B2B E-Commerce

B2B2C (business to business to consumer) is a business modelbusiness model where a company sells their product or service in partnership with another company to an end customer. In this business model, the end customer understands that they are buying a product or using a service from the company that initiates the product or service, which differs from the practice of selling products under a white label.

B2Bs also planned to invest in web analytics or business intelligencebusiness intelligence (51%), email marketing systems (49%), and B2B ecommerce platforms (38%) by 2022. According to Episerver’s B2B Digital Experiences Report 2019, 60% of B2B enterprises said they were likely to use AI to replace human workers for marketing functions by 2022.

According to StatistaStatista, compared to before the outbreak of COVID-19, sales fulfilled through online channels increased among small and medium business-to-business companies. A study conducted in the UK revealed that small and medium businesses (SMB) selling products and services to other companies generated 19% of their revenue through e-commerce before COVID-19, while the share rose to 25% during the pandemic. However, in the United States, the e-commerce share of revenue reported by small- and middle-sized companies was significantly lower than the average values exhibited by all the surveyed B2B sellers.

Forrester Research indicated that B2B e-commerce was one of the fastest-growing segments for new and established companies in 2019. The research firm also estimated that in the United States, B2B e-commerce will reach $1.8 trillion and account for 17% of all B2B sales in the U.S. by 2023. In addition, Forrester ResearchForrester Research found that 74% of B2B buyers conduct research online before making a purchase. The devices used to make purchases include smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

In addition, the firm projects the supplier-oriented B2B e-commerce model to register a CAGR over 15% from 2021 to 2028. The supplier-oriented B2B model aims to help customers collect information about suppliers in unfamiliar regions or countries. For instance, the multinational computer technology company DellDell sells over 85% of its computers to businesses through a supplier-oriented model.

The research firm also claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the B2B e-commerce market as consumers engaged in more online shoppingonline shopping. Overall, the pandemic had resulted in an increase in the number of online orders, consumer behavior changes, supply chain disruptions, and closure of physical stores. While retail sales declined in 2020, e-commerce sales witnessed growth. According to the firm, the pandemic outbreak had motivated some businesses to migrate to online platforms to cater to customers worldwide.

• B2B customers desire the same level of personalized service as they receive in B2CB2C channels.

Distributors work with manufacturers to bring visibility to the goods they are producing. In an e-commerce model, the logistics of the sale happen online, often through an e-commerce platform. Digital distributionDigital distribution creates a greater opportunity for growth. Just as other B2B models, distributors strive to shorten the lead time from sale to delivery and for improvement in customer experience.

Asia Pacific was a dominant regional market within the B2B space, having secured over 60% of the overall revenue share in 2020. An increase in the number of B2B vendors contributed to e-commerce growth in the region, among other factors. GVR also anticipates North America to register strong growth over the forecast period as the prevalence of large companies such as AmazonAmazon, eBay, and others has already established strong B2B sales channels in the region. GVR also proposes that advances in AI and cloud technology will further help drive customer experience and create avenues for additional growth in the e-commerce market.

North America constituted approximately 14% of the global B2B e-commerce revenue in 2020. Grand View ResearchGrand View Research posited that business buyers in the region have adopted e-commerce for procurements and that a significant portion of B2B sales in North America involved reorders and straightforward transactions with customers requiring no value-added services (VAS).

Asia Pacific was a dominant regional market within the B2B space, having secured over 60% of the overall revenue share in 2020. An increase in the number of B2B vendors contributed to e-commerce growth in the region, among other factors. GVR also anticipates North America to register strong growth over the forecast period as the prevalence of large companies such as Amazon, eBayeBay, and others has already established strong B2B sales channels in the region. GVR also proposes that advances in AI and cloud technology will further help drive customer experience and create avenues for additional growth in the e-commerce market.

FinancesOnline has collated and published survey data pertaining to B2B e-commerce from various sources, including Accenture, Demand Gen Report, McKinsey & CompanyMcKinsey & Company, Content Marketing Institute, and more. Among the collated data are the following findings:

In response to a digital experience survey conducted by EpiserverEpiserver in 2019, 41% of B2B customers said self-service functionality would make it easier to do business online. However, self-service functionality was low on B2B leaders' list of priorities in 2020. Instead, the top website feature and functionality investments B2B leaders said their companies were looking to adapt in 2020 with personalized content (36%) and improving the mobile experience of their websites (33%).

