早在2000年，分析師們就大膽預(yù)測全球企業(yè)對企業(yè)（B2B）商務(wù)市場將大規(guī)模上線,，從而帶來數(shù)萬億美元價值的B2B電子商務(wù)交易,。市場研究公司Gartner曾預(yù)測，到2004年,，全球B2B電子商務(wù)交易會達到7.3萬億美元。高盛也曾預(yù)測到2005年會達到4.5萬億美元,。但是這些預(yù)測在很大程度上仍未實現(xiàn),。
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B2B電子商務(wù)初創(chuàng)公司Chemdex在上世紀90年代的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫破滅之后破產(chǎn)，人們指責(zé)其是導(dǎo)致當(dāng)時整個行業(yè)崩盤的罪魁禍首,。據(jù)甲骨文公司預(yù)估,，2013年B2B電子商務(wù)市場交易額達到5590億美元，遠不及以前的預(yù)測,。
令人難以置信的是,，如今許多企業(yè)仍在使用紙質(zhì)發(fā)票、傳真和支票來買賣用品和材料,。但美國兩家最大的電子商務(wù)公司eBay和亞馬遜（Amazon）都沒有專注于這個巨大的機遇,。這兩家公司都運營電子交易市場，但它們專注于面向消費者的產(chǎn)品,，而不是批發(fā)產(chǎn)品和商務(wù)用品,。亞馬遜運營的批發(fā)網(wǎng)站AmazonSupply的測試已進行兩年。該公司首席執(zhí)行官杰夫o貝佐斯不斷推出各種吸引眼球的商業(yè)計劃,，領(lǐng)域涵蓋無人機送貨,、電視節(jié)目,、手機和出版等,。
近年來，B2B電子商務(wù)領(lǐng)域的美國初創(chuàng)公司如雨后春筍般出現(xiàn),，填補了這一空白,。 Joor 和NuOrder主要針對時尚行業(yè)。Handshake和Tradeshift則為各種企業(yè)提供服務(wù),。
但是該領(lǐng)域有一個真正巨頭——中國零售寵兒阿里巴巴集團（Alibaba）,，它是B2B電子商務(wù)領(lǐng)域的一支主導(dǎo)力量。上周阿里巴巴透露,，其計劃通過首次公開發(fā)行募集211.2億美元。周末,，我在聽金錢星球（Planet Money）節(jié)目[譯者注：該節(jié)目由美國全國公共廣播電臺（NPR）制作]中有關(guān)阿里巴巴在線批發(fā)市場的有趣講解,，其中便提到了阿里巴巴的主導(dǎo)地位。該公司通過Alibaba.com和1688.com向全球用戶提供進入中國供應(yīng)鏈的渠道,。這意味著修理工、建筑商,、企業(yè)家和小企業(yè)都可以從中國的工廠訂購定制的發(fā)動機和零件，而不必親自來到中國尋找聯(lián)系人與制造商建立關(guān)系,，然后開展業(yè)務(wù),。很多人通常沒有條件接觸國際范圍內(nèi)的供應(yīng)商，而阿里巴巴為他們打開了一扇門,。他們可以通過阿里巴巴進行批量購買所需產(chǎn)品,，阿里巴巴則作為受信任的第三方對交易的順利完成提供保障。

阿里巴巴的一個優(yōu)勢在于其在地理上靠近眾多的制造業(yè)企業(yè),。亞馬遜為什么沒有專注于此,？因為它沒有渠道接觸這些賣家。加拿大皇家銀行資本市場（RBC Capital Markets）的電子商務(wù)分析師馬克o馬哈尼表示：“這主要說明了這兩大巨頭各自市場的差異,，中國產(chǎn)品通常處于供應(yīng)鏈中,。”只是亞馬遜和eBay平臺的批發(fā)產(chǎn)品和B2B產(chǎn)品與阿里巴巴的不同而已。
阿里巴巴的大部分收入來自于其面向消費者的電商網(wǎng)站,，如全球速賣通,、天貓商城、淘寶和聚劃算,。批發(fā)業(yè)務(wù)占阿里巴巴2014財年總收入的11.8％，其中大部分買家來自于中國以外地區(qū),。相對而言,，這只是阿里巴巴業(yè)務(wù)組合的很小一部分，不過這主要是因為阿里巴巴規(guī)模龐大,。阿里巴巴2014財年批發(fā)業(yè)務(wù)營收為10億美元,，而來自于零售業(yè)務(wù)的營收為80億美元。在上一個財年中,，該公司在其電商平臺上處理的交易價值總額達到2960億美元,。
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In 2000, analysts predicted a massive chunk of the world’s business-to-business commerce market would come online, resulting in trillions of dollars in B2B e-commerce. Gartner, the market research firm, predicted $7.3 trillion by 2004. Goldman Sachs predicted $4.5 trillion by 2005.

That promise has remained largely unfulfilled.


B2B e-commerce startup Chemdex flamed out spectacularly in the fallout of the dot-com bubble, and was blamed for taking the entire sector down with it. In 2013, B2B ecommerce hit $559 billion,according to Oracle estimates, a far cry from the trillions once predicted.

Incredibly, many businesses today still buy and sell supplies and materials with paper invoices, faxes, and checks. It’s a huge opportunity on which the two largest e-commerce companies in the U.S., eBay and Amazon, have not focused. Both companies run marketplaces, but they specialize in consumer-facing goods, not wholesale items and business supplies. Amazon has been running AmazonSupply, a wholesale site, in beta for two years, as CEO Jeff Bezos promotes increasingly flashier schemes around drone delivery, TV shows, mobile phones, and publishing.
In recent years, a number of U.S. startups have sprung up to fill the gap. Joor andNuOrder do it for the fashion industry.Handshake and Tradeshift do it for a variety of businesses.
But there is one true giant in the category: Alibaba, the Chinese retail darling that last week revealed plans for a $21.12 billion initial public offering, which has dominated in B2B e-commerce. I was reminded of this over the weekend while listening to Planet Money’s entertaining explainer of the Alibaba wholesale market. Through Alibaba.com and 1688.com, the company provides to people everywher access to the Chinese supply chain. This means tinkerers, builders, entrepreneurs, and small businesses can order custom motors and parts from Chinese factories without having to travel there, find a scout, and forge a relationship with a manufacturer before doing business. It opens up the world of international suppliers to people who wouldn’t normally have access to it. They can buy in bulk through Alibaba, which acts as a trusted third party, vouching for the transaction.
Alibaba has an advantage here, because of its proximity to so many of the world’s manufacturing assets. The reason Amazon hasn’t focused on it? Because it doesn’t have access to those sellers. “Much of it is representative of the differences in their markets, and wher Chinese products have typically fallen in the supply chain,” says Mark Mahaney, an e-commerce analyst with RBC Capital Markets. Amazon AMZN -1.17% and eBay EBAY 0.61% simply have access to different wholesale and B2B products than Alibaba does.
The majority of Alibaba’s revenue comes from its consumer-facing sites, such as AliExpress, Tmall, Taobao, and Juhusu. Wholesale represented 11.8% of Alibaba’s overall revenue in fiscal 2014, and most of that is from buyers outside of China. It is a small piece of Alibaba’s portfolio, relatively speaking, but that’s only because the company is such a behemoth. Alibaba’s wholesale revenue in fiscal 2014 was $1 billion, versus $8 billion from its retail operations. The company processed a total of $296 billion worth of sales on its platform in its last full fiscal year.