B2B sales have gone digital—and in a big way. For B2B companies, the shift towards ecommerce is a fundamental change in how business has traditionally been conducted. Traditional B2B sales had the sales representative controlling the buyer’s journey. Businesses reached out to vendors and communicated with sales reps who, in turn, pitched them on the potential solution. Yet research continuously shows that model is quickly becoming obsolete. In fact, according to research from Statista, US B2B ecommerce will generate over $3 billion in sales by 2027, up from $1.7 trillion in 2021.
With B2B ecommerce as one of the fastest-growing sales models, it is quickly becoming the new normal. A new generation of digital buyers is shifting their organizational purchasing permanently online, signaling a fundamental change to the way B2B companies conduct business. This guide covers the concept of B2B ecommerce, the difference between B2B and B2C, and 19 of the most effective B2B ecommerce strategies.
What Is B2B Ecommerce?
B2B ecommerce, or business-to-business ecommerce, refers to the sale of products or services between businesses through an online sales portal. B2B ecommerce transactions occur between manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors through company websites and online marketplaces.
Key Takeaways
- B2B ecommerce has grown exponentially over the past several years and is set to be the new normal in the B2B realm.
- While important strategic differences exist between B2B and B2C ecommerce, they are similar in the fact that customers in both areas want a seamless, personalized experience.
- To stand out in the competitive world of ecommerce, B2B companies should focus on creating an engaging, intuitive purchasing experience across channels and platforms with an emphasis on informative content.
B2B Ecommerce Strategies Explained
B2B ecommerce strategies focus on making the digital shopping experience as engaging and efficient as possible. In particular, B2B ecommerce strategies are concerned with allowing customers to manage their purchasing experience. That means providing information-rich content across platforms and channels, setting up self-service options, and ensuring that safe and secure online payments. Tactics like these ensure that the customer is supported throughout the buying journey.
How Can B2B Find New Customers and Increase Sales With Ecommerce?
Prior to deploying any marketing or sales strategies, businesses must define their ideal customer profile and buyer personas. What type of company benefits the most from a catalog of products or services? Marketing and sales strategies can drill down for tailored communications towards these types of buyers; using a more general approach can lose the message in the noise. From there, B2B companies can find new customers and increase sales through several tactics.
- Turn your website into an educational hub: The B2B buying journey is much more information-intensive than a consumer purchase. Providing relevant information across formats on your product or service, as well as the industry itself, can draw new buyers in and even convince current customers to buy more. Blogs, webinars, ebooks, videos, and podcasts are all good options to raise awareness among prospects.
- Offer discounts and promotions: Offering specials on products and services can bring in a wealth of new customers, strengthen your brand, help develop customer loyalty, and serve as a competitive differentiator.
- Create a referral program: Referrals are one of the most powerful ways to attract new customers. Ask happy customers if they would be willing to review your product or service and consider offering an incentive in return.
- Embrace search engine optimization (SEO): Using SEO strategies to ensure that your company’s online presence ranks higher in search engines than your competitors’ is critical. It ensures online visibility and easier discoverability by potential customers.
- Increase your visibility: Whether trade shows, being active on social media platforms, cold calling, emailing, affiliate marketing, or online advertising, brand recognition is critical to bringing in those new customers and increasing sales.
- Use your customer relationship management (CRM) software: CRM helps salespeople optimize their daily schedules and prioritize tasks to make sure customers are not ignored and the key prospects are contacted on time.
Lead generation in B2B sales is a difficult, time-consuming process. However, advances in technology mean that companies have innumerable ways to reach their potential customers.
Difference Between B2B and B2C Strategy
As a business model, B2B ecommerce differs significantly from its business-to-consumer (B2C) counterpart. The divergence between the two primarily occurs because of the audience and intent of the sale. Because B2B is selling to a company with long-term goals, it usually involves a longer buying cycle. Budgets are bigger, purchases are more expensive, and approvals require multiple stakeholders, meaning that buyers need longer to determine if the return on investment (ROI) is worth it. Because a contract for a B2B purchase tends to last months or even years, there is a larger emphasis put on relationship building than there is in B2C commerce.
In contrast, B2C is focused on selling a product or service to a consumer, which tends to be shorter and more transactional in nature. A B2C consumer following a brand isn't necessarily looking to build a close relationship with it. A consumer purchase can often even be based on gut feeling rather than research. A B2C marketing strategy reflects that in messaging focusing on fun or emotional factors. A B2B purchase requires evaluation from a more logical perspective, meaning that a B2B marketing approach is focused on getting the information out there needed by other businesses to make an informed purchasing decision.
