Opening a B2B eCommerce what benefits does it bring to customers, agents and business?
Many companies are currently seeking data, tools, and best practices to decide whether to invest in B2B digitization. However, challenges persist as many:
- they neglect the front-end needs of their B2B customers, focusing only on internal processes;
- they struggle to access accurate, high-quality data. Not all companies can collect data from a wide range of sources, both offline and online, to make informed decisions;
- they continue to manage many internal processes--such as administration and warehouse management--in the traditional way, showing a lack of interest in acquiring basic digital capabilities.
Even so, B2B trends are pushing us in another direction, inviting companies to open up to B2B online sales to be more competitive, optimize resources and increase profits.
Why open a B2B eCommerce? Benefits for customers
Why open a B2B eCommerce? Needless to turn around, B2B customers can
- buy products and services independently at any time of the day (agent and customer care support is integrated into this new shopping experience)
- receive freebies and opportunities based on purchases made
- buy flexibly from computers or mobile devices as B2B users do on platforms like Amazon
- compare in depth products, services and prices
- benefit from dedicated payment methods (list according to predetermined countries and rules, for example) with fast and secure checkout
- consult delivery times and modes transparently.
Commerce B2B? Benefits for agents and business
How will my agents react? Will my business benefit from opening a B2B eCommerce? Sure:
- you can increase profits by allowing B2B customers to buy 24/7
- improve management of the entire sales process: from lead generation to retention (cross sell up sell)
- centralize and automate internal processes to benefit productivity
- open your B2B products/services to new markets, making distribution even more widespread
- increase the productivity of your sales agents who can focus on the most interesting negotiations and increase conversions
- improve not only sales, but also delivery and logistics, by integrating these services to eCommerce flows
- understand the needs of B2B customers to better serve this market segment as well (new product development, timely analytics)
- easily monitor cash flows through predetermined rules and agreed-upon lists
- rapidly activate spot and/or periodic promotions
- increase average cart through customized promotions and giveaways.
Millennials and Gen Z are transforming B2B: is your business ready?
Millennials and Gen Z, who will account for 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025,are emerging as major buyers in the B2B sector.
This change requires an update of engagement strategies: fluid experiences, instant gratification, and genuine interactions are now essential.
Companies must choose: evolve by adopting digital tools for their teams (marketing, sales, and product) or risk falling behind?
The Importance of a Digital Partner for Enterprise Realities
Why enterprise realities need a digital partner is very simple. It expects spending on IT services to grow 9.7 percent reaching $1.52 trillion in 2024, but there are a few things to consider:
- companies struggle to attract key IT talent as effectively as IT services companies
- for this reason, they are investing more in outside consulting than in their own staff
- For the first time, companies' spending on consulting exceeded their spending on personnel.
This change represents a significant opportunity for companies to rely on the support of specialized partners such as power2Cloud to meet the growing demand for external IT expertise and services.
Digital leadership is important to a company's success, reminds the McKinsey research which shows that
- Digital Leaders are significantly more likely to experience 10% or more revenue growth in the past two years (58% of Leaders versus 43% of Followers and 38% of Laggards)
- Laggards are twice as likely to experience a decline in revenues (18% VS. 9%).
B2B eCommerce trends
The B2B trend thermometer provides us with more food for thought:
- 95% of C-suite B2B and B2C executives say customers are changing faster than companies can keep up;
- 72% of companies that actively assess their digital maturity levels experience accelerated growth compared to those that do not engage in such assessments;
- over 50% of CIOs surveyed by IDC indicated that their organizations plan to appoint an AI leader, and half expect this role to be integrated into the C-suite executive team
- Gartner predicts that global IT spending will grow by about 8 percent in 2024, reaching $5.1 trillion in annual revenue. Nevertheless, only 9% of the IT budget, on average, is allocated to cyber security, which includes training and leadership development.
Strategic initiatives for your B2B eCommerce success
power2Cloud as a partner of B2B eCommerce projects knows that it is right to also consider the challenges or rather the activities to target to build a solid success:
1. integration of ERP systems and CRM to take a holistic view and improve operational efficiency. Not to be outdone are other business tools (see telephone switchboard) to avoid working in silos
2. efficient and centralized management of B2C and B2B if the company deals with both to optimize all resources but customize them for different market types
3. optimize taxes and payment methods especially in case of international B2B eCommerce projects
4. data sovereignty to better analyze and understand real-time purchase behaviors, marketing strategies, and personalize each experience
5. B2B sales process automation for lead generation and retention, so agents can focus on more strategic activities.
6. B2B marketplaces to consider to quickly access new markets and reduce marketing and sales costs
7.Security and compliance by attending to aspects such as privacy and data security (GDPR, HIPAA) that change from country to country and are vital for example for marketing activities (see for example newsletters).
Optimize your B2B eCommerce strategy with power2Cloud to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving B2B eCommerce landscape.