Cross-Channel E-Commerce Shapes B2B

Online sales are flourishing, and have long been doing so in the business-to-business sector. A new study reveals which sales channels are particularly promising for companies and what customers are looking for.

Black Friday, the big bargain event in online retail, is just around the corner. This event not only shows how successful marketing and sales strategies are, but also which companies are really making their mark in e-commerce. The results of a study by logistics and postal company DHL clearly show that sales via the World Wide Web are continuing to accelerate: More and more companies, including those in the business-to-business (B2B) segment, are entering e-commerce in order to stay connected to their target group. This actually includes trends such as Black Friday: 85 percent of B2B retailers say they will participate.

A Trend That Is Here to Stay

However, the development surrounding online retail is far from being a passing fad, as Pablo Ciano, CEO of DHL eCommerce, makes clear:

It's not just about trends, it's about transformation and the heartbeat of local and global e-commerce. Companies are growing faster, selling smarter, and prioritizing sustainability like never before.

Consumers are the driving force behind the digital transformation in sales. Even B2B customers now have completely different expectations, as the authors of the study explain. They want the same flexible and transparent experiences that online shopping offers them as private customers.

Own E-Commerce Strategy

58 percent of B2B retailers have responded to developments in sales and sell via at least three e-commerce platforms. And 78 percent expect sales via their own online store to continue to increase. Here, many retailers are ensuring that the user experience (UX) is satisfactory for customers.

One of the key strategies is that 64 percent offer products on a subscription basis, meaning that they are delivered regularly without the need to reorder. This approach helps providers to

• plan their revenues,
• stabilize their supply chains, and ultimately
• increase customer loyalty.

Digital Progress Counts

Among e-commerce companies, 35 percent also allow consumers to purchase products now and pay later. This creates a level of flexibility that many customers in the private customer business have come to appreciate. At 76 percent of retailers, business customers can shop using a so-called “digital wallet.” This refers to all electronic wallets and other digital payment services that ensure fast sales processing that is easy to track for accounting purposes.

B2B companies are also going digital in other areas: 38 percent regularly use tools based on artificial intelligence (AI), for example for automated product recommendations.

Focus on Deliveries and Returns

After checkout, B2B retailers are also looking for modern solutions that offer their customers additional convenience. As the study shows, delivery and return conditions have a major influence on customer confidence, which in turn has a significant impact on repeat purchases. In addition, 87 percent of the companies surveyed state that free delivery and returns have a positive effect on their sales, and 46 percent apparently offer free delivery by incorporating shipping costs into their product prices. In addition to delivery speed (48 percent), sustainable delivery options (76 percent) also play a major role in B2B e-commerce.

Online Marketplaces as Customer Magnets

B2B retailers cannot completely influence their customers' shopping experience on online marketplaces. Nevertheless, 75 percent of B2B retailers have decided to integrate external sales platforms into their e-commerce strategy, true to the motto: Sell where the customer is.

• As a result, 69 percent have joined Amazon, once a purely B2C marketplace.
• Twenty-six percent sell via the Chinese sales platform Alibaba or Ali Express.
• Twenty-one percent offer their products via the marketplace pioneer eBay.

Forty-five percent of B2B retailers are not flying blind here, but analyze their competitors' offerings on a monthly basis. This allows them to align their own sales strategy more precisely, even on an external sales platform.

Social Media in Demand

Of the study participants from the B2B sector, 48 percent say that social media is essential for their business. The aim here is to arouse interest in products, but also to encourage direct purchases. Popular formats include

• product images (60 percent),
• short videos (57 percent), and
• stories (48 percent).

This is a partly automated translation of this german article.