The Millennium Challenge: e-commerce in the B2B segment

Recently, Forbes Jeremy Bogaisky (Jeremy Bogaisky) shared amazing statistics. It turns out that retailers in the United States have noted a decrease in the number of buyers in their stores by 50% compared with previous years. Having worked in “consumer” e-commerce for many years, I realize the importance of the convenience of making a purchase online. From Jimmy Johns sandwiches to computer parts and accessories for the iPhone. Yes, sometimes it is also important to have a good seller who would help buyers, but convenience is still more important. And how are things in the B2B segment?

B2B is ten years behind

This is a short answer - the B2B gap from the consumer segment is now about ten years. The good news is that some companies are still beginning to reduce this distance. It is no secret that the development of e-commerce also affects businesses working with corporate clients. If they fail to bring the sales process in line with modern realities, this often leads to problems. According to a recent article by Andy Hoar at Forrester Research, 26% of B2B companies claim to provide service at the Amazon level. Even if this is true, a huge number of businesses are quite far from these milestones. But how can such companies finally join eCommerce and move forward? Manufacturers and distributors should think about the usability of their sites and create high-quality content that can be transmitted through different channels and consumed on different devices. This is the only way to remain competitive.
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Mobile segment grows with crazy speed

A real-life example: I recently forgot that I was put in charge of a mini office party. Two hours before the event it dawned on me - I had to order a whole plate of sandwiches from Jimmy Johns, without which the party is not a party. For the world of B2B sandwiches personify any product that is needed urgently, “yesterday” and in decent quantity. At the moment, according to Hoar’s article, 5% of all sales in the B2B segment and up to 10% of all eCommerce site traffic is mobile. Forrester predicts growth in mobile sales to 11% in the near future. According to Cisco Systems, by 2016, 50% of the B2B traffic will be mobile IP addresses.

Rules of life in the future

An experienced online buyer is usually not very worried about the place where he makes a purchase. He is more interested in the convenience of this process. You can buy a sandwich in any fast-food cafe around the corner, every place where they are cooked can say that their sandwiches are the best, but if you need these sandwiches and you cannot go somewhere behind them, for you that cafe which can organize delivery on the best conditions will win.



According to Hoar’s article from the same article, 60% of Americans shopping online wanted to care less about exactly where they were buying, as long as the process is convenient. Forrester analysts note the presence of this trend in the field of B2B e-commerce. Businesses that focus on corporate customers should also make the process of purchasing their goods and services easy and convenient. This will help them increase sales. Due to the fact that consumer eCommerce has been developing for a long time, there have been invented successful business models - take the same Amazon. B2B companies just need to take this experience and transfer it to their market.