Sunday, October 3, 2010

Chapter Five: B2B - B2B e-commerce

When individuals need to buy everyday clothes or an outfit for a special event, they often turn to the internet to find the biggest selection and the best deals.  Businesses can do they same when they need to find uniforms for their employees.  Cintas is a well know uniform company that now allows businesses to view and buy their products online instead of having to use a catalog and call-in or mail an order form.  Online ordering is faster for the person in charge of ordering and for the company receiving the orders, they need fewer employees to process information, as computers can handle it instead.


Cintas has uniforms for many different business needs. Their website is straight forward and easy to use.  The person in charge of ordering simply picks the type of uniform they need for example "health care" or "food service high end" and then different options within the category are presented.
It is very similar to how an individual would pick and order their own clothing. However, unlike an individual buyer, when a company orders in a B2B interaction, they can get a volume discount.  On the sellers' side, selling many units in one transaction cuts down on the paperwork and orders to keep track of. 
Conversely, there is a big risk from the company ordering because if their items aren't delivered on time, they are essentially out of luck. 

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