Make no mistake – the global B2B commerce market is massive.
As clarified in Statista’s 2017 B2B commerce report, ‘the global Ecommerce market is worth US$7.7 trillion and B2B business is now dwarfing that of the B2C business.’
So, as 2018 starts to draw towards its conclusion, what can we expect from B2B commerce in 2019? What trends and themes are likely to remain and develop over the next 12 months?
We’ve picked out a few areas of interest that we think B2B companies should be looking at.
Continued growth
A number of factors go into the decision to purchase from a B2B company. But there’s been a notable shift towards digital being the space in which these decisions are now made.
In the US alone, the B2B market is set to top US$1.8 trillion by 2021 according to a report from Forrester. This is obviously big, big business, and reflects the shift in priority when it comes to digital commerce among B2B decision-makers.
A survey from Regalix found that 77% of B2B marketers consider digital marketing as a high priority. This shows where the thoughts of those making the marketing decisions within the B2B industry are heading.
This all means that B2B business in 2019 is going to be an increasingly digital arena.
Different decision makers
What might be behind the shift towards digital? Something definitely playing a role is the changing demographic of those involved in B2B decisions.
According to research from Google, those people at companies that are conducting research around which B2B business to shop with are increasingly falling into the millennial age bracket.
These researchers are the ones presenting the important info to the c-suite decision makers. So as a B2B business in 2019, the more you do to attract and embed yourself in the thinking of those conducting the research, the greater the chance of success.
Mobile shopping
According to Google, more than half of search queries globally are now coming from mobile devices. Therefore having an omni-channel presence should be a priority for all companies in both the B2B and B2C space.
According to a recent Google mobile benchmark report, there’s an 113% increase in the probability of a visitor bouncing from a site if it takes more than 7 seconds to load. Therefore it’s in the interest of B2B organizations to offer a seamless mobile experience.
This combination of millennial-aged researchers and mobile is a game-changing one. So in 2019, more investment in this side of things from B2B companies seems natural.
B2B Blogging
Blogs offer the chance to share information, garner discussion, and raise the chances of appearing in search results. This online medium is becoming a growing area for B2B businesses.
Hubspot has released research indicating that companies with blogs generate 55% more website visits than companies without blogs. However, according to InsideView, on 33% of B2B businesses are blogging at present.
Any advantage that can be gained over a competitor should be explored, so as more B2B organizations become aware of the benefits of blogging, it seems likely this will be an increasing area of focus for B2B brands moving forwards.
Integration
Integrating enterprise resource planning systems with the company website is an important way to enhance the customer experience for B2B businesses in the digital realm.
This prevents headaches when it comes to providing accurate information to companies buying from your site, thus enhancing the purchasing experience and avoiding difficulties fulfilling orders.
In a competitive arena, B2B businesses should look integrate their site with the ERP to deliver accurate, reliable information to those that need it most – the customer.
Getting B2B commerce right
B2B business is a developing entity in the digital world, so having a highly effective platform in place can be a very positive move.
Cloudfy has years of experience in this space, so get in touch and get a quote from Cloudfy today.
