Describe five ways in which e-marketplaces help businesses to maintain a competitive edge.

E-marketplaces help businesses maintain a competitive edge in the supply chain in the following ways:
a . Providing opportunities for sellers and buyers to establish new trading partnerships
b. Providing a single platform for prices, availability, and stock levels that is accessible to all participants
c. Solving time-constraint problems for international trade and making it possible to conduct business around the clock
d. Making it easy to compare prices and products from a single source instead of spending time contacting each seller
e. Reducing marketing costs more than traditional sales channels can