GOb2b Blogs

According to Forrester, the b2b eCommerce market will exceed $1trillion in sales by 2023. Yet despite this continued growth, we still see many manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors who are reluctant to open up an online sales channel. While the advantages of an eCommerce solution range from increased efficiency and lower cost of sales, to improving the customer experience and increasing loyalty, modernising the b2b sales process in this way is not without its challenges. Here are some of the common challenges and how to tackle them…

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…

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.

Traditionally, sales reps have been at the heart of almost every b2b company. Many of these businesses are reluctant to implement eCommerce for fear of alienating and compromising the work of sales people, whose performance is recognised as key to success.

 As part of a natural evolution, millennials are increasingly occupying decision-making positions in b2b procurement departments. With recent research indicating that around 70% of millennials prefer to do their personal shopping online rather than in the high street, this new breed of corporate buyer brings a different set of values, preferences and customer experience expectations to the b2b purchasing arena.

Whether it’s expensive, time-consuming maintenance, an inferior customer experience, or the absence of high performance functionality, there are some key signs that it’s time to upgrade your b2b eCommerce solution. Let’s take a closer look at indicators that signal the need for change…

As the popularity of b2b eCommerce as a preferred sales channel continues to grow at pace, there are still plenty of manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors that remain to be convinced of its benefits. This is despite all the evidence suggesting that setting up an online store helps to enhance the customer experience, boost order value, increase margin, cut cost and reduce processing errors.