Challenges Facing B2B Marketplaces Built for Procurement

The Modern Procurement Puzzle

B2B marketplaces have taken on an increasingly strategic role in the procurement world. They are no longer just digital catalogs—they are evolving into sophisticated platforms that promise cost savings, streamlined workflows, improved vendor access, and real-time analytics. The promise is enticing, particularly for businesses looking to digitize outdated systems and reduce friction in supply chain operations.

But as more entrepreneurs, investors, and enterprise teams dive into building or relying on B2B procurement marketplaces, they often encounter a difficult reality. The path to delivering real value is filled with complex challenges that differ dramatically from consumer-facing models. Unlike B2C, procurement is governed by formal processes, internal compliance checks, and multi-layered approvals that must be respected across every transaction.

For many startups and established players entering this space, learning to navigate the nuance of procurement expectations is just as important as the technology stack they are building on.

Complexity Is Not Just a Feature—It’s the Core

Procurement, especially at the enterprise level, is layered with internal rules, legal requirements, and vendor management protocols. B2B marketplaces that attempt to “simplify” this too aggressively risk alienating their target customers. What might work smoothly for individual buyers can backfire in a corporate setting if it disregards procurement hierarchies or budget restrictions.

Take the example of Fairmarkit, a platform that aims to automate tail spend. While the automation component is essential, the real edge comes from understanding the unique purchasing policies of each enterprise it serves. Tailoring the platform to support diverse workflows, approval chains, and audit trails is what sets successful marketplaces apart in this space.

Enterprise buyers are not just looking for speed—they want accuracy, compliance, and control. Meeting these needs requires deep integration with ERP systems, support for custom workflows, and a flexible cataloging engine. These are not optional; they are prerequisites.

Balancing Standardization with Flexibility

Most B2B marketplaces aim to create consistency across vendor listings, pricing, and ordering processes. However, in procurement, flexibility often trumps standardization. Buyers want the ability to request quotes, negotiate pricing, submit custom orders, and even upload their own specs.

This level of variability is hard to accommodate in a rigid platform. Yet, without it, the system may feel too boxed in. Platforms like Mercateo have worked around this by creating hybrid models that combine catalog-driven ordering with request-for-quote (RFQ) workflows. That hybrid approach provides a middle ground that still supports procurement rigor without cutting out the vendor negotiation process.

Finding that balance between consistency and adaptability is where many B2B marketplaces struggle. It is not just about building more features, but about building the right kind of features that match the diverse ways companies actually buy.

The Integration Challenge

Enterprise procurement does not operate in a silo. It connects with accounting, compliance, inventory management, and logistics. A standalone marketplace—no matter how well designed—has limited value if it cannot communicate effectively with the rest of the tech stack.

This is why integration is one of the steepest challenges facing B2B marketplaces today. Many organizations run on legacy ERP systems or heavily customized procurement suites. Plugging into those environments takes more than APIs. It takes careful mapping of data structures, understanding of internal hierarchies, and security protocols that meet enterprise-grade standards.

Tradeshift has built its platform with integration at the center. The company allows buyers and suppliers to connect their existing systems to the marketplace, providing real-time visibility and control without forcing users into a new system entirely. This model reflects an important truth in B2B procurement: new platforms must play well with old systems.

Supplier Enablement Is More Work Than Most Think

Many B2B marketplace founders underestimate the work required to onboard and support suppliers. It is not as simple as opening up a vendor portal and waiting for suppliers to upload products.

Suppliers, especially in traditional industries like manufacturing, construction, or industrial supply, may not have digital catalogs ready. Some may still rely on spreadsheets, PDF price sheets, or even fax. Getting them up to speed involves hands-on support, catalog digitization, pricing alignment, and sometimes training on how to navigate the system.

Platforms like Handshake (acquired by Shopify) built their initial success by focusing on how B2B suppliers interact with buyers, including supporting field sales reps and internal sales teams. That kind of supplier-centric design helps increase adoption and retention. Without it, marketplaces risk creating friction on the very supply side they rely on for scale.

Pricing and Transparency Tensions

One of the most significant points of tension in B2B procurement is pricing transparency. In consumer marketplaces, transparent pricing is the norm. In B2B, negotiated pricing is often the rule. Enterprises may have specific pricing agreements, volume discounts, or special contract terms with preferred vendors.

Introducing transparent pricing on a public marketplace can disrupt existing relationships or expose sensitive pricing strategies. On the other hand, too much opacity can make the marketplace feel like a black box, pushing procurement teams back toward manual sourcing.

Some platforms have found a compromise by allowing “private marketplaces” or segmented pricing tiers. This allows companies to keep their negotiated rates private while still benefiting from the broader marketplace ecosystem. That kind of model can work, but it adds yet another layer of complexity to platform architecture and account management.

Trust, Risk, and Compliance

In B2B procurement, the stakes are high. A single poor vendor experience can lead to production delays, compliance violations, or worse. Buyers need to trust not only the sellers on a marketplace but the platform itself. This means the marketplace must manage supplier vetting, documentation (such as ISO certifications or insurance), and compliance with regional trade regulations.

Companies like Ariba, part of SAP, have built extensive systems around supplier risk management, allowing buyers to filter vendors based on compliance scores, certifications, and financial health. These features are not just bells and whistles—they are critical for companies in regulated industries such as healthcare, defense, or food production.

For newer platforms, building this level of trust takes time and a commitment to creating robust risk management protocols. Ignoring this piece can significantly slow growth, especially with mid-sized and large enterprises.

Competing with Incumbents and Inertia

It is not always technology or design that holds back adoption. Sometimes, it is cultural inertia. Many procurement teams have used the same systems, processes, and vendors for years. Changing that—even for a better solution—takes more than a pitch deck and a login page.

Incumbents like Ariba, Coupa, and Oracle have entrenched relationships and deep system integrations. New marketplaces must not only show a better product, but also demonstrate that switching will not disrupt the procurement ecosystem. That often means offering onboarding support, migration tools, and in some cases, customization that matches the existing workflows of a potential customer.

Overcoming that inertia also takes patience. B2B deals do not close in a week. Procurement cycles are often slow, deliberate, and committee-driven. Marketplaces that want to succeed long-term need to invest in education, sales support, and account-based strategies that reflect the reality of the enterprise world.

Final Thoughts

B2B marketplaces targeting procurement are entering one of the most complex arenas in business technology. The potential upside is massive—streamlined operations, better pricing, stronger vendor access—but only for those platforms willing to build for the real-world messiness of enterprise procurement.

It is not just about matching buyers and sellers; it is about building systems that respect compliance, support negotiation, integrate deeply, and accommodate variability. Platforms that get this right will not only stand out—they will redefine how procurement is done. For entrepreneurs willing to commit to the long game, this segment is full of opportunity, but it will not reward shortcuts.