More Than Half Of B2B Purchases To Happen Online By 2017

Fifty-two percent of business buyers expect at least half of their purchases to be made online in three years, said a new study released from Accenture and Forrester.

The online survey respondents represented 526 B2B companies and 930 B2B buyers across Canada, France, Germany, the U.S. and the UK at organizations with at least 1000 employees. The study was completed in November 2014, the companies said.

When asked what site features B2B buyers expect, “enhanced search functional” was the top choice, with 60 percent selecting that option. Right behind it (at 58 percent) was a site’s ability to show ratings and reviews, followed by the related “improved personalized product or service recommendations” at 50 percent. The next most popular choice was back-end system integration (42 percent) and “merchandising/recommending relevant products and services” at 38 percent.

The survey also found that 70 percent of B2B respondents preferred using “direct, instant online forms of payment, such as credit cards or payment systems, rather than purchase orders and invoices.” Specifically, credit/debit cards was the first choice of 50 percent of respondents, with invoice/purchase orders coming in just a little more than half of the payment number, at 28 percent. Online payment, such as PayPal, hit 19 percent and purchases through eprocurement (such as Ariba) barely registered, coming in at 3 percent.

Respondents, when asked about capabilities that they’d like to soon have, were fond of automated pricing optimization (62 percent), followed by personalized recommendations (56 percent) and wearable computing in distribution centers (49 percent).

“Business suppliers have made a good start adapting to changing buying patterns,” said Brian Walker, Chief Strategy Officer at hybris. “Now it will be important for them to ensure a truly seamless experience for their customers at all times and on all touchpoints. For instance, if a customer starts a process at their desk but has to leave for a meeting, their sales journey has to move with them via a digital device, offering minimal fuss around payment, shipping and other purchase options. For many B2B suppliers, this will require significant integration efforts – of back-end and fulfillment systems, as well as with their call centers and popular social media platforms.”

The survey also found that most challenges suppliers face relate to organization and structure.

“Survey respondents said the biggest barrier to implementing an omni-channel approach is a difficulty in integrating back-office technology across channels (cited by 44 percent of suppliers), followed by difficulty in sharing customer data and analytics across the organization (42 percent); limits by distribution partners, franchises or wholesale customers (40 percent), and conflict between channel organizations (36 percent),” a statement from the companies said.