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Despite the exponential growth in b2b eCommerce, we still see many manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors struggling to overcome the challenges of digital transformation. Over the years, we’ve helped a large number of organisations navigate a variety of obstacles on their journey to online trading, so here we take a look at a few of the issues and the actions you can take to get on the right track.
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed b2b buying habits dramatically, with more interactions than ever before taking place digitally instead of face-to-face. Manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors have had to race to catch up with the seamless online buying experience their customers experience in the b2c world.
Whether you’re a manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor, b2b selling comes with many complex challenges. As most b2b organisations continue to prioritise working towards streamlined processes and operational efficiency, inconvenient and non-intuitive ordering procedures can quickly frustrate customers as well as your own staff. Let’s take a look at some of the issues that can arise when sellers have inadequate technology in place to support a smooth online purchasing process…
Investing in b2b eCommerce software is an important strategic business decision, so here we examine why such an investment could make sense for your business, and the kind of benefits you can realistically expect in terms of both cost reduction and revenue growth.
Despite huge revenue-earning opportunities for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, many b2b eCommerce initiatives are still failing to realise their potential. Analysts report that a large number of b2b eCommerce systems currently generate less than 10% of a company’s overall turnover, and while most have trialled some kind of b2b eCommerce activity, many small and medium size organisations have yet to adopt an authentic b2b eCommerce platform.
Although perhaps not as visible as the explosion in online B2C trading, b2b eCommerce is increasing at a pace. To put that in perspective, Frost and Sullivan report that global b2b eCommerce sale will exceed $6.6 trillion by 2020, compared to $3.2 trillion for B2C.
Analysts forecast that by 2021, b2b eCommerce sales will account for around 13% of all b2b sales – substantially more than retail eCommerce, both in financial spend and units sold.
Despite huge revenue-earning opportunities for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, many b2b eCommerce initiatives are still failing to realise their potential. Analysts report that a large number of b2b eCommerce systems currently generate less than 10% of a company’s overall turnover, and while most have trialled some kind of b2b eCommerce activity, many small and medium size organisations have yet to adopt an authentic b2b eCommerce platform.
The continued rise in popularity of b2b eCommerce across a wide range of business sectors and markets means that the role of sales teams and their approach to selling needs to be realigned in order to meet customer requirements.
Choosing a b2b eCommerce platform can be a daunting task, especially if you haven’t established a clear set of priorities for what it must achieve. We often see companies start the selection process by deciding how they want their solution implemented – for example, whether it should be cloud-delivered or on-premise. But the key considerations really need to be around factors such as budget, how well the platform performs on mobiles, and whether its capabilities align with the way you sell to your business customers. Here we explore some of these issues in a bit more detail.