BT Tradespace launches communities area

The online networking community set up for small and medium sized enterprises (SMES) by BT, BT Tradespace, is celebrating the fact that some 30,000 businesses have signed up by launching a new interactive area designed to enable members to test out future features and have a say in the site's destiny.

BT Tradespace Communities is a beta launch designed to enable SMEs and consumers to discuss areas of common interest, ask questions and seek recommendation, in user groups and other community-like online environments.

Each area of the communities zone is linked to an individual business' Tradespace profile, ensuring that users can go into greater detail about the company, make purchases and comment on their experience of dealing with them

"We all know how successful the social networking sites in the consumer world are, but small businesses have never had the same opportunities in this area - until now. With the beta launch of BT Tradespace Communities we can allow an even greater level of online interaction between businesses and their target audiences. Consumers, on the other hand, get unrivalled exposure to small business services, products and expertise, plus advice and recommendations from other members of the public," said Ivan Croxford, head of BT Tradespace at BT Retail.

"We feel this type of 'social commerce' service lends itself perfectly to the small business arena. Smaller companies do so much of their business through relationships and referrals that they are past masters at it. However, they often struggle to replicate this in the less personal online environment. The enhancements we have made to BT Tradespace will help them to play to their strengths wherever they interact with customers, suppliers and business partners,"

The launch of the communities zone beta follows other Tradespace developments targeted at SMEs, most recently the deal struck with PayPal enabling users to enhance their site areas with transactional capabilities.

Croxford added: "BT Tradespace now has over 30,000 small business users with profiles, which is a real endorsement of our approach and our roadmap. We've moved from a directory-based approach to a community marketplace in a short period of time, and we know from feedback that early adopters are already reaping the benefits of our service. By launching Tradespace Communities in beta we can give users immediate benefits but also allow them to contribute to our ongoing development."

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