B2B Marketplaces Present a USD 200 Bn Opportunity by 2030: Report According to Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), by 2023 there will be a USD 200 billion market potential for startups in the online-first and technology-enabled business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces category.
By Sujata Sangwan •
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The online-first and tech-enabled business-to-business (B2B) marketplace startups will have access to a USD 200 billion market by 2023, predicts Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP).
According to the Bengaluru-based venture capital firm, the growth is currently fueled by four factors: growing digital adoption, maturing digital infrastructure, favourable regulatory regulations, and a conducive cross-border environment.
E-commerce, logistics, and payment systems including Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Account Aggregators, and Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) are a few examples of the key drivers, the report said.
The research further added that additional examples included the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regulatory framework, eWay Bill, the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for manufacturing.
The B2B portion of the economy is projected to be worth $2.5 trillion in 2023, but the report revealed that the penetration of e-commerce in this segment is just 1%, far behind the United States (18%), the United Kingdom (20%), and China (25%).
Additionally, BVP identified three types of opportunities — product marketplaces, service marketplaces, and marketplace infrastructure startups — that are emerging in the B2B marketplaces area.
The products side solutions comprise full-stack online marketplaces that bring together buyers and sellers of tangible goods while also offering pertinent services like selection, quality control, and logistics. Fashinza, Moglix, Zetwerk, DeHaat, Infra.market, and PharmEasy are a few examples.
The services marketplaces operate in verticals like marketing and sales, information technology, recruiting and human resources, industrial, among others, and connect companies with service providers like freelancers, consultants, and agencies. PepperContent, One Impression, and Expertrons are a few examples.
Technology platforms and tools in the fields of payments, logistics, and warehousing are examples of marketplace infrastructure that allow companies to build, assist and operate B2B marketplaces. Rupifi, Freight Tiger, ElasticRun, and Shiprocket are included as examples here.
According to five hypotheses put up by BVP to help the industry scale in the future, including examples from the fashion, jewellery and seafood verticals, a verticalised approach allows deeper supply building.
BVP said that addressing the finance needs of unorganised suppliers aids in scalability and that a software layer provides seamless experiences, standardised workflows, and increases stickiness in B2B marketplaces.
In India, there has over 60 million MSMEs as of 2022, and two out of every three of them have adopted technology. While just 10% of MSMEs (six million) currently conduct online buying and selling, 25% (15 million) are anticipated to do so during the next four years.
A full-stack, supply-first, transactional approach enables superior profitability, retention, and transaction experiences, driven by end-to-end control over the supply chain, according to BVP, among other hypotheses.
