Khareed is a B2B Marketplace to Supply Corporations

What is a B2B Marketplace, you may ask?

B2B stands for “Business-to-Business” whereas a marketplace is defined, at least in the online space, as a common platform for vendors and buyers to connect with each other.

Pakistan’s corporate sector has been very well known to create immense wealth for vendors and sellers of basic necessities such as furniture, fixtures, medicines, and electronic items, and some might even argue that such corporate dealings are not only the backbone but the primary focus of our economy at stake. Businesses, therefore, act as pillars of support for such vendors.

However, there comes an issue. Many of the vendors at hand come to a dilemma of spending extravagantly on their marketing efforts, with no direction on how to sell their products in the most cost-efficient manner possible.

Likewise, in order to boost their revenues, they might have to skim through tender publications through newspapers or websites that don’t have any guarantees or moderation regarding the authenticity of these supposed listings. Corporations, on the other hand, leave their procurement departments the daunting task of finding a suitable vendor for a particular product (e.g. medicines for their dispensary).

Nepotism might seep through, and quality might be compromised due to the vendor’s relationship with the manager. But, there’s no need to worry. There is a solution out there to cater to both the vendor and the corporation: Khareed.pk

About Khareed

Khareed is a B2B Platform that connects vendors and corporations to each other. Yet, some might argue that it aims to revolutionize e-commerce at the same time. You may ask yourself how this can be the case?

Khareed’s founder, Haroon Sethi, a graduate of Yale University with experience at McKinsey & Company abroad, says the following about the parallels drawn with traditional e-commerce regarding Khareed’s platform:

“Khareed simply follows a traditional e-commerce model yet aims to not to present itself as a novel concept in Pakistan that won’t be well received. Corporations’ procurement departments already require work on computers to do their work, whereas vendors are gradually adopting digital platforms, be it their own website, other traditional marketplaces, or a Facebook page to sell their products”.

“Namely that unlike retail orders, where even after checkout, there is a chance that the buyer will not accept the delivery or will return the goods, corporate buyers are more serious — so their requests for quotations tend to be serious, intent-driven and far more likely to convert.’

‘The 3x higher conversion rate for us is because nearly all the corporate buyers on our platform will definitely place an order for the items they request quotations for. The vendor only needs to provide the best price possible to ensure he wins the deal. So long as the vendor provides a good price, there is a high chance he will get the order’.

Traditional E-Commerce Model

Khareed’s Model

One would argue that Khareed’s model is simpler in some ways as you don’t need to sign up as a buyer unless you want additional software features. So it’s a two-step process — for buyers—mention the product you want with specifications, and request the quotation. After that, you can directly liaise with the vendor.

For the vendor, it’s also pretty easy. List your products on the Khareed marketplace, and get serious leads from corporate buyers and go direct with them.

Henceforth, in Khareed’s model, your status as a registered buyer or seller on the platform is subject to approval (given that you have to provide a valid NTN number), and then you are free to request quotations for particular products.

Your customer journey has only just begun. Khareed will then verify your details and officially set your way on to becoming an official buyer or seller on the platform.

Options for Vendors

In terms of choosing a plan as a potential vendor, there are four available options:

• Proprietor (Free of Cost)
• Merchant (Rs. 5,000/mo) – for SME’s
• Commercial (Rs. 10,000/mo) – for wholesalers
• Corporate (Rs. 25,000/mo) – e-commerce platform for corporate enterprises

This chart shows what each package entails.

Vendors can take comfort in knowing that Khareed has managed to create buyer and seller profiles for some of the most reputable companies in Pakistan, including PEL, City School, and Treet Corporation.

After you choose your package, you can also list your products in an interface that’s easy to use by the end user.  One can search for you by searching for a vendor or by searching for a product.

Buyers can also request quotes through a separate page, where they can put in either a simple request to a form or can be guided on the types of products they can search for.

Afterwards, when viewing the product details, the end user enters his details through which Khareed will generate a confirmation message that you will be contacted soon to finalize the order you wish to place (this is a two-step process).

Concluding Thoughts

Khareed adds a humanistic touch to the realm of e-commerce. The meeting table is now online, the handshake is the click of a button requesting for a quotation, and an automated ticket generating a phone call is the pen that signs the purchase order.

There is no substitute for the way corporations do business, in reality, but Khareed aims to revolutionize B2B sales once and for all: simply through the power of the internet.

Go to khareed.pk and sign up as a vendor to avail the wonderful opportunities you can avail from the corporate sector while staying glued to your computer screen!