Designing B2B Markets
Researchers and practitioners face unique challenges in understanding B2B online pricing mechanisms, as well as their design and execution, compared with B2C or consumer-to-consumer (C2C) markets. mplications for product assortment managements and the general design of B2B markets. This chapter examines three issues in depth. The first issue regards the product to be auctioned and the various options for which these products would be offered within an auction, whether in regard to sequential product offerings or online and offline offerings. We then turn to the second issue of bidder behavior and strategies in B2B auctions. Third, we close with a section on the mechanism design, including issues of price visibility, and consider the roles of guarantees and price premiums. Within each of these broad themes we discuss the significance of differentiated bidders and inter-organizational relationships in B2B markets and the implications for the firm. We conclude with a consideration of additional issues germane to future research.