However, while there are stark differences in marketing strategy, the B2C experience has begun to inform the B2B experience. Decision-makers in business purchasing decisions are also consumers outside of work. They have experienced the conveniences of B2C commerce—omnichannel organizations offering flexible payment options, well-designed websites, personalization, and a frictionless customer experience. Those trends in B2C ecommerce are quickly influencing expectations of buyers in the B2B realm, requiring that sellers up their digital commerce game.
What Are the Key Technologies Used in B2B Ecommerce?
Key technologies used in B2B ecommerce include:
- Ecommerce platform: Hosts the ecommerce website. Should be robust, scalable, and PCI-compliant.
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system: Connects the processes and data of different parts of the business through a centralized application.
- CRM system: Helps companies manage all their prospects, customers, partners, and vendors in a single place.
- Electronic funds transfer (EFT): Processes payment methods like ACH, wire transfers, credit cards, and electronic checks.
- Electronic data interchange (EDI) or order management technology: Allows for the electronic exchange of business documents like purchase orders and invoices.
- Online transaction processing (OLTP) or payment gateway technology: Tracks, records, and processes ecommerce transactions.
- Supply chain management system: Oversees the flow of goods from suppliers through manufacturing and into customers’ hands.
- Inventory management system: Tracks inventory levels, sales, and shipments.
- Mobile commerce: Facilitates user-friendly experiences on mobile phones and tablets.
- Artificial intelligence (AI): AI personalizes product recommendations and creates self-service options like chatbots.
The 4 Types of B2B Ecommerce
B2B ecommerce encompasses a wide range of online sales models where businesses sell products or services to other businesses. These models vary in their target audience, business structure, and types of facilitated transactions. Understanding the different types of B2B ecommerce is crucial for businesses looking to optimize their online sales strategy. Here are four common approaches.
Wholesale Ecommerce
Wholesale ecommerce involves selling products in bulk to retailers or other businesses at a discounted price. This model often requires minimum order quantities and is focused on building relationships with recurring buyers. A clothing manufacturer that sells large quantities of apparel to various boutique stores through an online platform is an example of wholesale ecommerce.
B2B2C (Business-to-Business-to-Consumer)
B2B2C combines elements of both B2B and B2C, where a business sells products or services to another business, which then sells them directly to consumers. This model allows businesses to leverage the expertise and distribution networks of other companies to reach a broader audience. An example is a software company partnering with a computer manufacturer to preinstall its software on new computers, which are then sold to individual consumers.
Distributor-Based Ecommerce
Distributor-based ecommerce involves a distributor selling products from multiple manufacturers to businesses through an online platform. This model simplifies the purchasing process for businesses by offering a wide variety of products from different brands in one place. For example, consider a distributor of electrical components selling products from various manufacturers to electrical contractors via an ecommerce site.
Manufacturer Ecommerce
Manufacturer ecommerce entails manufacturers selling their products directly to businesses through their own online stores. This model allows manufacturers to have more control over their branding, pricing, and customer relationships. An example of manufacturer ecommerce is a tool manufacturer selling directly to construction companies and contractors through its website, bypassing traditional distribution channels.
What Are the Stages of a B2B Ecommerce Business?
Establishing a successful B2B ecommerce business requires careful planning and execution across various stages. Each stage focuses on different aspects of building, optimizing, and scaling the online platform to meet the unique needs of business customers. By systematically addressing each of the following six steps, companies can create a robust ecommerce presence that drives growth and fosters long-term relationships.
- Identify goals and target audience: Clearly define the goals of the ecommerce platform and types of ideal business customers. Understanding this target audience’s needs, preferences, and pain points informs tailored offerings for a more relevant online experience. This targeted approach helps focus resources and improve conversion rates.
- Choose an ecommerce platform: Select an ecommerce platform that is specifically designed for B2B sales, offering features such as custom pricing, bulk ordering, and account management. Ensure that the platform integrates seamlessly with existing systems, including ERP and CRM, to streamline operations. The right ecommerce platform will support complex B2B transactions and workflows.
- Integrate your supply chain: Connecting ecommerce platforms with supply chain management systems can automate inventory updates, order fulfillment, and shipping processes. Real-time visibility into inventory levels and order status will improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. This integration guarantees accurate information and reduces errors.
- Invest in a strong customer experience: Create a user-friendly website with clear navigation, detailed product information, and easy-to-use search functionality. Offer personalized support and self-service options to enhance the overall customer experience. A positive online experience encourages repeat purchases and builds loyalty.
