The marketplace model has transformed B2C commerce, with Amazon capturing a dominant share through third-party sellers. Now B2B companies face a strategic question: should they steal a page from Amazon and operate their own marketplaces, or is this a distraction from proven investments in direct e-commerce and channel partnerships?
What a company-operated marketplace looks like
Parts Town, a distributor of commercial kitchen equipment parts, illustrates the model. When a buyer searches for an ignition starter for a fryer, Parts Town shows multiple options: their own inventory with next-day shipping, or local distributor inventory available for same-hour pickup. If the fryer is down and a restaurant needs the part immediately, next-day is not fast enough. The marketplace aggregates inventory from channel partners to offer selection and speed that no single seller could provide alone.
This is different from selling on Amazon. The brand controls the platform, sets the rules, and owns the customer relationship. The question is whether this control is worth the investment required to build and operate it.
The debate format
Team Game Changer included Martin Rohrer from Parts Town, who had previously worked at Amazon Business and HP, and Nick Ostergard from Toyota Material Handling. Team Shiny Object featured Sean Donovan from MSA Safety and Julie Schulte, CEO of Chamfr, a third-party marketplace for medical device components.
Round 1: Channel conflict and pricing
The first question addressed the most common concern: do company-operated marketplaces create a race to the bottom on pricing?
Nick Ostergard described Toyota’s approach to avoiding price wars among dealers. They standardized pricing across all dealers on the platform, then localized orders to the dealer serving that customer’s geography based on the shipping address.
If you would put all of our dealers online and allow them to price their products however they would like, it is going to be a race to the bottom. Their only differentiator becomes price. So we elected to standardize our pricing on our platform.
Nick Ostergard, Toyota Material Handling
Martin Rohrer countered that price does not have to be the primary factor. In Parts Town’s model, availability beats price. If a buyer needs a part within an hour to get a restaurant kitchen running, they will pay for immediacy.
Team Shiny Object pushed back on the definition. Sean Donovan argued that a marketplace with one brand and controlled pricing is not really a marketplace at all.
A marketplace where you have one product or brand and you control the price is not a market. It is a monopoly.
Sean Donovan, MSA Safety
The audience voted 59% that company-operated marketplaces decrease channel conflict, suggesting practitioners see the model as channel-friendly when implemented thoughtfully.
Round 2: Competing for traffic
The second round examined whether company-operated marketplaces can generate enough traffic to succeed when Amazon processes billions of visits monthly.
Julie Schulte argued that niche third-party marketplaces, like her company Chamfr, will eventually emerge in every industry. Companies investing in first-party marketplaces are building something that will be “upended and outed” by a third party with broader selection.
Martin Rohrer agreed that B2B is an amassment of little niche industries with specialized needs. A marketplace for heavy construction equipment rental needs to surface insurance options, operator licensing requirements, and wide-load transportation specifications. That depth requires industry-specific expertise that general marketplaces cannot match.
There is probably in total 10,000 buyers in the US that are interested in that. So you have got to find ways of getting to the 10,000. You are not looking to get 500 million views. You are trying to find the right 10,000.
Martin Rohrer, Parts Town
The audience voted 82% that company-operated marketplaces have a place even when general marketplaces exist, validating the niche strategy argument.
Round 3: Digital maturity and infrastructure
The final round examined whether marketplaces are viable for companies just entering digital commerce. Nick Ostergard shared the reality of integrating marketplace technology with legacy dealer systems built over decades.
Julie Schulte and Sean Donovan argued that the complexity exceeds what most organizations can handle. Both considered themselves novices despite years of experience, because the landscape changes constantly.
The risks in most cases outweigh the benefit. I have been doing this for almost 20 years now and I would still consider myself a novice because the game changes daily.
Julie Schulte, Chamfr
The audience split 51-49 against viability for newcomers, the closest vote of the debate.
The verdict: Depends on who you are
The debate revealed that marketplace strategy depends on company type and digital maturity. Three distinctions emerged.
First, distributors have a stronger case than manufacturers. The distributor value proposition is selection, and marketplaces expand selection. Manufacturers using marketplaces to route orders to dealers may be delaying rather than solving the direct-to-customer question. Forrester research found that 20% of B2B buyers would pay a premium to buy directly from manufacturers.
Second, scale determines viability. Large manufacturers and distributors with channel gravity can make marketplaces work. Smaller companies may be market takers rather than market makers, better served by participating in established marketplaces.
Third, do not build alone. Platform vendors like Spryker and Mirakl have reduced infrastructure requirements, but seller enablement, change management, and ongoing operation still require significant commitment.
If you are serious about this, do not do this on your own. You would not go off into the wilderness on your own. Do not go off in the wilderness on this one on your own either.
Andy Hoar, Master B2B
The marketplace model is not all-or-nothing. Companies should evaluate direct e-commerce, third-party marketplace participation, and company-operated marketplaces as complementary options, selecting based on customer needs, competitive dynamics, and organizational readiness.