B2B Trends in 2011

By: Gaurav Batra In: B2B Last Updated: 2011-06-20

The year 2011 has witnessed several new trends in the way businesses operate on the net. Driven by new technologies and new tactics of marketing, this year is witnessing several new operatives in the business to business communities. After recovering from the repression, many small businesses have seen better business conditions, which have lead to their rapid development. Variable Cost models are preferred over the fixed cost models to minimize cash requirements and increase business agility. Fixed costs and fixed assets are increasingly being avoided and 2011 foresees a growth in hiring of contingent workers in place of full time employees.

Alternative Financing through micro-lending, merchant advances, crowd funding, community lending, factoring, etc. is another popular trend that is likely to gain momentum in 2011. An increase in financing from banks and other traditional sources has also increased with the onset of the year. In addition, the businesses have diverted from the traditional methods of promotion and have started opting for social media for promotion. Social media has enabled many small businesses to move to the mainstream and create a place for themselves on the B2B front.

The amazing Growth Of Social Commerce Sites heralded the shift towards the integration of social media and sales. 2011 will see this field grow more and more as Social Commerce becomes a popular trend in the B2B scenario. In the field of social commerce social networking sites like Facebook have emerged as a friend of small scale businesses as it fetches all the more visitors, thus increasing trade.

Another important trend in the B2B situation of 2011 is the flourishing of New Localism. The internet provides the buyers an option to visit the manufacturers and suppliers in local area thus giving a boost to the local trade. For instance, a customer residing in a certain area will firstly look for garment shop in that area on a B2B portal in order to purchase the garments.

Therefore, in the year 2011, we will witness more and more mobile and internet technologies that will bring different types of businesses in the global arena by providing increased interactivity.