How Digital B2B Reflects Changing Behavior

Your B2B customers behave more and more like B2C shoppers every year. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. After all, your buyers are also consumers, using the same efficient online tools B2C eCommerce has perfected. Consequently, digital B2B should be part of all B2B sellers’ capabilities.

At heart, B2B customers drive the shift to digital B2B away from traditional methods. We’re talking in broad strokes here. B2B has long pivoted on sales reps to complete sales and will continue to do so. If global B2B eCommerce reaches $1.2 trillion by 2021, as one research estimates it will, this still will only account for 13% of the entire B2B market.

In other words, B2B eCommerce mirrors the trends in the B2C market. Brick-and-mortar shopping still accounts for most B2C sales, but the growth is in eCommerce. That means sales reps will remain the chief transaction point

Digital B2B: Beyond the Sales Funnel

However, research over the past four years shows how buyers rely on digital B2B more.

According to a May 2017 report from Forrester, Buyers Continue on the Path Toward Independence, buyers want to shop on their own. In 2015, 21% of surveyed buyers preferred talking to a sales rep to get information about a product. In 2017, it’s only 16%. The percentage that preferred gathering information online went from 53% to 68% in the same time frame.

Andy Hoar, the firm’s top researcher in the field, described the trend as a move away from traditional, linear B2B sales funnels.

“We call it more of a journey,” Hoar said during a recent podcast. “What we’ve noticed in the last three years is that the journey has become more complex, customers have become more fickle, and there are more touch-points.”

These touch-points are where buyers seek information before making a purchase.

B2B buyers typically start their research with websites that offer the broadest selection, detailed product information, and credibility. They will comparison-shop on marketplaces, and they will look for reviews on social media.

Digital B2B means adding to the traditional sales nurture pipeline efforts, such as email campaigns, product reviews and, of course, your sales team.

It means being prepared to let customers buy when and how they want including eCommerce websites and online B2B marketplaces.

Where Digital B2B Starts and ends