- Expand marketing efforts: Targeted marketing campaigns can reach desired business customers through channels such as email, SEO, and industry-specific advertising. Focus on providing valuable content and building relationships to generate leads and drive sales. Effective marketing efforts increase visibility and attract new customers.
- Scale your sales: As a B2B ecommerce business grows, focus on optimizing processes and expanding product offerings to meet increasing demand. Invest in automation and technology to improve efficiency and maintain a high level of customer service. Scaling sales requires continuous improvement and adaptation.
19 Best B2B Ecommerce Strategies for 2023
In order to take advantage of the immense value of B2B ecommerce, companies must focus on building an effective digital strategy. Unfortunately, the path towards ecommerce is not simply creating a website and forgetting about it. B2B ecommerce requires continuous outreach, optimization, and strategic tweaks. Here are 19 of the best B2B ecommerce strategies to set a company up for success.
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Fast Load Times
Patience is not a virtue in the realm of B2B ecommerce. Slow-loading websites lead to frustrated customers and lost sales. Be sure to optimize images, leverage browser caching, and consider using a content delivery network (CDN) to ensure that a site loads quickly and provides a seamless experience. A CDN is a geographically distributed network of servers that caches static content, such as images, videos, and website files, and delivers it to users from the nearest server. This reduces latency, improves website loading times, and enhances the user experience by making sure content is delivered quickly and efficiently, no matter the user location.
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CRO
CRO, or conversion rate optimization, refers to the practice of enhancing a website to drive visitors towards a desired action. In B2B ecommerce, the intent of the CRO process is to increase the percentage of website visitors who make a purchase on the site. CRO strategies include improving product photography and descriptions, delivering a mobile-friendly experience, and creating an easy, intuitive checkout process.
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Expanded Payment Options
The proliferation of B2C ecommerce means that buyers are comfortable with digital payment options—and they want that payment flexibility in the B2B space as well. Offering multiple payment options can increase conversions, minimize abandoned carts, appeal to a wider demographic, and provide an easier checkout experience. In addition to the traditional purchase order method, consider offering other options like credit cards, ACH transfers, and wire transfers.
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Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful tool for sharing a business’ ecommerce offerings. An email marketing campaign is both low cost and low effort—but can provide innumerable benefits in nurturing leads, keeping people engaged, building brand awareness, and increasing sales. To capitalize on email marketing, ensure that emails are mobile-friendly, have enticing subject lines, and are segmented to reach the most relevant audience.
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Virtual Reality
Virtual and augmented reality options—such as virtual try-on solutions (VTOs), 360-degree videos, and 3D models—are becoming increasingly popular in the B2B ecommerce space. Virtual reality has been proven to provide a distinct competitive advantage by allowing for deeper personalization, effective product presentation, and improved relationships with B2B customers.
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Frictionless Customer Experience
When B2C ecommerce is largely a frictionless customer experience, B2B customers then expect the same for their business purchases. Offering a frictionless shopping experience means identifying and solving any bottlenecks that may impede the customer from completing their journey. Friction points that need to be addressed by a business typically include a lack of real-time inventory, sites that don’t follow B2B ecommerce website design best practices, and a lack of self-service or customer service help for when issues arise.
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Referral Economy
The referral economy is a system where companies can generate new sales through existing customers sharing their positive experience with the business. Common referral types include word of mouth, reviews, and social media. By implementing a referral program— where current customers are incentivized to share their experience—businesses can capitalize on this effective and low-cost way to attract new B2B ecommerce customers.
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Personalization
Tailoring the customer experience is a crucial differentiator in the B2B ecommerce space. Buyers want an experience similar to their B2C shopping journey, such as customization based on user behavior, past purchases, and other data. Businesses can incorporate personalization into their B2B ecommerce initiative by offering personalized product recommendations and pricing, as well as setting up corporate accounts with multiple user role functionalities to make the sales process easier for B2B customers.
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Security and Fraud Prevention
Unfortunately, ecommerce can prove to be a hot target for cyber-attacks due to the amount of personal and financial data involved. B2B companies in the ecommerce world must be continuously evolving their security measures to protect their customers’ data and prevent fraud. Effective tactics to prevent fraud include manually reviewing risky or unusual orders, being PCI-compliant, and using verification software to automatically flag orders where a customer’s billing, shipping, or card details don’t line up.
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Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing isn’t just reserved for the B2C sphere. With so many people trusting the recommendations of individuals, having a key leader in your industry endorse your product or service can be an immensely valuable tactic. Remember that unlike B2C influencers, a B2B influencer’s expertise is more important than their follower count. Thus, the best strategy is to find a credible subject matter expert with high authority within an industry.
