sits next to your own webshop, a sales rep and a price list, and all of them need to agree.
Types of B2B marketplaces, with examples
Most B2B marketplaces fit one of four models. The examples below were checked on each operator's own site; fees, buyer numbers and terms change often, so read the current seller terms before you apply.
Horizontal marketplaces: many categories, many industries
A horizontal B2B marketplace sells across categories to buyers from any sector. Amazon Business is the best known: sellers on Amazon can set business prices that only Amazon Business customers see, add quantity discounts as a percentage off or a fixed price once a buyer reaches a minimum order size, and upload both in bulk with the Business Price/Quantity File. Alibaba.com is a global sourcing platform where sellers pay for a membership and can respond to buyers' requests for quotation (RFQ) as well as being found through search.
Vertical marketplaces: one industry or one buyer type
A vertical marketplace serves one industry or one kind of buyer, with categories and required fields that fit that trade. Ankorstore describes itself as a B2B platform for brands and independent retailers, with consumer-goods categories such as home and kitchen, food and drinks, and beauty. Brands can upload products from Shopify, sync B2B prices and stock, or use a public API for catalog management. Vertical platforms in industrial trades are usually stricter about classification and technical attributes than horizontal ones.
Procurement platforms with an integrated marketplace
Some platforms combine a marketplace with e-procurement tools for the buyer's purchasing team. Unite (formerly Mercateo) describes itself as an e-procurement platform with an integrated marketplace for indirect spend. Private consumers are not allowed to buy there. Unite checks a supplier's catalog before it goes online, including item descriptions, EAN numbers, manufacturer numbers, the number of images and data sheets, and order and packaging units, and it accepts electronic catalogs in BMEcat format.
Inquiry marketplaces and B2B directories
Inquiry marketplaces connect buyers and suppliers but leave the deal to them. wlw ("wer liefert was") calls itself the leading B2B marketplace in Germany; buyers search products and suppliers and send requests for quotation to verified suppliers. Here the catalog works as a lead generator: complete product pages and clear specifications decide whether a buyer sends you the inquiry or a competitor.
B2B marketplace types at a glance
| Amazon Business | Horizontal | Registered business customers | Seller Central listings, Business Price/Quantity File for prices | Business prices and quantity discount tiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alibaba.com | Horizontal, global sourcing | Business buyers worldwide | Seller listings plus RFQ responses | Quotes and listed prices |
| Ankorstore | Vertical (independent retail) | Independent retailers | Shopify integration or public API | Wholesale prices |
| Unite | Procurement platform with marketplace | Companies and institutions, no consumers | Electronic catalog in BMEcat format, checked before going live | Catalog prices |
| wlw | Inquiry marketplace | Business buyers in Germany | Supplier profile with products | Request for quotation |
What B2B marketplaces ask of sellers
Requirements differ per platform, but the same themes come back in every seller application:
- A registered business: company details, a VAT number for EU sellers, and invoices that show net prices and VAT correctly.
- Selection or approval: many platforms vet suppliers. Unite says it selects suppliers according to criteria and requirements, and Ankorstore has an "apply to sell" step.
- Logistics you can promise: on Unite, suppliers are responsible for logistics. Reliable lead times and stock levels matter more to a buyer who orders for a production line than to a consumer.
- A catalog in the platform's format: a spreadsheet template, an XML standard such as BMEcat, an API, or a connector from your shop system.
- Data quality checks before go-live: identifiers, descriptions, images, documents and order units are checked, and incomplete items stay offline.
The product data B2B buyers expect, field by field
A professional buyer filters, compares and checks before ordering, often on behalf of someone else. Take an illustrative item: an E27 LED filament lamp, 7 W, 2700 K, sold in boxes of 10. These are the fields a B2B marketplace listing needs, with example values. GTIN 9506000134352 is GS1's demonstration number; all other values are made up for the example.
B2B catalog fields with an example LED lamp
| GTIN / EAN | 9506000134352 | Search by barcode, match to their own item master | GS1 GTIN-13 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPN and manufacturer | FL-E27-7W-27K, brand name | Search by part number, compare offers for the same part | Manufacturer's own numbering |
| Net price and price tiers | 5-9 boxes EUR 18.40, 10-49 EUR 16.90, 50+ EUR 15.20 | Calculate the order total before asking for a quote | Net, excluding VAT, per order unit |
| Order unit and pack contents | 1 box = 10 lamps | Avoid ordering 10 boxes when they meant 10 lamps | UN/ECE Rec. 20 unit codes in BMEcat |
| MOQ and order multiple | Minimum 5 boxes, steps of 5 | Plan quantities and avoid rejected orders | Quantity minimum and interval fields |
| Lead time and stock | In stock, ships in 2 working days | Plan deliveries for a project or a production line | Working days |
| Technical attributes | Lamp base E27, 806 lm, 2700 K, CRI 80, dimmable | Filter and compare like for like | ETIM features, ECLASS properties |
| Classification | ETIM class and UNSPSC commodity code | Route the item into the buyer's category and spend reports | ETIM, UNSPSC, ECLASS |
| Documents | Data sheet, EU declaration of conformity, energy label | Approve the product for use and prove compliance | PDF linked per item |
| Logistics data | Box weight, dimensions, country of origin, HS code | Freight cost, customs and warehouse planning | Kilograms, millimeters, ISO country codes |
Three groups of fields cause most rejected or underperforming listings. Our guide to minimum order quantity explains how MOQ, order multiple and pack size fit together, and why a quantity always needs its unit. A product specification sheet shows how to turn technical attributes into a document buyers can approve. And classification decides where a buyer finds you at all: the ETIM guide covers the standard used in electrical and installation trades, and the UNSPSC guide covers the code set many procurement teams use for spend analysis.
