Question: Building a Successful B2B Web Site

Your company operates a single store outside Atlanta, Georgia, that sells nearly $50 million in maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) supplies each year. Any product that is used in the manufacturing process, but that isn't incorporated into the product itself, can be classified as MRO including consumables like cleaning supplies used to clean production machinery, supplies that are used to support operations, and office supplies and small equipment like fans and compressors. Your customers are mainly professional buyers who work for one of the many manufacturing companies in the area. They buy items based on annual purchase contracts negotiated with your company's sales reps. Your company is keenly interesting in building a Web site to enable it to reach customers nationwide. The firm tried entering e-commerce a few years ago but the venture was a failure. The Web site was poorly designed so that customers found it difficult to use and the technology selected proved to be unreliable with the Web site crashing for a few hours every week. A small group of employees is working with an experienced Web designer to design the new Web site.

Review Questions

1. Provide a strong justification for creating a new B2B Web site for your firm.

2. In what ways would this new B2B Web site differ from a typical B2C Web site?

Critical Thinking Questions

1. The Web site design team believes that the firm's Web site should incorporate a design and features similar to some of the best B2C Web sites. What do you think this means? Can you offer some specific design ideas and features that should be included?

2. What are some potential issues the team faces in implementing and operating this Web site?