GOb2b Blogs

Most companies know their customers well. It’s the first premise of business. After all you have negotiated a deal with them, and you probably speak with them on a fairly regular basis. Many companies will run customer surveys, send feedback forms, or just take informal feedback via their sales people.
However, all this feedback and intel can only ever be historic. It’s based on your last interactions with them, or their last purchases. And if, like most companies, you are more interested in what they are going to buy, their future purchases… you’ll be interested in knowing just how dramatically the future is changing for the average B2B Buyer

Wherever you look, from research organisations like, Forresters, Frost & Sullivan, business news like Forbes, or sector media like, Internet Magazine, Branding, Consultancy… the B2B ecommerce market is set to explode!

As new technology and continuous innovation drive new ways of buying and new levels of customer empowerment, what can online B2B sellers do to ensure they are able to service the ever-increasing expectations of their customers?

Once Google took over YouTube, we all discovered that video is excellent for SEO. And now YouTube is growing so fast that mobile watch time doubled since last June and carried Google to an unexpected earnings surge last month.
Video is not all about boosting B2C sales with youthful vlogging, video packs serious power in the B2B buying and decision-making arena too! Here’s some less-expected facts about using video to master your B2B marketplace:

Here at Aspidistra, we’re often heard discussing how important imagery is. Whether you are producing a humble electrical component, the most basic of building blocks, or an exquisite design-led product, your B2B customer will still want to see photographs and evidence that they are buying the right stock. They want quality images, useful descriptions and even videos, to show them that they are in the right place, making the right buying decision.

Technology and trends in B2B ecommerce are developing rapidly. This is certainly due to the combination of consumer, B2C ecommerce and the sophistication of B2B technology. Together they ensure that B2B ecommerce integration is one of the most exciting technologies around.

Think large-scale, global ecommerce and the two big names that spring to mind are probably Amazon and eBay. But both these corporations are eclipsed by Chinese giant, Alibaba, whose 2014 sales were estimated at USD 420 billion – over five times that of closest competitor, Amazon. Established in 1999, most of Alibaba’s revenue comes from its B2C ecommerce sites, but in 2014 a staggering USD 1 billion was generated from the company’s B2B business, an online platform connecting buyers all over the world with suppliers in China.

Think large-scale, global ecommerce and the two big names that spring to mind are probably Amazon and eBay. But both these corporations are eclipsed by Chinese giant, Alibaba, whose 2014 sales were estimated at USD 420 billion – over five times that of closest competitor, Amazon. Established in 1999, most of Alibaba’s revenue comes from its B2C ecommerce sites, but in 2014 a staggering USD 1 billion was generated from the company’s B2B business, an online platform connecting buyers all over the world with suppliers in China.

A new graphic representation mapping the number of Internet users by country and the percentage of each country’s population actually online in 2013 has been produced by the Oxford Internet Institute – and we think the results make for interesting viewing.

1. According to Google, 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had problems accessing – and 40% will visit a competitor’s site instead. McKinsey &...