Best Source for B2B Industry Trends, News and Updates
As the world is changing, most European businesses also prefer to use European e-commerce websites to import goods. But shockingly, around 90% of their local manufacturers are operating through sales representatives. Therefore, there is a good gap between buyers' demand and sellers’ supply models. Businesses like yours can still join the top B2B platforms in Europe and fill this gap. You only need to know your target audience and choose a platform that your potential customers use the most.
These are the top 10 B2B marketplaces in the European region that you should consider joining to expand your reach in this region.
Amazon Business is quite popular among buyers. Even when people buy from another source, most Europeans still check the prices on Amazon to get a better idea of pricing and features. Due to its massive customer base, Amazon Business keeps growing at a rapid pace and bringing new opportunities.
In Europe alone, it created over 650,000 jobs and has more than 200,000 sellers. You may also have seen several success stories of how this marketplace has changed how businesses operate. Listing products and getting the first few sales here can be challenging, but once you get an idea of how things go here, it can be an amazing platform to upscale your wholesale business.
Pros:
Strong brand reputation
Massive customer base
Provides market insights
Cons:
Challenging for new sellers
Tradewheel.com is a well-reputed B2B marketplace with a strong market share. It differentiates itself by keeping its product posting and lead generation procedure simpler than other top European e-commerce sites. While posting your products here, the best practice would be to mention as much detail as possible to make it rank higher on the search results. Many of their product pages also appear on Google searches which gives you a better chance of getting seen by buyers.
Over the years, Tradewheel.com has assisted several companies to expand their reach all over Europe effectively. If you also want to build your store’s online presence that is low in cost, and highly profitable, you should have your products posted on Tradewheel.com.
Pros:
Easy to set up store and post products
Higher reach
Cost-effective
Cons:
Can not list services
Europages is a specialized marketplace that only European buyers to make purchases. However, sellers from almost all over the world can post their products and sell directly to the European importers. It is available in 26 different languages, but sellers only need to post their product details in only 1 language and it will be translated automatically into others.
It gets over 50 million visits by decision-makers you want to connect with. If you also want to be seen by your potential B2B buyers, Europages is perfect for you. But, to maintain the quality of their directory, suppliers have to go through a very demanding verification process. But once it is completed, it will be worth your time and energy investment.
Pros:
Available in multiple languages
Automatic product title and description translation
Massive European customer base
Cons:
Has strict verification process for sellers
Despite its dominance in the Asian region, Alibaba only has a 4% market share in Europe. Even though it is comparatively much lower, it is still one of the biggest business directories in Europe. Being a popular marketplace, it has a massive number of exporters which keeps increasing every day.
The major chunk of the buyers on Alibaba is of purchase managers with a tight budget or small quantity requirements. Therefore, if you want to compete on this platform as a seller, you need to be ready for the price wars going on and always keep an eye on what strategies your competitors are executing.
Pros:
Variety of products
Easy to use
Affordable prices
Cons:
Intense competition among suppliers
The Manufacturer is a B2B e-commerce marketplace based in the USA, yet has a great audience in the European region. As its name makes it clear, they only feature the actual product manufacturers rather than the middleman. It also helps European buyers to save on their sourcing costs and deal direct with the factory.
As it only features factories, sellers are also verified here. Most sellers here have much higher MOQs than other wholesale websites. Thus, selling goods at lower quantities here can be a great differentiator and make you stand among all the exporters there.
Pros:
Gets factories in direct contact with the buyer
Lower per-unit cost
Verified sellers
Cons:
Higher MOQs
They have over 7,000 brands and more than 100,000 products in high demand. Most dropshippers have difficulty finding a marketplace that allows selling their goods through the dropshipping business model. However, BigBuy encourages it and has a massive market share and a strong reputation among dropshippers.
They also provide services like fulfillment, logistics, channel strategy, and more. As they deal in almost every product category from A to Z, it can be a one-stop e-commerce destination to meet all your business needs.
Pros:
Features a diverse range of products
Has got leading brands
Allows dropshipping
Cons:
Price wars for sellers
You may have guessed from its name that DirectIndustry only deals in industrial products like machinery and parts. Despite being a global marketplace, a major chunk of its buyers is from the European region. It is also available in 9 different languages. If you get confused among different equipment, you can compare up to 10 products and get all of their data in tabular form. This makes it easier to make a buying decision.
Sellers do not mention the prices of their products. Instead, buyers contact them with their requirements and ask for a customized quotation. Therefore, it would be a good idea to always be online to make sure you can give a quick response.
Pros:
Features verified suppliers
Buyers can compare products in tabular forms
Available in 9 languages spoken in Europe
Cons:
It has a long verification process
ManoMano is a European trading platform and it covers both B2B and B2C business models. Comparatively, it deals in fewer product categories such as gardening, DIY, home decoration, and other related goods.
To differentiate itself from thousands of other online marketplaces, they focus on offering lower prices. For example, they celebrate different events by giving out amazing discounts to buyers. During those events, sellers may have to offer some additional discounts, but the overall sales volume also touches new heights. Other than that, they have even got a separate page named “Great Deals” Here, you will only find products that are on discount.
Pros:
It is both B2B and B2C marketplace
Has niche and targeted audience
Sellers can give discounts to get featured on “Great Deals” page
Cons:
Has a high-commission structure
The trend of consuming a veg diet is growing; if you also supply vegetarian food, Veg Shelf is the perfect European trading platform. They have a product category for almost all types of vegan food. Usually, the order only takes 2 to 10 days to deliver to your place.
To maintain the standard of their sellers, Veg Shelf verifies information of every seller and also conducts an onboarding call. This procedure can take up to 2 to 3 days. As many distributors get disqualified due to low-quality goods or certifications, it decreases the competition level among sellers. In other words, you should only sign up as a seller here if you can provide premium quality vegetarian food.
Pros:
Specialized B2B website for vegetarian food
Wide product range
Growing trends and visitors
Cons:
Strict requirements
Kompass is an international wholesale marketplace that buys and sells bulk products. They have been in the B2B matchmaking for around 60 years and still have a strong reputation among European importers. It allows companies to list both their products and services here.
Even though Kompass has relatively lesser traffic than other marketplaces listed here, the visitors here are the company's decision-makers you are looking to target. Thus, it is the perfect European B2B website to reach potential customers. They also sell their paid membership to rank higher on the search results and category pages.
Pros:
Can list both products and services
Their membership can boost your company’s reach
Cons:
Difficult for sellers to stand out from the competition
Going through all European B2B websites, you will observe that each one has its own pros and drawbacks. The best approach for buyers would be to visit all of them and create an account on a platform that offers exactly what you need. Choosing the right wholesale marketplace can be a make-or-break decision. As sellers can list products for free on most websites, you should try it to get an idea of which one might work best for your business growth.
