B2B Ecommere: Aiming to create revolution

According to the research, In US B2B eCommerce sales have reached $1 trillion till 2018, and by 2020 B2B sales will be more than 2 times higher than global online retail sales. The share of eCommerce in US B2B industry is expected to grow from 9.7% to 13.1 % (from 2015-2021).

Over the next coming years, it’s likely to cross 1.2 trillion dollars. B2B eCommerce market s rapidly rising. The E-commerce rage at long last hit organizations all around the globe, and without precedent for history, a larger number of individuals made B2B buys online than they did through other conventional techniques.

It’s like adopting new technologies, a technological revolution. As the industry is growing so fast, some methodologies must be developed and adopted to match the market needs.

What is B2B Ecommerce?

B2B Ecommerce encompasses the online platform. It involves sales/ transactions of products and services between two companies or in other words it involves manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer, and transactions taking place through an electronic medium. Or we can consider it according to the new era as a business taking place through a website/mobile apps, where the purchase decision is affected by-products, reviews, ratings, and product researched.

So we are clear on the definition terms. Presently B2B dealers are progressively going online and developing new and repeat business. It has been found B2B sales are growing rapidly through websites and other online marketplaces at a very high pace.

Generally, B2B transactions are quite complex and have to manage substantially more in terms of tax and regulatory impediments because the volume of products and services is higher.

Hence, these complexities faced in business make the online process much demanding.

The companies leveraging B2B Ecommerce have 3 basic categories. However, according to companies, there can be several categories formed addressing their business needs. But these are just on a basic level to provide you a satisfying eCommerce business.

1) Volume Products:

It gets clear by the name itself, these are large in quantities and tend to have lower-priced items. It’s primarily centered around making the order process simple, smooth, and easy. It enables customers to order to place an order in the least no. of clicks. Orders can be in the form of pre-order, re-orders, or custom order formats.

2)Subscription Products:

With the development of digital transformation, a large number of products are offered as a service.  These can be purchased monthly, yearly, or by automated reorders. You don’t need to particularly buy a product and check out with the items but instead signup for a service. As a result, they support a unique purchase flow and process.

3) Configurable products:

Products like manufacturing equipment, medical devices, networking products, telecommunication solutions, etc may be dependent on other offerings and services and need to be combined together with other products as these often have a high price and before thinking to buy customers usually want to get a quote for purchase.

Why People are focusing on B2B?

Taking over the young generation

Google report says, nearly half of all B2B buyers are millennials, they are taking up the business as entrepreneurs and reaching at the point where they could lead.

As everything is digitally focused, this generation is more focusing on getting everything they require online and enjoying unmatched customer service. Now the drift has occurred where it’s not just the case of making profits but to target customers, secure and retaining them by your value-added service. The ideology has been now more customer-oriented

Customers are more likely to give away the cheap prices if you offer them convenience, faster delivery, 24*7  eCommerce support and other such services. This builds trust and retains employees being more loyal to you. In the next 3 years, the competition will increase, and the deciding factor would be customer service.

B2B eCommerce self-service

As the major aspect of strategy, B2B companies offer self-services to their customers and visitors. On an average above 50% of B2B buyers view self-services feature as necessary one when analyzing and accessing a brand’s online experience. Companies believe offering customer’s some kind of personalization should be a priority as it has room to grow by personalizing the customer experience.

Provide buyers to access their traction history, payment methods, delivery options, and that too easily available. 

Product Recommendations: These display recommended products on individual product purchases which may fulfill specific business-related needs of suppliers in a user-friendly way.

Custom Price List:  You can customize the list according to the deal set and each buyer can get a view of it. The same could be done for shipping costs and order in quantities.

Custom Catalog:  lets you customize the product catalog for each buyer.

B2B buyers focus on getting a B2C-like experience as it individual services for customers.

Omnichannel Sales

Omnichannel not just gives a boost to sales but also provides opportunities for businesses to capitalize on marketing and consumer services on different platforms. Envision how simple the lives of customers will be in the event that they can do all their business at the straightforward dash of a catch on their cell phones or laptops.

36% of B2B companies have started implementing omnichannel initiatives. For this to be effective your brand needs to be present, active and consistent on all channels. Failure to do so can d a loss of your customer’s trust in you.

Voice of customer

B2B is customer-oriented, what they want. If you are focusing on the long term then you must carefully listen and analyze their feedback, understand their requirements, improve customer experience, develop processes and strategies that work on these. These are the key areas.

Some commonly used methods to gather information are through conducting surveys and interviews, focus groups, pay attention to social mentions of your industry. Further, use this data to improve products and services and create customer-facing content.

This guarantees results and retains your customers.

Augmented Reality and Artificial intelligence

Ecommerce is utilizing the power of AR and AI aiming to provide better services and lives to people around. Thanks to AI software that can predict stock levels, relevant orders in advance. On other hand, AR can help you visualize what a product will look like before buying it.

This is how these technologies are making a change in the world and the customer service sector. The future relies on those that are taking over humans and solving our problems.