B2B e-Commerce Trends
The most relevant B2B e-Commerce trends today are:
Composable e-Commerce based on API.
Soft e-Commerce implementation for B2B customers.
High personalization in e-Commerce B2B.
Unification in B2B & B2C e-Commerce.
AR, VR, and voice search.
Changes in the demographics of B2B organizations' buyers and technological advances have affected the B2B e-commerce industry.
Generation Y understands and depends on digital technologies more, while Generation X buyers took over most of the leadership roles. As a result, e-Commerce B2B has seen a significant increase, and the industry continues to evolve every day. Today's B2B customer buys from e-commerce sites and values convenience, speed, security and personalization.
But despite this, B2B is a paradoxical e-Commerce model: although it encourages brilliant innovations, in some ways it is also stuck in its old "habits." Despite impressive economic growth, B2B e-Commerce seems outdated in terms of Internet presence compared to B2C. Accelerated shifts in the latest e-Commerce marketing trends and changing customer expectations make 2021 a pivotal year for this e-Commerce model. What changes should we expect? In this article, we dwell on the most relevant B2B e-Commerce trends that will make your business discover new assets.
Composable e-Commerce Based On API
The term "composable business" was introduced in 2020 by Gartner introduced as "creating an organization built from interchangeable building blocks."
From the point of view of e-Commerce business processes, this means the implementation of flexible and modular business scenarios based on applications from both the e-Commerce platform provider and other leading components in the market. Most importantly, they must work with the API.
The API (Application Programming Interface) collects data from the e-Commerce back-end, converts it into an appropriate network protocol, and then delivers the data to a wide variety of applications for customer interaction and vice versa.
In this way, you can connect different third-party solutions to get a flexible system adapted to your company's requirements, such as:
ERP
CRM
PIM
AI
By bringing back-end and middleware together, leveraging existing systems and adding best-of-breed third-party applications, a merchant organization can create the best-performing and most flexible IT platform tailored to the business needs of the e-commerce niche in which it operates.
Compound e-commerce based on the API thus enables companies to respond faster to innovation and constantly change to meet the expectations of each customer.
By 2021, this will be one of the most important B2B e-Commerce trends, and one that will be used more and more actively.
Soft e-Commerce implementation for B2B customers
The importance of online commerce as a method of purchase for your customers is very important to the success of the B2B e-Commerce platform. The best way to get customers and your employees accustomed to the new e-Commerce experience is to develop it in small portions. Such a B2B e-Commerce strategy helps attract customers and show them the benefits of a new platform without overloading them with a complex interface and tools.
In fact, user acceptance of e-Commerce means effectively guiding your business customers by moving from offline in-person sales (or phone sales) to online orders without disrupting their user experience, loyalty and trust. In this way, you will only reap the positive effects of the latest e-commerce trends.
But for many years, B2B e-commerce has traditionally been the practice of personal service from customer service managers. So any customer who has used personal service in the past may be uncomfortable with new e-commerce practices that involve learning a new, unfamiliar ordering interface.
Follow our recommendations to attract new B2B users to store in your online store:
Develop a step-by-step strategy to expand your e-Commerce functions.
Inform your customers about the new features of your e-Commerce platform at every stage.
Attract your sales force to assist customers, including placing orders, explaining the interface, and collaborating on order forms.
Support buyers to feel the attention and care of sellers, their desire to help them choose the right products at the best prices.
High personalization in e-commerce B2B
B2B customer orders are usually placed by customer employees, and only a small proportion of orders are automatically executed by servers.
These people have already formed individual requirements and buying habits based on the latest e-Commerce trends from B2C. Your customers expect the same level of personalization as B2C giants, such as Netflix and Amazon. Buyers therefore place high demands on the ability of B2B companies to respond to their needs and personalize customer interactions.
In this B2B e-Commerce strategy, you should focus on B2B personalization, including both a specific customer organization and a specific employee acting as a buyer. According to current practice, B2B personalization works on two levels:
On the one hand, personalization is focused on the buyer's specific organization.
And on the other hand - on a specific final employee.
Consider the ability to offer personalized limits, catalog, order and delivery for a customer. And users get personalized order processing, shopping and bonuses based on their user profile.
When B2B customers buy, they are guided by different factors than B2C, as they have different objectives.
While B2C focuses on getting pleasure from the product, B2B focuses on the quality, simplicity and benefits of the product; they value the optimization and reliability of business processes and seek an effective experience that will help them grow.
