Speaking to Econsultancy this week, Marc Teulières, General Manager of B2B at marketplace platform Mirakl, described a ‘mental shift’ in B2B commerce, saying that buyers are “more and more ready to make large transactions online.”

Teulières commented on the growth in B2B marketplaces, and their role in digitally transforming the procurement process, which depends heavily on networks of trusted suppliers.

“The reality – when we carry out surveys and studies – is that the quality of [B2B] marketplaces is often higher than traditional ecomm,” he says. “Trust and quality are of the utmost importance. [B2B businesses] are usually more diligent in the choice of suppliers that they bring onto their platform.”

If you're a B2B wholesaler or even a well-positioned brand, you may be considering whether to launch an online marketplace or one-stop shop, in order to grow the share of spend you already command into an aggregated ecosystem around your company.

Launching a marketplace of your own isn’t the only way to engage with this growing trend, of course. Teulières comments that every B2B business should be considering how to engage with marketplaces in some form: “Should you buy on marketplaces, should you sell on marketplaces – or should you become a marketplace yourself?”

For those who do decide to launch a marketplace, what are the pitfalls to avoid, and what measures will give the best chance of success? Here are the key considerations that Teulières highlights.