In the recent past, the potential of the B2B eCommerce has grown immensely, accounting a significant part of the B2B sales, especially in the U.S.
Forrester defines B2B eCommerce as the sale of B2B products by manufacturers directly to businesses and by wholesalers and distributors indirectly to businesses.
It estimates that U.S. B2B eCommerce will grow from $889 billion in 2017 to $1.18 trillion in 2021. By 2021, B2B eCommerce will constitute 13.1 percent of the $9 trillion B2B sales market in the U.S.
Increasing use of digitally connected devices such as smartphones and tablets encourage B2B eCommerce. Besides, improved operating environment also drive growth.
Given that it is the right time, there are certain things B2B digital business professionals must do to take advantage of the opportunity. Forrester recommends following tips.
Produce a 2021 digital plan
B2B companies must future-model B2B buyer behavior and perform a forward-looking SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis inclusive of both traditional and nontraditional competitive threats.
In addition, leading B2B companies must work with partners and industry experts to hire people with data and analytics capabilities, institute customer-obsessed processes, and develop an expertise with technologies that are purpose-built to address B2B customers operating in a real-time and interconnected global marketplace.
Take an outside-in approach to organizing and operating selling channels
Customers don’t care about channels — they jump back and forth from touchpoint to touchpoint in various stages of the buyer’s journey. But too many B2B companies are overweighted toward legacy offline-first B2B buying experiences. These models are incompatible with today’s digitally savvy B2B buyer, who prefers to self-educate online and considers buying from a website more convenient than buying from a sales representative when purchasing products or services for work.
Position for a competitive landscape dominated by competition
Successful B2B companies are now creating complex channel selling models where no one “owns” the customer and that treat partners as competitors and competitors as partners.
Furthermore, they are adopting ecosystembased models where lines of demarcation are ambiguous and perhaps complicated but do drive customer engagement and increase customer satisfaction.
