Business houses in the Sultanate are now making use of online business to business (B2B) platform more often to leverage tremendous opportunities that it holds out for business owners.

“I have been exploring different ways of leveraging the online platform”, says an Omani business owner in the field of safety shows.

He subscribed to several B2B online marketplaces such as Tejari, Alibaba, TendersInfo and other online platforms. B2B online marketplaces put us in direct contact with a large network of potential importers of our products, he adds.

There are several B2B online marketplaces that enable buyers and sellers to transact and share information about a variety of goods and services via a secured Internet environment. It provides a single point of contact for an open and growing community of buyers and suppliers, permitting spot-purchasing and on-line auctions that enable participants’ real-time access to new markets and greater cost savings.

Sunil Sivanand, Managing Director, Acette Technology LLC, says B2B online marketplaces, which open up the reach for Omani companies into unexplored markets, are becoming popular. However, B2B activity is more common among large businesses in Oman.

B2B online marketplaces make easier and more efficient interactions with business peers, as a supplier or as a customer. These involve significantly higher investments than conventional data exchange over telephone and email, but if implemented properly will work mostly unattended and with high efficiencies for the bulk of activities. The gains are in business productivity, operations accuracy, operations transparency and speed.

The adoption of B2B online platform by the larger businesses is developing awareness among the SME sector and that is a good sign for the future. “More recently, we see many banks taking advantage of the B2B offerings from the local Telecom operators and other utility collection companies for bill presentments, payments and top-up of pre-paid accounts. There is substantial income that can be generated from these initiatives, and few financial institutions in Oman have taken early advantage of the opportunity”, says Sunil.

The SME sector should look closely at the “cloud based” software services available. This is a rapidly evolving market. Today there are a number of highly reliable offerings, but those exposed to conventional “in-house” installations, are reluctant to make the move, and this is mostly because of the fear factor of the unknown.

As an increasing number of people in Oman and the world log on to the Internet, advertisers and marketers are waking up to its potential. Right now, most marketers do not appreciate the power of the basic Internet — let alone the possibilities unleashed by the broadband experience.

The online medium is much more than advertising; it allows a dialogue with the consumer; creates active engagement and blurs boundaries between content and commerce. The Internet is the ultimate interactive brochure for a brand.

A more rational buyer/seller environment has emerged since the advent of the World Wide Web in 1994. Today, brand owners can do a lot to improve their client and prospect relations through online platform.

Some Omani brands have set good examples of how to leverage the potential that web-based communication offers brand owners. They have demonstrated that finally, brand owners can speak directly to customers and buyers, establishing a personal link with the people who make their business work.

The Internet is the most accountable medium that allows real-time monitoring, mapping and adjustment of campaigns. This allows fine tuning of the campaign based on response and feedback to reach the desired goal. One can look at traffic based on unique visitors and click-through rate (CTR) for the measurability of a campaign on the Internet. Measurements of online campaigns are thus the most accurate.