B2B ecommerce gains momentum and sales

B2B ecommerce continues to become an even more mainstream channel for business organizations of all sizes, says a new report from DynamicWeb and Sapio Research.

The survey of 403 companies with annual revenue of at least $20 million and located in the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden finds that 78% of organizations have an ecommerce site or digital self-service portal.

64% of companies also plan on increasing their ecommerce investment this year while on average about 52% of all sales are digital. “The results paint a picture of a market alive not only to the immediate revenue opportunities ecommerce represents, but to a raft of broader competitive advantages which ambitious organizations can capitalize on in 2023 and beyond,” the report says.

Other findings include:

• The impact of ecommerce extends beyond transactional benefits within the purchase process, and this is reflected in the channels by which businesses receive orders. Online websites are the most popular channel for sales, with 64% of companies with 500 or more employees citing it as the source from which they receive the most orders. By comparison, 49% of businesses with less than 500 employees cited online websites as their top sales channel.
• 83% of companies consider an omnichannel approach as important for their overall sales and marketing strategy.
• 59% of respondents use their ecommerce portal to assist sales representatives.
• More than half (51%) of firms now sell via online marketplaces.
• Businesses using online marketplaces generate half of their business that way and expect those sales to increase by around 40% in the coming year.
• B2B buyers increasingly expect a consumer-grade experience from their purchase experience, including the option to use mobile devices. 72% of firms have responded to the growth in demand for browsing, researching, and buying on mobile devices by adding more tools and features.
• 59% of companies are using a product information management system (PIM) to help manage product information.

“Customer experience is the new battlefield for many B2B firms, and ecommerce – with its potential for 24/7 availability and personalization – is proving a valuable weapon in an organization’s arsenal,” the report says.