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The evolution of B2B e-commerce from a niche segment of the commercial market to one where it will soon reach or exceed traditional channels has been underway for some time. Originally SaaS-based and accelerated by COVID, the B2B e-commerce market is now worth nearly $8 trillion (US) and is forecast to grow 18.7% to $18.57 trillion (US) by 2026 .
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B2B shopping, once dominated by boomers who preferred centralized face-to-face communication and personal relationships, is now driven by a more internet-savvy Generation X, soon to be dominated by the first all-digital generation, the Millennials.
How Ecommerce Crm Benefits B2b And B2c Businesses
Millennials are the first generation to come of age in the digital age and, unlike their predecessors, are completely relaxed about the online shopping process. Their generation has no problem expanding their B2C shopping practices, which always include extensive online research, as well as a preference for a personalized self-service experience over B2B shopping. As millennials take control of the business—73% are already involved in procurement—the B2B landscape is rapidly changing to accommodate them.
As COVID increases the importance of digital, B2B marketers today have shifted 55% of their budgets to online initiatives, and 96% of larger organizations are completely overhauling their go-to-market strategies to emphasize digital channels and support/services. As companies try to adapt to the new reality, they are looking to B2C as a model and consequently increasing investments in mobile, digital payments, online marketplaces and shared infrastructure to make the B2B experience more omni-channel and seamless. , personally and under his own direction.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these B2B eCommerce trends and how they will impact the market over the next few years.
While commercial businesses have generally embraced new digital standards and shifted their sales and marketing to automated online channels, most continue to rely on manual, traditional payment methods. This is not surprising, as payments, especially at the corporate level, have always favored buyers with long payment cycles, including paper checks, open accounts, invoices and purchases on account that can take weeks or even longer to pay.
B2b Vs B2c Ecommerce: 10 Notable Differences & Examples
The preference for traditional payment methods also remains entrenched online, where more than half of all B2B buyers cling to checks, terms and orders, in contrast to B2C, where transactions are almost entirely made by credit card (94%). While the old ways still apply, both buyers and sellers are beginning to recognize the benefits of digital payments, which may soon turn the tide to new, more efficient methods such as commercial mobile wallets, virtual credit cards, ACH transactions and even third parties. – financing of clients.persons.
In addition to being much less manual and expensive (62% of the cost of traditional payments is labor-related), digital methods provide greater transparency and speed for all parties. However, digitization is not without its challenges, and B2B suppliers must be careful not to alienate their current customer base in the process. Flexibility and a payment platform that can accommodate traditional and new methods and integrate with key business systems will be key to a smooth transition.
With 60% of current B2B purchases influenced or made directly by millennials, customer experience will continue to be increasingly important to B2B marketers. Millennials are avid researchers and perform about 12 online searches for every online purchase. And when it comes to B2B purchases, 74% of buyers report doing online research for at least half of their purchases.
The consistent, personalized experiences consumers expect today were pioneered by online retail giants like Amazon and are now commonplace in nearly every B2C category. Now that these same B2C buyers are becoming responsible for purchasing jobs, B2B suppliers are rushing to adopt the same principles and techniques for their own online shopping experiences. At the forefront of these efforts is the UI/UX website, portal and store. As with B2C, the emphasis is on simplicity, ease of use and intuitive information architecture. This allows the customer to quickly search and navigate the site, find the items and/or information they are looking for, enter or adjust the order as needed, and continue the purchase and payment process with as few efforts or steps as possible.
Top B2b Ecommerce Platforms For Multi Vendor Marketplaces In 2022
An important subcategory of user experience is personalization. Although ubiquitous in B2C retail and most consumer categories, the complex intricacies of the B2B business make it difficult to fully adopt and adopt. The growth and widespread use of account-based marketing (ABM) is helping to close this gap, but with 50% of B2B buyers looking for a personalized B2C experience, commercial sellers must use advanced data and strategy and AI technologies to shift the focus of the account to the individual buyer.
At the forefront of these are customer data platforms (or CDPs) and machine learning models that can ingest and synthesize a wide variety of customer and operational data, create a unified view of customers, and deliver real-time contextual recommendations and a seamless experience across channels. – including brick. While digital purchases take center stage, B2B analysts for now expect offline interactions to pick up once the pandemic subsides. Even more likely is a hybrid of the two, where customers move between online and offline interactions for shopping and services. As they scale, the importance of connecting data and creating seamless experiences, regardless of the touchpoint, will become even more important.
While much has been said about the demise of traditional face-to-face sales, the emerging reality is more complex and favors a hybrid model that delivers the intimacy of interpersonal relationships with the speed and efficiency of digital technology. According to a recent McKinsey report, the multi-channel, customer-centric experience is becoming the new standard, with 80% of B2B leaders supporting it over the traditional model and 64% planning to increase the number of hybrid sellers in the next six months.
With omnichannel shopping growing 43% in the past year, B2B marketers aren’t the only ones embracing the new model. Buyers are also becoming multi-channel and more willing to make larger purchases using a remote/digital sales model, with 20% now comfortable making purchases of $500,000 or more through this non-traditional channel.
Best B2b Ecommerce Platforms
As omnichannel becomes the default, B2B sellers will need to focus more resources on digital infrastructure to better capture data, be more agile, and make interactions as personal and insightful as in-person presentations or meetings.
As with B2C, the marketplace has become the dominant selling point for B2B digital sales, with 94% adoption by business buyers. While 50% of B2C sales are made through the online marketplace, 75% of B2B transactions are expected to be made through the channel in the next five years, given its efficiency and ability to create larger ecosystems, enable new opportunities and reach new markets, as an ideal model for the company.
While general B2B marketplaces such as Amazon and Alibaba remain paramount and provide one-stop shopping for a variety of needs, industry and brand marketplaces are gaining momentum. The number of B2B marketplaces has quadrupled in the last two years, and transactions on commercial and industrial marketplaces are expected to increase by 130%. Gartner predicts that by 2023, 15% of medium and large B2B brands will launch their own marketplaces and 70% of all marketplaces will support B2B transactions.
As the number of B2B marketplaces increases, effective channel management will become a greater challenge for suppliers. To continue to succeed, companies will need to be more selective about the markets they use and rely more heavily on sophisticated market management software that can support both a wide variety of outlets and complex marketing and personalization initiatives.
B2b Vs B2c Ecommerce Platform: A Hybrid Solution
The hallmark of an ideal B2C experience is the ability to seamlessly combine self-management with sales or service. The best B2C brands realized this early on and created online direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels that give them complete control over the customer experience. With the new digital imperative, B2B brands are quickly following suit.
Based on their consumer experience, B2B buyers are increasingly looking for the same attributes from their business suppliers. According to McKinsey, nearly the majority of B2B buyers prefer “some form of online self-service,” with 46% choosing to purchase directly from a supplier’s website.
Although the goal is self-service, many B2B purchases and account services still require some level of support. In fact, one recent study found that 90% of all first-time B2B SaaS purchases require some form of live support. This is where the unique features of automated trading platforms, such as Quote Configuration (CPQ), can be particularly useful. In addition to ensuring accuracy and eliminating human error, pricing automation frees up the salesperson to focus on building more valuable relationships and eliminating objections to closing, renewing, or expanding a sale.
Digitization is not without its risks, and the high-profile cyber attacks and fraud that typically dominate the news cycle highlight the potential liabilities. For B2C and B2B companies, ensuring the security of customer data and protecting the company’s infrastructure from
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