i-Report
B2B E-COMMERCE:
Doing It Right To
Remain Competitive
Presented by: Sponsored by:
B2B E-Commerce: Doing It Right To Remain Competitive Page: 2
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If you don’t believe the trend towards B2B e-commerce is for real,
consider a recent Forrester Research report showed U.S. manufacturers,
wholesalers and distributors sold $780 billion to other companies via the
web in 2015. That’s more than twice the $304.9 billion in retail sales that
the Department of Commerce reported in 2014. Forrester suggests that
B2B e-commerce is on pace to grow at a compound annual growth rate of
7.7 percent, hitting $1.13 trillion in 2020.
E-Commerce has changed the consumer market in ways we never
would have expected. Today, the shift towards online, 24/7 purchasing
is having the same effect on the B2B market. Distributors that aren’t
offering a modern online purchasing experience are being left behind.
With big players like Amazon Business now driving user expectations,
today’s distributors are, by necessity, being forced to give their customers
the ability to view, order and purchase products anytime, anywhere.
In this educational iReport, we’ll examine a few aspects of e-commerce
that simply cannot be overlooked.
1) Mobility Is No Longer a Luxury
Everyone has a mobile device, if not several. From tablets to smartphones, Android to iOS, mobile
devices come in many difference sizes, shapes, and operating systems. Distributors need to ensure
their chosen e-commerce solution translates seamlessly to whatever device a customer happens to
be using. The interface must be simple, clean and complete. But that’s not all.
“Distributors also must ensure there is consistency
across its e-commerce presence to take into account
customers who may begin the purchase process on
one type of device but who may end up completing
that purchase on a different kind of device,” wrote
Ranga Bodla, Head of Industry Marketing at NetSuite,
in a recent post on Industrial Distribution’s website.
EVERYONE HAS A MOBILE DEVICE, IF
NOT SEVERAL. FROM TABLETS TO
SMARTPHONES, ANDROID TO IOS, MOBILE
DEVICES COME IN MANY DIFFERENCE
SIZES, SHAPES, AND OPERATING SYSTEMS.
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What Bodla says is accurate, as B2B customers now expect the same ease-of-use as consumers
do. To that point, a 2016 survey by Baymard showed that fully 27 percent of consumer e-commerce
cart abandonments happened during checkout due to “too long/complicated checkout process.”
“Business-to-business (B2B) customers increasingly are looking for the same ecommerce
experience already on offer in the business-to-consumer (B2C) world, an easy-to-use website,
which is fairly sophisticated,” Bodla wrote.
2) Put It In the Cloud
There is wisdom in hosting your e-commerce platform in the cloud. According to an article posted
to Forbes’ website, Forrester research shows that 56 percent of B2B Buyers expect to make half or
more of their work purchases online by 2017. That means tremendous growth in a very short time
and that distributors will need a platform with the kind of elasticity that only the cloud can offer.
In another article posted on Forbes’ website, cloud computing contributing expert Louis Columbus
writes that cloud-based B2B e-commerce platforms can deliver experiences on par with what
Amazon offers.
“Cloud-based B2B e-Commerce platforms have the potential to deliver omnichannel performance
and online experiences close to Amazon across every device and channel, yet few are investing
enough in personnel and expertise to get to this level of performance,” Columbus writes. “This factor
is so significant that Gartner predicts that by 2018, 70 percent of e-Commerce will move from B2C
and B2B models to models that focus on the individual customer experience.”
“CLOUD-BASED B2B
E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS
HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO
DELIVER OMNICHANNEL
PERFORMANCE AND
ONLINE EXPERIENC-
ES CLOSE TO AMAZON
ACROSS EVERY DEVICE
AND CHANNEL, YET FEW
ARE INVESTING ENOUGH
IN PERSONNEL AND
EXPERTISE TO GET
TO THIS LEVEL OF
PERFORMANCE.”
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3) Foster Customer Familiarity, Don’t Neglect The Data
A report from Oliver Wyman and the National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors notes
the wealth of customer data that e-commerce produces and that can be
leveraged.