Online commerce processes should be maximally automated to satisfy the B2B user and all his needs. It should not only be a convenient interface with custom filters, but also clear prices, one-click payment, easy editing of the order with the delivery of documents (paper or with a digital signature), and other latest trends in e-commerce.
Unification in B2B & B2C e-commerce
More and more companies are expanding their sales from both retailers and enterprises to increase revenue and market share.
As a rule, many companies separate their B2B and B2C channels to optimize their operations, as these two markets are very different.
E-Commerce B2C (business to the consumer) is the most developed sector of eCommerce in terms of functionality and customer service.
Therefore, B2B (business to business) and B2G (business to the government) are more likely to resemble B2C, as people who make business orders expect the same user experience as if they were retailers. This similarity is especially true now. After all, the Internet-passionate generation of "millennials" are becoming individuals in companies that make decisions.
With some of the largest e-Commerce providers recognizing the benefits of a single site for both businesses and shoppers, we can conclude that this is a way to unlock the full potential of the market as we move towards the future of online sales.
The unified commerce platform offers flexibility to meet the needs of customers in both B2B and B2C. In fact, more and more customers prefer to purchase online with a self-service interface. With today's dynamic B2B market, buyers need a simple, intuitive and similar B2C online shopping experience. Currently, such an unhindered experience requires companies to offer a variety of self-service options :
It is not enough to put the catalog of its products on the Internet; it is necessary to give its customers more features of these products and services and facilitate the search. These may be banners for new products with improved features or products at special prices.
Develop recommendations for the purchase of related goods, such as consumables or repair kits; this is a cross-sales B2B e-Commerce strategy that helps increase the average check.
Attract regular customers to write feedback to help new customers make purchasing decisions.
In other words, try to integrate all the features you know and love in B2C on your B2B e-commerce website and keep improving your customer experience.
AR, VR, and Voice Search
We have already talked a lot about improving customer service quality as a basic strategy for B2B e-commerce, and most of these features can be borrowed from B2C e-commerce practice.
The promotion of complex products, such as manufacturing equipment, machines and mechanisms, biotechnological and chemical equipment, automation and robots, can be carried out effectively with the help of tools:
Added Reality (AR)
Virtual reality (VR)
These tools are ideal for demonstrating suitable spare parts and for the process of replacing consumables.
Customers spend a significant amount of time studying and evaluating products before making a purchasing decision.
So if the information on your B2B e-Commerce website is more compelling, including through the use of AR/VR, the conversion rate from visitors to buyers will be higher.
In e-Commerce, voice search is not only one of the new B2B e-Commerce trends, but also another way to communicate with sellers in the industry, which buyers usually use to re-order certain goods or purchase cheap items.
Programs such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant from Google, Siri from Apple, Bixby from Samsung and Cortana from Microsoft, are just a few examples of some voice platforms that can effectively solve the tasks of finding the desired products.
The potential for the development of voice search and order is enormous. Combined with a virtual assistant AI, voice search can be a good sales channel. For example, buyers can ask a voice what parts are included with the product, starting with the simplest question, "Are there batteries?" and getting answers to much more complex requests. It all depends on how well you will train your AI engine to respond to typical customer questions.
The latest e-Commerce trends in B2B promise steady revenue growth for companies of all sizes. Yet it is essential to use these strategies correctly. Ultimately, not every trend is valuable, and no one knows which ones deserve your attention and effort. While some are tremendously valuable to the business, others may not fit your specific target market or may be too expensive for your company to ensure a decent return on investment. Understanding the right trends for your business often requires knowledge of your own market and your competitors. So stay abreast of Industry reviews on current market trends and be in touch with trusted assistants like AdScale, who understand your market and follow technologies closely.
FAQ
What is the B2B model in e-Commerce?
B2B e-commerce is a portal for automating sales in the B2B sphere, which allows you to optimize sales, taking into account the individual requirements of the company for organizing business processes, connecting accounting systems of suppliers, reducing the burden on managers, and ultimately increasing sales.
What is a B2B business strategy?
B2B e-Commerce strategies include:
- Email marketing
- Marketing Content
- SMM
- SMS marketing
- Web push marketing
- Messenger Marketing
What is the best B2B e-Commerce strategy?
One of the best B2B e-Commerce strategies is automated targeted advertising, which helps you reach an audience interested in the products you sell. The most advanced platform for automating digital advertising is AdScale.
What is an example of a targeted ad?
Suppose you sell bedding in Los Angeles. Your target market consists of women aged 27 to 45 who have children and store on weekends. Advertising with AdScale for this specific audience will give you the most benefit.
