Like it or not, digital exchanges, or marketplaces are here to stay and growing exponentially. By 2004 Gartner Group believes that online exchanges will be responsible for 2.7 trillion in e-commerce sales transactions — 37 percent of the overall B2B market and 2.6 percent of worldwide transaction fees.
Although the volume of business will continue to grow, the number of marketplaces will not. Forrester Research predicts that only 181 e-marketplaces will be left standing.
Four Types of eMarketplaces Will Emerge by 2003:
- Vertical hubs — Coordination within narrow industries
- Industrial facilitators — Nonproduction goods across several industries
- Commodity Marts — Raw materials across many industries
- Procurement malls — Office supplies across all industries