“An e-commerce platform allows you to see every mouse
click, every product customers look at, how they are
searching, and how much time they are spending on
your site,” states the report. “It also opens up many
more avenues on how you can engage and target
customers with massively lower cost. It lets you
experiment and try out new things, such as targeted
offers to specific customers for alternative products
from what they buy today or products you think they
might need based on their current purchases or
purchases of other customers like them.”
If a distributor knows how to
use it, all that data can help
create a truly personalized
e-commerce experience that
will improve customer satis-
faction and increase sticki-
ness. Such features include:
• Predictive product
recommendations
• Abandoned cart
notifications
• Live customer service
chat prompts
• Transactional emails
• Loyalty programs
• Wish lists
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The Opportunity is Real, Adoption Incomplete
Industrial Distribution’s “2016 Survey of Distributor Operations” found that 56 percent of
respondents said their company offers e-commerce, and of that, more than 24 percent said that
online sales are responsible for at least 11 percent of overall revenue. It’s easy to see that the
roughly 44 percent of respondents who said they don’t have an e-commerce solution in place
are missing out when one considers that 68 percent of
respondents said they expect their 2016 online sales to
increase over 2015.
Bodla of NetSuite wrote in his post on Industrial
Distribution’s website that distributors’ business models
are being significantly impacted by the recent rapid growth
and adoption of e-commerce.
“Customers are becoming increasingly comfortable with
buying products online so much so that the type and volume
of products they are unwilling to purchase via the Internet
continues to shrink daily,” Bodla wrote. “Distributors are
having to quickly develop an e-commerce presence or risk
losing potential business and customers.”
Bodla went on to note how important it is that distributors
think through their implementation of an e-commerce solution
and ensure that what they’re offering customers is on par or
better than what their competitors are offering.
“When buying from distributors, customers anticipate a
seamless purchasing experience and to be alerted if there are
any supply chain issues,” Bodla wrote. “In order to deliver on
customer expectations, distributors need to work even more
collaboratively than previously with manufacturers, suppliers,
and retailers so that everyone involved in the supply chain
shares and has access to real-time customer and product
information including inventory.”
56% OF SURVEY
RESPONDENTS SAID THEIR
COMPANY OFFERS
E-COMMERCE, AND OF
THAT, MORE THAN
24% SAID THAT
ONLINE SALES ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR AT LEAST
11% OF OVERALL
REVENUE. IT’S EASY TO
SEE THAT THE ROUGHLY
44% OF RESPONDENTS
WHO SAID THEY DON’T
HAVE AN E-COMMERCE
SOLUTION IN PLACE ARE
MISSING OUT WHEN
ONE CONSIDERS THAT
68% OF RESPONDENTS
SAID THEY EXPECT THEIR
2016 ONLINE SALES TO
INCREASE OVER 2015.
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i-Report:
Advantage Business i-Reports present fresh research and analysis on compelling and timely industry
topics. “B2B E-Commerce: Doing It Right To Remain Competitive” was prepared by Advantage
Business Media Manufacturing Group Editorial Director Andrew Berg.
About the Author
Andrew Berg is the Editorial Director of Advantage Business Media’s Manufacturing Group.
Previously, he was the Executive Editor of Wireless Week and CED Magazine.
About NetSuite
NetSuite is the world’s leading provider of cloud-based business management software. NetSuite
helps companies manage core business processes with a single, fully integrated system covering
ERP/financials, CRM, ecommerce, inventory and more.
About Advantage Business Media
Advantage Business Media (www.advantagemedia.com) is a data-driven marketing solutions company
leveraging content, technology, and business intelligence to match its audience’s job performance
needs with its clients’ solutions. With a diversified portfolio of highly focused websites, e-newsletters,
print publications, specialized directories, vertical search databases, conferences, ancillary media
vehicles, and associated web-based services, ABM serves more than one million industry
professionals in the manufacturing, science, and design engineering markets.
For more information visit www.advantagemedia.com.
B2B E-COMMERCE: Doing It Right To Remain Competitive
E-Commerce has changed the consumer market in ways we never would have expected. Today, the shift towards online, 24/7 purchasing is having the same effect on the B2B market.