Exam 12: B2b E-Commerce: Supply Chain Management and Collaborative Commerce

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Before the Internet, business-to-business transactions were referred to simply as trade or the procurement process. The term B2B commerce refers to all types of inter-firm trade to exchange value across organizational boundaries. B2B commerce includes the following business processes: customer relationship management, demand management, order fulfillment, manufacturing management, procurement, product development, returns, logistics/transportation, and inventory management.
The term B2B e-commerce (or B2B digital commerce) refers to that portion of B2B commerce that is enabled by the Internet (including mobile apps) to assist firms in buying and selling a variety of goods to each other. The links that connect business firms in the production of goods and services are referred to as the supply chain.
Supply chains are a complex system of organizations, people, business processes, technology, and information, all of which need to work together to produce products efficiently. The process of conducting trade among businesses consumes many business resources. Across the economy this amounts to trillions of dollars spent annually on procurement processes. If a significant portion of this inter-firm trade could be automated and parts of the procurement process assisted by the Internet, millions or even trillions of dollars could be freed up for other uses resulting in increased productivity and increased national economic wealth.