B2B Ecommerce, as a business model has been growing exponentially at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 7.4% every year. With such a rapid growth across the globe, B2B companies are adopting Ecommerce model to increase their profitability. It is expected that by the year 2023, B2B Ecommerce sales will shoot to around $1.8 trillion, which would be a third of the total Ecommerce Sales. B2B Ecommerce has become one of the most successful online business strategies that have led to massive revenues for B2B companies.  However, most of the companies are yet to tap into the full potential of this market due to lack of understanding of customer needs and purchase patterns.

A recent study by Heinz found that Millennial B2B customers exhibit the following behaviour while purchasing:

• They are far more independent in their purchase decisions compared to Generation X or baby boomers
• They conduct extensive research on their own before making any purchasing decisions
• They rely on the opinions of peers and outside experts than simply trusting a salesperson, while Generation X and baby boomers relied upon salespeople for guidance
• They actively avoid engaging with sales early on. Nearly 60 percent say they don’t engage with a salesperson until they’re in the middle of a purchasing decision

These buying behaviors mimic that of B2C buying patterns in which case brands must educate, build trust and build community before a purchasing decision is made or even considered

Based on the current trends,  B2B Companies would see the following benefits by adopting an Ecommerce strategy:

• Improve scalability by reaching out to more markets and opening a multitude of channels
• Improve efficiency:  By eliminating multiple possibilities of error, Ecommerce will let avoid multiple entries of data and directly enables you to ship your products
• Increase customer base:  As B2B customers prefer researching online for best prices and best manufacturers, there’s a scope to reach out to the larger customer base compared to a field sales person
• Improve brand awareness:  Getting on board on the internet increases awareness about brand thereby improving reach
• Increase order volumes:  As online customers get a view of all the variants or variations of products, there is a possibility of higher conversion due to availabilty of what they are looking for
• Improve analytics:  Helps understand customer demands and efficiency of various marketing campaigns thereby improving on actionable insights

Forrester forecasts that by the year 2020, more B2B customers would favor DIY (Do-It-Yourself) option for researching and buying products and services and so, sellers are expected to fully enable such digital paths to purchase. Although B2B companies still insist upon B2B buyer’s interaction with their sales representatives in order to complete a purchase, but for a majority of B2B buyers who are self-educating themselves online about products and services, or who already know what they want, this diversion is inconvenient and unwelcome for.

SAP Commerce (Hybris) offers a B2B Commerce accelerator that is a ready-to-use B2B implementation, which is tailored to the unique needs of B2B organizations. SAP Commerce (Hybris) B2B solution delivers all the capabilities you need to manage complex B2B relationships,  it automates order processing and provides the ability to manage numerous B2B accounts on a single platform. It also includes advanced self-service capabilities for the B2B customers where they can manage their users, user groups, permissions, cost centers, budgets, and approval workflows. SAP Commerce (Hybris) platform gives you all the opportunities for your customers’ sought-after online experience. It’s time for you to capitalize on this fast growing market and gain the higher leverage over others.

SBP offers SAP Commerce (Hybris) services to help you make the best of online retailing.

Reach out to us on “getHybris@sbpcorp.com” for a demo on our portfolio of products “Omnibus Commerce for SAP Commerce”.