Forrester's US B2B report predicts that e-commerce will grow from $780 billion to $1.13 trillion over the five years between 2015 and 2020. It will constitute more than 12% of the total B2B market at that time. The B2B buying habits of business purchasers are already heavily influenced by the capabilities of one-line options. The report also points out that nearly three-quarters of B2B buyers are conducting at least half of their buying online.
Any company that is looking to expand its reach should be asking the question, "What is B2B e-commerce?" When wholesalers and distributors reach their max capacity with internal teams and outside sales reps, companies have a hard time growing their business. The answer to growth may very well lie in expanding their business to business (B2B) model. By expanding into an e-commerce model, small businesses who can’t afford a lot of overhead expense are able to expand their markets.
Business-to-business commerce is the first idea that jumps into people's minds when they think of how a wholesaler or distributor operates. Some examples are looking for local companies to get supplies, looking at warehouses to hold your inventory, finding a retailer to provide a market, or sourcing shipping companies to send your products. B2B e-commerce is the transfer of that normal operation from traditional routes to ones conducted over the Web. It's when businesses find suppliers and make purchases on-line without using the traditional means of placing orders with a sales rep or over the phone or fax with a customer service rep in the home office.
For years, B2C e-commerce had surged while the B2B version had either been stagnant or was growing only slowly. At first, wholesalers and other B2B suppliers didn't believe that e-commerce was important to their customers, and this was a big reason for the disparity. Once they realized that e-commerce could bring in more wholesale business and keep loyal customers, B2B companies began to put some actual effort into adding online ordering capabilities to their offerings. Even then, however, investment was lacking and improvements have been slow in coming. These attitudes could prove to be detrimental in today's world. But the mindset is now changing.
The B2B industry still struggles to find better ways to connect with buyers after so many years of more formal relationships. Things have slowly started to change with B2B buyer connections in the world of eCommerce, though the buying process still isn't always made easy enough. Some B2B companies don’t realize what customers need in a B2B order site and sometimes make placing orders too confusing of a process. Also, just "buy and go" ruins the ability to develop relationships between you and the buyer.
B2B eCommerce is becoming one of the most efficient ways for wholesalers to reach customers. Now, even small companies can afford to benefit from the opportunity that B2B eCommerce software offers. Giving your customers and reps an online order management system will ensure your business is poised for growth.