Contents tagged with B2B E-Commerce

  • E-commerce essential to engaging millennial B2B buyers

    April 04, 2016
    More than half of Millennials prefer to research and make business purchases online.

    At the rate business-to-business buying is migrating online, it's hard to imagine it moving any faster. However, new research suggests this could be just the beginning of an e-procurement explosion. 

    A growing millennial workforce According to B2B marketing firm Sacunas, a new class of millennial buyers (aged 20-35) has been the driving force behind the growing B2B e-commerce movement. A recent survey by the firm shows that more than half of millennials in charge of procurement primarily use search engines, supplier websites and social media platforms to conduct research and make purchases for their companies. Of those who do - a whopping 82 percent access these channels via their mobile phone. 

    While this may not come as much of a surprise (millennials never knew … more

  • How to choose the perfect B2B e-commerce software

    March 17, 2016
    As you build your e-commerce site, ask yourself these questions.

    With the e-commerce market surging, many B2B companies are scrambling to get in on the action. As a result, even those who have an established online presence are feeling the pressure to improve their websites and stay ahead of the new competition. In fact, Forrester research predicts spending on e-commerce software to nearly double by 2019, reaching more than $2 billion before the decade comes to a close.

    To make sure your company's investment pays off, follow these four steps as you shop for your next e-commerce solution:

    1. Determine what your business needs: B2B e-commerce providers offer a seemingly never-ending stream of products and services. To help narrow the field down to only the solutions that will help your business achieve its goals, make a list of the things your … more

  • 3 B2B ecommerce myths debunked

    February 25, 2016
    The B2B ecommerce market is expected to surpass $1 trillion by 2020.

    All too often, business-to-business companies deciding whether or how to begin their foray into ecommerce do so based on assumptions and anecdotes, rather than facts.

    Here are three of the most common myths that mistakenly inform wholesalers' ecommerce strategies and the truth that lies behind them:

    You don't need to sell online  Whether they believe their customers don't want to make purchases online or that their products simply aren't suitable for online sales, many wholesalers discount the idea of setting up an ecommerce site altogether. While this may have been the case during the early days of online sales, B2B buyers are getting younger and are turning to the internet more often to conduct product research before procurement.

    "Online B2B purchasing is expected to hit $1. … more

  • B2B ecommerce buying habits revealed in Forrester survey

    January 28, 2016
    68 percent of B2B buyers use credit cards for online payments.

    For the last several years, business-to-business merchants have experienced a steady increase in ecommerce sales as buyers transition to making more of their procurements online. This migration is just getting started, according to a 2015 study by Forrester Research, with B2B ecommerce growth expected to continue to soar over the next three years.

    The study, which surveyed more than 140 business-to-business buyers during the fourth quarter of last year, found that as many as 53 percent of buyers expect to be making more than half of their purchases online by 2018, up from just 32 percent in 2015.

    More than any other factor, respondents stated that the "chief reason" they were prepared to shift their buying behavior was because ecommerce sites are open for business around the clock … more

  • Majority of B2B buyers prefer to pay the consumer way

    December 29, 2015
    50 percent of B2B buyers say their preferred payment method is a credit or debit card.

    Do you remember the first time you saw one of your grade school teachers outside of the classroom? Running into Mrs. Smith at the grocery store, it was hard to process that she led a normal life after the school bell sounded. Well, believe it or not, when the work day ends, B2B buyers are regular consumers, just like you and me. Like us, they sign into sites like Amazon.com or brand-specific ecommerce pages to do their online shopping, forgoing the B2B world of purchase orders and invoices for the B2C landscape of credit and debit cards.

    So, when it's time for work the next day, it should come as no surprise that they would rather make their business purchases using the same methods they do at home, especially considering how the rise in telecommuting and hybrid … more

  • B2B ecommerce sites have lots of room for improvement, new survey says

    December 14, 2015
    While B2B merchants have been called upon for years to make their websites more customer-friendly, a new study says they still have a

    Behind business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce's explosive growth toward becoming a $6.7 trillion market by 2020 are countless small to medium-sized wholesalers adapting to the unfamiliar landscape of online sales. Although the market as a whole will soon dwarf that of its business-to-consumer (B2C) counterparts, new research suggests B2B companies are still slow in adopting essential features that have been spurring B2C ecommerce growth for years.

    According to a study by web design and development firm Gorilla Group, 63 percent of B2B companies that sell online operate their sites on in-house technology, which can limit their ability to offer innovative features that engage online buyers.

    Looking more specifically at methods B2C retailers currently use to drive traffic and engagement … more

  • The many forms of B2B ecommerce

    December 03, 2015
    For the largest B2B companies, ecommerce takes many different forms.

    With the growing popularity of online retail in the business-to-business (B2B) market, more companies than ever are turning their attention to developing ecommerce initiatives. However, while to many small business owners this simply means creating an online store similar to those they have experienced as a consumer, there are far more ways B2B companies can employ online retailing methods to make sales.

    In fact, the 100 largest B2B companies use as many as four distinct ecommerce models to sell online to their business customers, according to research recently published in the 2016 B2B E-Commerce 300. While some manufacturers operate ecommerce sites open to the public, others create a password-protected site only for approved customers. Still other manufacturers and wholesalers sell … more

  • Strategies for B2B ecommerce checkout

    November 18, 2015
    Streamlining your checkout process can help drive conversions on your ecommerce site.

    As you design your ecommerce site, you have decisions to make at every turn. Should you include customer reviews? If so, should they appear on the same page as the product description? What kinds of product images should you include? The list could go on forever. As you make your way to the end of your design, to the bottom of your sales funnel, the decisions start to hold more weight, as they could make or break a sale. Finally, the stakes reach their peak when you hit the checkout stage. With more than two-thirds of ecommerce shopping carts abandoned without a purchase being made, fine tuning your checkout process can be a major difference maker in salvaging your site's conversion rate.

    To drive conversion on your B2B ecommerce site your checkout process must anticipate the wishes of … more

  • How to maximize the ROI on your B2B ecommerce venture

    October 06, 2015
    The B2B ecommerce market grew to be four times larger than its B2C counterpart last year.

    Last year, the U.S. B2B ecommerce market generated an estimated $1 trillion in sales, dwarfing the size of the business-to-consumer ecommerce market by a factor of four. While already massive, the B2B ecommerce market is poised to continue growing, as it stands at various stages of evolution in different industries. If your business is looking to expand its reach and improve its market share, developing an ecommerce system could be the perfect way to get a leg up on the competition. Before you get started, keep these considerations in mind to maximize the ROI on your ecommerce development project. 

    Go beyond the catalog: When building your ecommerce site, take advantage of the Web's malleability to make your buying process much more involved than merely an online … more

  • 3 reasons why your B2B ecommerce portal is struggling to attract buyers

    September 10, 2015
    Are you having trouble getting your buyers to purchase online? Here are a few signs that your ecommerce site needs some fine tuning.

    Small B2B businesses — from wedding dress manufacturers to government wholesalers to office supply distributors — are not only increasingly making the jump to the ecommerce world, but are realizing returns more quickly. Higher sales, more revenue and improved customer engagement are just a few of the tangible advantages that implementing a B2B ecommerce platform can provide any company looking to do business online.

    But we also don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that integrating a new ecommerce site into your business is like flipping a switch that suddenly yields instant success. What happens if you've deployed a brand new B2B ecommerce platform and poured a significant portion of your budget into marketing the site, but the buyers simply aren't … more