Changing The Buying Culture Of B2B

The digital age of B2B commerce is here. Frost & Sullivan projects global B2B online retail will reach $6.7 trillion by the end of the decade. Buyers are ready to make the shift, too. Used to shopping online in their personal lives, buyers are more and more comfortable with researching and ultimately making business-related purchasing decisions online and expect the experience to be just as seamless. B2B companies that embrace eCommerce are reaping the rewards. From increases in average order values and reduced support costs to more loyal customers, going digital is paying off.

The team behind the United Kingdom’s eCommerce Expo reached out to a panel of six industry experts to discuss the state of the industry. The result, “The 2015 e-commerce Report: A View from the Frontline,” shows that while things are beginning to change, the next innovation will likely be cultural – not technological.

Though they have long been considered less tech-savvy than the business-to-consumer market, B2B businesses have been buying electronically for much longer than the average consumer. Because of this, the technical groundwork for the move to eCommerce is already in place. Businesses are moving away from legacy systems, which use electronic data interchange (EDI), to Internet-based systems through which buyers and sellers can connect with just a computer and a Web connection.

More than how to accept and process orders digitally, B2B sellers struggle with creating an experience that lives up to what shoppers have come to expect online, the experts revealed. While there is no
one-size-fits-all approach, designing an experience based on the consumer represents a new way of thinking and should be a focus of businesses looking for success.

“One of our challenges is getting traditional B2B businesses to think more ‘consumer,’” Tom Head, director of Lab a U.K.-based agency specializing in B2B, retail, food and drink, said to eCommerce Expo. “It demands quite a change in mindset within many businesses, and may also require a change in team structure, business set-up, and personnel. Some B2B brands go into it with their eyes fully open, but some don’t and need help to move in the right direction.”

After adjusting to putting the customer at the center, businesses face the hurdle of striking a balance between great customer experience and the complicated nature of B2B purchasing. Unlike the simplicity of B2C sales, B2B transactions are more difficult. Or, as Justin King, editor in chief of eCommerceandB2B.com put it, the B2B buying process is comprised of “complex customers who have complex ordering processes; complex products with complex attributes; and finally elaborate back end systems with their own complexity.” The best way to find the sweet spot, he said, is making back-end functions more transparent.

If B2B companies want to be on the cutting edge, they should take a page from the consumer playbook and embrace the unknown. Developing a culture of experimentation encourages businesses to try out new media, and pilot and launch initiatives quickly. To measure success, Google’s Head of B2B Marketing U.K. & Ireland Raja Saggi, believes businesses should benchmark themselves against best-in-class organizations, whether they be B2B or consumer focused.

Cultural change can be slow, but the experts interviewed by eCommerce Expo see a bright future ahead. Demand for eCommerce will continue to grow. Consumers will continue to raise the bar on the level of service expected. Before businesses can dive into selecting and developing technology, they must adjust their mindset. As cliché as it sounds, the digital revolution has already arrived. The organizations that successfully make the transition will be the ones willing to make the change.