DHL claimed that the outbreak of COVID-19 contributed to driving digital transformation and significantly accelerated Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and B2B e‐commerce growth, adding that millennials who are professional B2B decision makers and accustomed to technology are its main drivers. According to DHL, millennials accounted for 73% of all professional B2B purchasing decisions. Furthermore, the company calculated that the B2C e‐commerce volumes within the DHL ExpressDHL Express network increased in 2020 by approximately 40%, compared to 2019.

Forrester Research indicated that B2B e-commerce was one of the fastest-growing segments for new and established companies in 2019. The research firm also estimated that in the United StatesUnited States, B2B e-commerce will reach $1.8 trillion and account for 17% of all B2B sales in the U.S. by 2023. In addition, Forrester Research found that 74% of B2B buyers conduct research online before making a purchase. The devices used to make purchases include smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

In response to a digital experience survey conducted by Episerver in 2019, 41% of B2B customers said self-service functionality would make it easier to do business online. However, self-service functionality was low on B2B leaders' list of priorities in 2020. Instead, the top website feature and functionality investments B2B leaders said their companies were looking to adapt in 2020 werewith personalized content (36%) and improving the mobile experience of their websitewebsites (33%).

According to research conducted by Accenture Strategy in 2017, 73% of B2B executives said that customer expectations for personalized experiences have increased significantly over the years. As sales environments are becoming more digital and less reliant on human interaction, opportunities to sell are coming from less traditional places. Based on the research findings, customers wereare self-reliant, cautious, social media-driven, and demanding. The research found that:

B2B e-commerce platforms offer a variety of features and advantages such as:

The research firm also claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the B2B e-commerce market as consumers engaged in more online shopping. Overall, the pandemic had resulted in an increase in the number of online orders, consumer behavior changes, supply chain disruptions, and closure of physical stores. While retail sales declined in 2020, e-commerce sales witnessed growth. According to the firm, the pandemic outbreak had motivated some businesses to migrate to online platforms to cater to customers worldwide.

The 2021 B2B E-commerce Market Report by Digital Commerce 360 points out that an increasing number of business buyers are doing less purchasing by phone, fax, and manual transactions, and more online. According to the analysis contained in the report, in 2020 the total B2B electronic sales grew by 9.6%, compared to over 10% in the previous years. In addition, sales on B2B e-commerce sites grew by 10% to $1.39 trillion in 2021 from $1.26 trillion in 2019. Combined with e-procurement sales, B2B e-commerce sales in 2020 increased by 11.8% to $2.19 trillion.

ResearchAndMarkets.com's report on the global business-to-business e-commerce market size estimates that it will reach USD $20.9 trillion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 17.5% from 2020 onwards. According to the report, the intermediary-oriented deployment type segment constituted the largest market share in 2019. This had been attributed to the increasing inclination of buyers and sellers to adopt this type of deployment model.

In aA 2020 study conducted by Net Solutions, it had been revealed that 91% of B2B customers use mobile devices to search for a product, and 25% use them to make a transaction.

• AOne third of B2B buyers said that their expectations ofregarding customer experience have increased.
• The five most important factors for B2B buyers evaluating solutions providers were: features or functionalities (73%), pricing (72%), reviews (59%), deployment time or ease of use (56%), and the provider’s ability to solve a pain point (47%).
• Improving aspects of customer experience such as front-end sales and post-sale support can increase revenue by 5% to 10%.
• 91% of executives said that they expect their business partners to carry out a more significant function in their operations.
• According to 60% of organizations, external parties influenced 35% of their annual revenue.
• 63% of B2B enterprises have collaborated with start-ups and digital ventures to improve their operations.
• 6% of companies in the B2B industry are putting more resources into building their network.
• Some of the key B2B marketing strategies that companies use today are: creating social media content (95%), creating blog posts or short articles (89%), sending email newsletters (81%), hosting in-person events (73%, and publishing videos (71%).