3 Realities Shaping The Future Of B2B Ecommerce

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The B2B buying journey has historically been both high-touch and highly complex. But the ease and personalization found on consumer-facing ecommerce sites, especially robust marketplaces like  Amazon  and  Walmart , are simply too good to ignore. As a result, B2B buyers are increasingly demand B2C-level experiences for their business needs, a need that is driving organizations to level up their digital experiences.

In fact,  more than three-quarters  of B2B companies claim their buyers expect a digitized sales process, according to  Deloitte Digital  research. However, nearly the same amount ( 71% ) of respondents describe their processes as "moderately to extremely manual."

"This disparity between expectations and reality will continue to drive businesses to invest in B2B commerce and related technologies," said Ram Chandel, Global Commerce Practice Leader at Deloitte Digital in an interview with  Retail TouchPoints . "Additionally, companies already in a more advanced state of maturity are realizing their business needs are evolving, and their foundational technology is becoming outdated to support growing business demands."

These  two  realities are converging and inspiring manufacturers, wholesalers and mass marketplaces alike to modernize their tech stacks and implement more robust customer experiences that are more aligned with modern B2C behaviors.

Chandel offered additional insights on the evolution of B2B ecommerce and the new drivers for CX success in a recent Retail TouchPoints report. Key takeaways from the conversation include:

The core demographics of the modern B2B buying committee have changed, with most of the U.S. workforce now dominated by millennials and Gen Z coming up the ranks. These consumers "came of age with smartphones in hand and laptops in backpacks," Chandel explained.

"Therefore, the B2B buying experience is not just about shopping and checking out," Chandel said. "Customers are looking for end-to-end self-service, using the channel and time of their choice for capabilities such as product discovery, configuration, pricing, quoting, ordering, reordering, order tracking and post-purchase service in a seamless user experience."