When digital marketing and eCommerce exploded into the retail market, a considerable amount of the conversation revolved around B2C customers and their purchases. However, the B2B eCommerce landscape has begun to rapidly evolve, driven by advancements in technology and changes in buyer expectations. The growing competition in this space compels B2B businesses to find new ways to engage their target audiences so that they can grow their market share.
eBook
PDF: Why BigCommerce Is Taking Over B2B eCommerce
A few trends now dominate B2B eCommerce as companies explore ways to enhance their ability to engage B2B buyers. Let’s look more closely at these B2B eCommerce strategies and how you can create a B2B digital transformation. You’ll also learn how our B2B eCommerce services could help your company adapt to the latest B2B online marketplace trends.
B2B eCommerce Trends #1: Personalized Buying Experiences for B2B Customers
Personalization has dominated the conversation surrounding B2C for a while, but it has also begun to take hold in B2B companies, making it part of the future of B2B eCommerce. With personalization, companies can create individualized experiences that promote conversion by speaking to the specific interests and needs of individual buyers.
These personalized experiences improve customer satisfaction, and buyers find it easier to get answers to their questions. They can also see how your products and services meet their particular needs. A desirable B2B platform could help you enhance personalization.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning also play critical roles in delivering personalized content. These technologies can help identify the types of content that will interest a given lead or site visitor so that you deliver the most appropriate material for them. This enables you to create tailored recommendations and workflows.
B2B eCommerce Trends #2: Rise of B2B Marketplaces
B2B online marketplace trends have had a major impact on the B2B digital space. Places like Amazon Business and Alibaba have created platforms that allow companies to promote their products and services to fellow businesses. As these marketplaces become more popular, companies are increasingly integrating them into their business models or even building their own marketplaces for specific industries. This helps companies promote their products to wider audiences and draw in more potential buyers.
B2B eCommerce Trends #3: The Role of Mobile in B2B eCommerce
People live on their mobile devices. Whether they are scanning their phones while traveling or using tablets on the couch, the mobile internet has become a dominant means of engaging with buyers. B2B shoppers want to learn more about their pain points and find potential solutions on these devices, which means that it’s crucial to develop mobile content for business users who are conducting research. Creating ways for these leads to take their research a step further, such as demonstrations and conversations with salespeople, can also help you capitalize on these opportunities.
To enhance mobile experiences, you’ll need to focus on a few main areas during the development process:
- Emphasize responsive design: You want your website to look great regardless of the device that a person uses to view it.
- Mobile apps: Smartphone and tablet software can simplify the process of engaging with your business. Apps may help you provide more personalized experiences, such as helping buyers track their purchases.
- Simplified workflows: When people view your content on mobile electronics, make sure all the tasks they might want to complete can be easily accessed on these devices. Remember that people use their fingers instead of mice or trackballs, for example, and it can be harder to type.
See our case study to discover how we helped US Open Shop boost revenue by improving its website for both mobile and desktop users.
B2B eCommerce Trends #4: Automation and AI for Efficient Operations
In addition to delivering personalized content, AI and automation have begun to play increasingly important roles in overall eCommerce trends for B2B sellers. For instance, customer service chatbots have become a common way to assist buyers. Chatbots enable businesses to answer quick questions day or night while freeing up live agents to solve more complex problems.
Automation could reduce the number of manual tasks that you and your team must accomplish, such as data entry. This improves accuracy and may speed up the sales cycle. Buyers appreciate improved customer service, which can result in greater engagement and more revenue.
Platforms like BigCommerce and Shopify can be excellent resources for businesses that want to put these capabilities to work.
B2B eCommerce Trends #5: Headless Commerce for B2B Scalability
Headless commerce works to separate the front end of your business operations and the back end, which includes all of your company’s data. This results in greater flexibility for commercial organizations. For businesses interested in capitalizing on the powerful potential of digital B2B marketing, it creates a more scalable environment where companies can quickly adapt to changing needs.
Conclusion
As your business looks for new ways to engage potential customers, it’s important to stay current with all the latest eCommerce trends for B2B sellers. When technology improves, online B2B companies increasingly seize new opportunities that had previously been dominated by B2C organizations. For example, they have begun to employ personalization, automation, and mobile optimization to attract new customers.
If you want to take your B2B eCommerce business to the next level and get ready for the future of B2B eCommerce, it’s time to learn more about the B2B services offered by Groove Commerce. Schedule a consultation to find out what your company can achieve with these B2B eCommerce strategies. You could also request a free eCommerce website audit.
