There are many B2B e-commerce such as http://www.1688.com and http://www.chinainout.com.
Half of 400 B2B organisations surveyed say
it is difficult to provide intuitive and user-friendly interfaces
Multiple factors driving change adds
complexity
Yet half (49%) agree that bringing
customers from offline to online could result in a higher bottom line
On september 16, 2013, Jena, Germany said,
When it comes to selling online, B2B organisations have to adapt to changing
customer expectations, driven by trends such as smartphone usage, social media
and the consumerisation of IT, according to the 2013 E-commerce Report from
Intershop. Across the board, respondents in a survey of 400 B2B companies
agreed that the world of B2B commerce is undergoing a radical transformation,
and B2C trends are reflected in the B2B environment.
Yet, almost all organisations (96%) are
facing challenges. Half find it difficult to provide intuitive and
user-friendly interfaces for multiple touch points such as B2B online stores,
mobile apps etc. A similar number (48%) say it is difficult to manage complex
organisational structures such as different user roles, multiple business
models, multiple commerce touch points and multiple data domains.
One big challenge is how this change is
driven by multiple factors, from customer demand and expectations (81%) to
developing technologies (74%) to the fact that business buyers engage through
various offline and online touch points with their peers and use multiple
information sources to make decisions (73%).
Yet, almost half (49%) agreed that bringing
business buyers from offline to online could result in a higher overall bottom
line. 44% expected higher average basket values, and 43% said bringing buyers
online could result in more return customers and higher brand loyalty.
Jochen Moll, Member and Spokesman of the
Board of Management at Intershop explains, “Where there is complexity, there is
also opportunity. Organisations that can develop their B2B commerce channels
now and offer a consumer-like approach will be well placed to capture market
share. They will need to understand how to manage the complexities around their
new channels, but the effort will pay off.”
Of the 400 B2B organisations surveyed in
Europe and the USA, 92% already sell online, and the remaining 8% have plans
to. Almost one quarter of these organisations (23%) are planning to increase
the percentage they sell online by a further 40% or more.
When it comes to the features their
customers expect, intuitive search and navigation are understood to be
important by more than three quarters (77%) of B2B organisations, followed by
online order approval (75%), self-service account management (74%), category
and product pages (73%) and online store analytics / monitoring in real time
(72%).
Organisations also realise how important
search engine optimisation and search engine marketing are (70%). Two thirds
(63%) are trying to encourage ranking or scoring of their organisations’
products on social media sites.
Conquering Mobile
Intershop’s 2012 E-commerce Report revealed
that conquering mobile commerce was the top business challenge facing B2C
retailers. In the near future, mobile channels will gain in importance in B2B
too. When asked what new touch points organisations plan to use in the next 12
months, online marketplaces (25%), mobile apps (24%) and mobile stores (22%)
were the most popular choices.
Of those organisations that say mobile
commerce will be important in the next 12 months, a total of 65% are planning
to create a mobile-optimised store version that allows business buyers to see
products, to purchase, to access their account profile and to track orders.
56% plan to create a mobile app that allows
business buyers to see products, to negotiate the price, to click and buy and
to track orders. The findings from the survey underline that the transformation
of B2B commerce is hitting a tipping point in 2013. The pressure in B2B is to
cope with a large number of challenges and fast changing expectations, both
from inside and outside their business: Integrating processes and systems,
providing consistent cross-channel experiences and embracing mobile and social
media, to name but a few.
“B2C has become
the test ground for B2B companies to understand how e-commerce technologies can
support their sales strategies,“ adds Moll. “After all, every B2B customer is
also a B2C customer so if you want to understand the future of B2B, that is
where to look.”
Moll concludes, “Interestingly, there is a
noticeable disparity between countries in terms of how sophisticated their B2B
e-commerce strategy is. E-commerce really is a global market place and B2B
organisations need to raise their game to meet the highest benchmark.“
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