Many say that B2B ecommerce is still in its futile stages of infancy. If this is the case then what exactly can we expect to come from this field in the near future? In the next 20 years? The industry is thriving, and sellers and buyers alike are constantly on the lookout for new innovative ways to keep the industry breathing in new air.
According to a Forrester study those who fail to adapt their current technology to the buyer’s needs are sure to fall behind. B2B sellers are just now beginning to realize that legacy systems and platforms are not adequate to support omnichannel requirements that B2B buyers expect today.
Organizations will continue to implement and upgrade their ecommerce platforms to keep up with the omnichannel trend. Here is where we think the future is heading and this technology is enabling us to go.
B2B Customer Experience
The biggest factor that will drive competition in the future of ecommerce as a whole is your customer’s experience. Oftentimes, people think of B2B ecommerce as a robotic transaction between businesses. Although inventory and clientele differ, it would actually be beneficial to look at sites excelling in the B2C ecommerce overall experience. Websites like Amazon and Alibaba have broken the mold of customer comfortability and ease. These companies understand the importance of investing in quality customer service and that’s why their demand keeps accumulating.
If we can implement the familiarity of these formulas into our services we have a better chance of not only generating B2B sales, but also the opportunity to build long standing business relationships. In the end we should all think in terms of B2H ecommerce because after all, whether you are catering to a business or a singular consumer, we’re all human.
Mobility’s Grand Impact
It seems as if the B2B space is still caught up in the first generation looking for the future to come upon it, while the use of smartphones and tablets in B2C is old news. Even though the same buyers who are interacting with their B2C services and providers via smartphone, are the potential consumers of B2B services only 54% of companies selling online report their customers are using smartphones to research products and 52% are using their phones to actually make orders.
As a B2B business we shouldn’t underestimate mobile’s power as part of our omnichannel strategy. B2B brands who are successful in prioritizing mobile, offer their sales reps with greater opportunities and more personalized customer service possibilities that would be otherwise impossible without a strategy that prioritizes the mobile channel.
Omnichannel B2B Customers
What makes omnichannel B2B customers more profitable than all other customers combined? Compared to customers who just buy online, or those who prefer to purchase offline only, omnichannel customers are overall your best bet to pull in the most profitability. Your buyers have become highly accustomed to ‘the good life’ they don’t want to extend a pinky to go out of their way to make an order with your business.
Omnichannel means providing your consumers with impeccable web and mobile self service, complementing one another and other channels to work together in one seamless system. In order to capture these profitable clients, you must convert all of those single-channel customers into more engaged, loyal, higher-spending ominchannel customers.
The role technology plays in the future of B2B ecommerce is crucial and pertinent. The challenges brands will face to become omnichannel and all-reaching go beyond the technology and deeper into the core business processes. This transformation phase for ecommerce is important for your business to get organized, reassess your management, and implement new technology. After all, your customers are changing the way they do business so you better keep up or someone else will.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