Seven listing errors that keep B2B items offline
These come up again and again when a catalog built for a consumer webshop is sent to a B2B platform:
- Gross prices where the platform expects net. Consumer catalogs store prices including VAT; most B2B platforms expect net prices per order unit.
- Pack size only in the title. "LED lamp 10-pack" tells a person what is in the box but gives the platform no order unit or content quantity to calculate a unit price.
- Missing manufacturer part numbers. Professional buyers search by MPN; Unite says customers sometimes search by EAN, and checks both before an item goes live.
- Attributes as free text. "Warm white, about 800 lumen" cannot be filtered. Store 2700 K and 806 lm as numbers with units.
- No documents. A data sheet and a declaration of conformity are often required before a purchasing department can approve an item.
- A classification guessed per item. Map product families to a class once and check the outliers, instead of picking a code item by item.
- Different prices and pack sizes per channel without a reason. A buyer who sees 10 lamps per box on the marketplace and 12 on your webshop will call, or leave.
Choosing your first B2B marketplace: five questions
Listing everywhere at once spreads a small team thin. Answer these questions per platform before you apply, and start with the one where most answers point the same way:
- Who are the buyers? Independent shops buying to resell, procurement teams buying for their own use, or any business. A brand of kitchen textiles fits a retail-focused platform; a distributor of fasteners fits a procurement platform.
- How do they buy? Fixed catalog prices with quantity tiers suit repeat orders of standard items. Requests for quotation suit custom, high-value or made-to-order products.
- Which format can you deliver now? If your data already lives in a shop system, a platform that imports from Shopify is the shortest route. If you can produce BMEcat, procurement platforms open up. If neither, check whether the platform's spreadsheet template is workable for your range.
- Does your margin carry the fee model? Work out the net price you keep after commission or membership costs for a typical order, at your lowest price tier, not your list price.
- Can you deliver like a B2B supplier? Carton-level shipping, stated lead times and invoices with the buyer's VAT details are expected from day one.
Pricing deserves its own check. A marketplace price usually needs to cover a commission that your own price list does not, while your trade customers expect the same pack sizes and comparable unit prices everywhere. Keeping one stored price and deriving channel prices with rules avoids a second price column that drifts out of date. In WISEPIM, pricing rules can target CSV and Excel exports or a feed separately, so the file you upload to a marketplace can carry its own markup and rounding while your stored prices stay unchanged.
Start small: list a few hundred of your best-documented items first, watch which fields the platform rejects or which questions buyers ask, fix those in the master catalog, and only then add the rest of the range.
Preparing one catalog for several B2B channels
Because each platform takes data in its own way, the efficient approach is one master catalog with complete B2B fields, from which each channel gets its own export. The diagram shows the common routes; each platform's own documentation tells you which one it accepts.
One master catalog, several B2B routes
WISEPIM has no direct connection to any B2B marketplace, so it does not publish listings or receive orders from Amazon Business, Alibaba.com, Ankorstore, Unite or wlw. What it does is prepare the data those platforms check. AI enrichment fills technical attributes and descriptions, ETIM classification maps product families to ETIM classes, and Quality Guard flags items with missing identifiers or required attributes. From there you export: Feed Hub generates a BMEcat 2005 catalog with ETIM features, which writes order unit, pack contents, minimum quantity and order interval from attributes such as moq, pack_size and order_step; CSV and Excel exports fill a marketplace's spreadsheet template; and pushing clean data to a connected store such as Shopify helps when a platform imports from your shop. The BMEcat file carries one price per item, so set quantity tiers in the platform itself. Check which BMEcat version a platform expects before you send a file, because not every operator accepts 2005.
For retailers that buy from you directly, Brand Portals let a supplier or brand publish a live, read-only catalog with chosen products and columns, optionally behind a password. Retail buyers browse it, download it, or import it into their own WISEPIM project in one click. It works as a digital alternative to the wholesale line sheet you would otherwise email each season.
If you sell to businesses through your own shop and several platforms, see how WISEPIM supports B2B catalogs with structured attributes, classification and channel exports from one product record.
