For many people, B2B is a paradox. Although it promotes clever innovations, it does many of its processes the traditional way. B2B does experience dramatic economic growth but is a bit late in making an online presence. With the many changes through the years, can you expect some marketing trends to rub off onto B2B eCommerce as the sector stays up to date?
B2B eCommerce trends for 2021
B2B companies cannot miss out on the opportunities online presence brings. Likewise, B2B companies cannot ignore the innovations and benefits they can gain from sector-specific eCommerce platforms. More B2B platforms will come out as moving to online transactions and exploring online markets become more prevalent.
Increased use of B2B eCommerce platforms
These days, customers want the ease of going online to make a purchase. While the purchasing method may be different, B2B has to offer convenience and a superior customer experience. Thus, they need a robust b2b eCommerce platform that is flexible, scalable, easy to install, and a breeze to use.
Personalization
This has been very effective in B2C environments for several years now. Recently, it is becoming a part of the B2B eCommerce landscape. Being on the traditional side, B2B customers still prefer to receive personalized messages rather than random target consumers. Therefore, B2B companies should include personalization as part of their marketing strategies.
Cybersecurity
Any person who goes online is concerned about cybersecurity, which remains a constant threat. Office environments are not as susceptible because their firewalls and other security programs are not vulnerable. With the move to a virtual setting, more companies became easy targets for cybercriminals. 2020 was the busiest year on record for cyber attacks on UK businesses, according to a specialist internet service provider mentioned in an ITPro article. Each UK firm faced 686,961 hacking attempts on average last year, a 20% increase over 2019. Businesses today must beef up their security protocols and secure all their channels, mainly if their workforce is distributed.
Self-service feature
Although B2B firms are traditionalists, they are not available all the time for meetings and phone calls in the sense that they conduct business through communication with sales reps. Some B2B firms now prefer to complete their orders without talking with a sales agent. Since they create an account on their suppliers’ website, they can repeat orders on their own when the supplier website has a self-service feature.
Progressive web applications
More B2B eCommerce sites are introducing progressive web applications (PWA). The program allows websites to work effectively through all devices without downloading and installing the app. It increases the efficiency and speed of the site. For mobile devices, the loading of websites is faster than average mobile sites. PWA reaches consumers across all mobile devices using different operating systems using a single application.
There are other B2B eCommerce trends for this year. By order of priority, these are the most applicable. But it should not stop you from looking at different trends that can improve the efficiency of your system.
Source: https://www.mikegingerich.com/blog/b2b-ecommerce-trends-in-2021-that-are-worth-knowing/
- https://www.mikegingerich.com/
- Mike Gingerich
- United States
