Ecommerce Growth in the B2B Space
We partnered with Adobe in a Digital Commerce 360 survey of 150 B2B commerce business leaders to find out what the top growth priorities are. The survey explored and revealed the B2B commerce priorities and challenges that stood out most —expanding into new markets, commerce personalization, and dissecting ecommerce platforms. From this survey the 2023 B2B Commerce Growth Strategies Report was born.
B2B ecommerce has seen a monumental uptick since the 2020 pandemic. While this may have been the catalyst that propelled the purchasing of goods and services online forward, this trend only makes sense- who doesn’t want a seamless process that requires minimal human interaction? Today’s consumer is all about efficiency and effectiveness and when those things come with reduced costs- it seems everyone wins.
66% of the companies surveyed in the report said they already capture half or more of their sales from their own ecommerce sites. And 74% expect their websites to generate more than 50% of sales in 2023.
This shift in purchasing processes has come with strategic rethinking, accelerated technology investments, and its fair share of nuances for many manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers especially in the B2B landscape.
Expanding into New Markets
Expanding into new markets is a priority for B2B sellers as they take advantage of the global reach afforded by ecommerce. While this is true, in the 2023 B2B Commerce Growth Strategies Report we learn that with new markets comes laws, regulations, and culture of a different country. While many large corporations such as Amazon, can more quickly scale and manage these waters, it is taking longer for small and mid-size businesses to swim with the sharks.
Commerce Personalization
A B2B site can help automate patterns or repeated customer choices, such as enabling the customer to reorder products. On the other hand, personalization can be challenging as customizing content and purchasing options is a complex game. Personalization in B2B means enabling each business buyer to do their job more efficiently. When it comes to complex products or orders, customers often need the help of a salesperson and the website should facilitate that interaction, says Justine Racine, Lead Commerce Strategist at Perficient, in the 2023 B2B Commerce Growth Strategies Report.
“Websites should enable the buyer and the rep to build orders together and then send them to the buyer’s boss for approval,” Racine says. “That used to be done by email, but now it should be done on the site.”
Tools such as configure, price, quote (CPQ) software application are proving to be helpful on B2B ecommerce sites. Justin also notes that information a rep gathers from speaking to a customer can be fed into the website’s personalization engine. “If the customer has inquired about a new product or project, is that reflected in what they see when they come to the website?”
B2B buyers are no different than consumers, in that, we all desire experiences that have been tailored to us by previous actions we have taken when shopping. It’s important for B2B organizations to invest in personalized digital commerce to help remove time in that B2B buyers’ day through personalization. Nuances like showing a buyer a product they have previously purchased within the on-site search and offering them education and training that aligns to categories of products that they recently browsed come together to create a cohesive personalized experience that sticks.
The power of customization at its finest offers a very personal experience- making the user feel understood, building loyalty amongst brands.
In Review- Your Ecommerce Platform
The shift to digital has fundamentally changed how customers interact with the companies they buy from. Completing transactions online requires sophisticated digital capabilities to replace the give and take of human interactions. Selling organizations must ask themselves what their business customers want today, what pain points they encounter as they seek to buy online, and what processes should be modified to serve customers more effectively. Once each B2B company can answer those questions, it can make technology investments that meet its needs. Making the right choices will be even more important if an economic downturn creates more competition among B2B sellers for fewer buyer dollars.
Attend the Adobe Digital Leaders Webinar Series to Learn More
On Thursday, January 26 at 10:00am PT | 1:00pm ET Adobe is hosting a webinar to further break down the findings of the Digital Commerce 360 survey. We are excited that our very own Karie Daudt, Perficient Director of Commerce Strategy, will be a featured speaker on this webinar.
Please register to join us!
Additionally, you can download the report for more from our strategist Karie Daudt and Justin Racine.
This is a great post on B2B ecommerce strategies that are both effective and easy to implement. These are key factors in today’s digital age and can make all the difference in winning over potential customers. I’d also like to add, the idea of offering personalized pricing and discounts is a powerful way to incentivize repeat business and build customer loyalty. Overall, this post offers valuable insights and actionable tips for any business looking to succeed in the B2B ecommerce space. Thank you for sharing!