Mémoire-projet

Abstract

This work analyses the misalignments between the digital transactional processes of a B2B marketplace and the practices of its supplier partners, in the context of the discontinuation of the Trendy Foods marketplace project. A literature review grounded the research in several theoretical frameworks, most notably Van den Steen et al. (2020)'s work on the digitisation of transactional processes, and led to the formulation of six research propositions covering the key transactional processes: firm search, product authentication, product search, payment, organisational frictions, and structural constraints.

The empirical section focuses on the Trendy Foods B2B marketplace, launched in 2022 and discontinued before reaching its break-even point of approximately €2.5 million in revenue. The analysis draws on ten semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with supplier partners of varying profiles, combined with an analysis of marketplace assortment performance data. It reveals that the project's discontinuation was not caused by a single factor, but by the convergence of several structural misalignments: a product authentication process ill-suited to the heterogeneity of suppliers' digital maturity, a search engine and interface lacking adequate navigation filters, and a billing process identified as the primary source of friction across all respondents. Two unanticipated findings also emerged: the absence of data sharing between Trendy Foods and its suppliers, and the lack of a formalised partnership vision.

The interviews further highlighted key structural constraints on the demand side, including the absence of 3P references on sales representatives' tablets and the inaccessibility of closed-basket clients, which significantly reduced the real addressable market from the outset. In conclusion, this thesis puts forward seven recommendations aimed at relaunching the model. Although the analysis is based on a single case and solely reflects the supplier perspective, the findings offer valuable insights for any B2B distributor facing similar challenges in digitalisation and third-party assortment integration.