Three BIG Reasons Why Manufacturers and Distributors Need to Keep Challenging B2B Ecommerce
So, you've already spent considerable time, money and lots of effort building your B2B ecommerce platform – are you going to keep growing? Let me give you three critical reasons why you have to keep innovating in 2022.
In a recent 2021 Digital Commerce 360 distributor/wholesaler commerce survey, at least 43% of manufacturers were looking to switch or upgrade their ecommerce platform in 2022.
As part of this digital transformation, we continue to add ease and speed to our ecommerce builds and integrations, all to drive a stronger B2B buyer experience with truly unified data, and real ROI. Our clients cannot afford to not have as much information as possible at the tip of a click for today’s buyers. This information drives better new customer conversions building your business most effectively.
What is driving the need for continued innovation? The effectiveness and reach of ecommerce and omni-channel delivery is extremely cost-effective. Here are three drivers to consider:
Technology Innovation is Getting Faster to Deploy while also Being Personalized
The latest ecommerce technology has greatly improved and is providing B2B companies with better, faster ways to deploy digital personalized service to meet their customers’ needs.
Even from two years ago, how a customer finds information on a site has changed along with how much information is available in order to place an order. Ease of product search and the process of placing an order are facets of ecommerce that continues to evolve and innovate the more we know about online B2B behavior. In this instance, ’keeping up with Jones’ is necessary. Is your ecommerce as easy to use as email?
More and More Millennials are in Procurement Roles
Yikes! And after them, are the GenZs. Children born in the 90s grew up in the digital age. With every social media innovation, they and those following, are used to quick change and adapting on apps across the board. The level of expectation when using any website is on par with their consumer experience.
While companies with B2B platforms in place receive an average of 44% of their revenue from their online presence, they expect that by 2025, 80% of all B2B transactions will get processed via a digital channel, according to a 2021 Gartner, Inc survey.
Another recent survey by McKinsey & Co. found that 20% of B2B buyers are willing to spend $500,000 or more in an online transaction and 11% are already willing to surpass the $1million mark. These buying trends will only keep growing with new generations of B2B buyers.
As it is, 44% of millennials say they prefer not to deal directly with sales reps according to Gartner. On top of that, Forrester Research notes that 70% of all B2B buyers prefer self-service ecommerce over reps. Are you ready to provide self-serve?
The Amazon B2B Trend is Here to Stay
If you thought Amazon’s B2B marketplace was going to just be another marketplace, the bar has definitely been raised. Not only is their B2C experience forcing manufactures, distributors and wholesalers to build an ecommerce presence that is attractive, easy to use and fast but the their B2B experience makes it so easy for a buyer to go back and forth between orders and reorders.
The reality of digital technology is an ecommerce platform with unified data enables a company to become more efficient in its operations, makes supply chain visibility viable, increases sales and cuts operating costs.
About CSS Commerce
CSS Commerce is a leading innovator building complex ecommerce software. CSS provides deeper knowledge for B2B that includes ecommerce engines using Product Information Management, Digital Asset Management, Master Data Management solutions and more.
From omnichannel to D2C, from supply chain to B2B commerce solutions, CSS are specialists in providing the expertise on effective commerce strategies for the midsize to the enterprise business. In addition, we provide productive solutions around Web2Print and PWA. Our strategic partnerships complete our offerings with business process automation, AI, RPA, quality management and supply chain software.