Think only B2C customers put emphasis on the look and feel of their web experience?
A new study from Acquity Group uncovered that 57 percent of corporate buyers have purchased goods online, but that many B2B suppliers miss out on substantial revenue because their sites aren’t optimized for online buying.
The findings were released by the digital marketing company as part of its “2013 State of B2B Procurement Study,” a report that sought to assess how corporate buyers with more than $100,000 in annual budgets spend on the web.
In total, the organization’s researchers polled more than 200 buyers across a wide range of industries. These participants were asked questions regarding their research habits, purchasing frequency, emphasis on loyalty and more, and further lead Robert Barr, the senior vice president at Acquity Group to one main conclusion.
“The most important takeaway for B2B companies is to think omni-channel,” he said in a statement. “There’s a lot of pent-up demand for more robust, user-friendly online offerings, and we are about to reach the tipping point. B2B companies must act quickly, or risk being left behind.”
In this PYMNTS.com Data Point, we’ll take a closer look at the findings and how the study suggests B2B suppliers can revise their strategies for success.
Corporate Buyers Make Large Web Purchases
Defined as any purchase of $5,000 or greater, Acquity Group found that 59 percent of study respondents reported to making major purchases, although the frequency with which they completed this activity was found to vary.
Most survey takers finished such purchases two to four times per month, with roughly one out of every three indicating this habit. Twenty-seven percent said they make a major purchase once a month, 23 percent reported five to 11 purchases and 22 percent stated that they finalize 11 or more purchases every 30 days.
This means that frequent corporate buyers were found to complete more than 132 online purchases of more than $5,000 online each year, for a total spend of more than $650,000.
B2B Suppliers Are Failing To Capture This Revenue
Most notably, however, the source indicated that B2B suppliers are missing out on a cut of this substantial spending, especially when it came to the highly coveted demographic of businesses with budgets greater than $500 million annually.
Acquity Group’s researchers indicated that just 13 percent of these big purchasers buy directly from a B2B supplier’s website. This was in spite of the fact that 50 percent of these organizations allocate almost all of their budgets online, most often to third-party suppliers like Amazon Supply that are competing more effectively in this space, the source noted.
What Corporate Businesses Say Needs Improving
Though the numbers indicate that a majority of corporate businesses are indeed spending online, representatives of these companies say that they would be more likely to do so if B2B suppliers made certain changes. For instance, 71 percent strongly agreed or agreed that they would increase the frequency of their online spending if they found it easier to browse and purchase from suppliers’ websites.
Ease-of-use was also a big factor, with 71 percent noting that given two equal suppliers, they would purchase from the one that made purchasing easier. This need was so great, it was found that it would even trump loyalty to the supplier.
Further, corporate businesses cited increased security, free delivery and customer service operators accessible by phone as other major factors that could sway their buying decisions, with 51 percent, 39 percent and 37 percent indicating these opinions.
For more statistics and insight, view the complete press release for the report here.
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