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Omnichannel
These days, buyers across all geographies and sectors expect a full omnichannel experience, with respondents to McKinsey’s “2024 B2B Pulse Survey” using an average of 10 ways to interact across all steps of their buyer’s journey. The top three most frequently used touchpoints are a company’s website, in-person sales, and interactions via video conference. Other interactions include email, mobile apps, e-procurement portals, and online chat. An omnichannel approach connects all these channels to engage current and prospective customers. Customers can shop online from a desktop or mobile device, via phone, or in a brick-and-mortar location, and the experience will be seamless and consistent—particularly during crucial seasons, such as major ecommerce holidays. In order to facilitate an omnichannel B2B ecommerce journey, customer, product, and sales data all need to be integrated.
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Privacy
Data can be a huge component of success for B2B ecommerce. It allows them to target customers effectively, personalize experiences, and create a frictionless shopping journey. However, customers are also acutely aware of the vulnerability of shared information, enhancing the role that data privacy plays in the B2B ecommerce market. Companies need to prove their trustworthiness to their customers through responsible data protection practices, like only asking for relevant information, implementing firewalls and encryption practices, and strictly following applicable state data privacy laws.
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Marketplaces
A B2B marketplace refers to a digital platform where businesses gather to carry out commerce. Marketplaces have become a key avenue for customers to research their options and connect with multiple brands and products at once, making them a critical channel for new lead generation. Prominent B2B marketplaces include eWorldTrade, Alibaba, Rakuten, and Global Sources.
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Social Commerce
Social commerce refers to the use of social media to drive sales—a practice becoming increasingly integral to B2B ecommerce. Creating product pages, running ads with links to a company’s website, and creating carousels of product photos with links on social networks can all help influence purchasing decisions.
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Self-Service
While customers want customer service available for the truly pernicious issues that may arise, the majority want to be able to handle the simple issues on their own. Self-service features like chatbots, online scheduling, FAQ sections, and real-time order tracking capabilities empower customers to take charge of their shopping experience. And the benefits are felt by both sides: Customers gain convenience, control, and confidence while the business saves time and expense in customer support.
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Video Content
According to a LinkedIn survey of 1,577 B2B marketing leaders, 59% identified video as the most effective marketing channel, second only to in-person events at 60%.There are plenty of video content options to boost a brand, including product videos, commercials, webinars, explainers, Q&As, and interviews.
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Mobile Commerce
Mobile ecommerce continues to take hold in the B2B space. In fact, the B2B mobile commerce market is projected to reach $84.3 billion by 2032, up from just $19.6 billion in 2023, according to Introspective Market Research. With the rise in mobile usage, facilitating a seamless experience for those using cellphones and tablets is imperative. Companies that build a mobile-first website can drive sales and build loyalty—all while making purchasing more flexible and convenient for the customer.
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Speedy Fulfillment
Compared to B2C fulfillment, B2B fulfillment tends to be more complex. While usually lower in volume, they tend to be larger, bulkier, and, at times, subject to strict regulation. These factors can drive up both expense and fulfillment times. However, speeding up those times can provide a distinct competitive advantage in the B2B ecommerce space, as well as ensure that all service-level agreements are met. Order fulfillment can be sped up through software that allows for warehouse optimization and effective inventory management.
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ERP
ERP integration is critical to the success of a B2B ecommerce venture. A business running on multiple, disparate systems or conducting processes manually is not going to be able to create the desired seamless customer experience. An ERP system provides the integrated data, insights, and efficiency needed to compete in today’s marketplace.
A Modern Ecommerce Solution With NetSuite
NetSuite’s SuiteCommerce solution helps B2B companies deliver intuitive and information-rich ecommerce experiences. Merchants can create sites that engage business buyers, maximize their purchasing efforts, and allow them to manage all aspects of their business relationship. Cloud-based, mobile-optimized, and easily managed, Netsuite’s complete solution gives sellers the flexibility and adaptability needed to keep pace with their business while providing smooth integrations across ecommerce, inventory and order management, marketing, customer service, and financials.
B2B ecommerce represents a fundamental shift in how businesses conduct transactions with each other, moving from traditional sales representative-led models to digital-first approaches. This transformation is driven by changing buyer expectations, with business customers now demanding the same seamless, personalized, and convenient experiences they encounter in B2C environments. To succeed in today’s B2B space, companies must implement strategic ecommerce initiatives that include mobile optimization, omnichannel capabilities, personalization, self-service options, and integrated systems that connect all aspects of the business. By embracing these strategies and investing in comprehensive solutions, B2B organizations can create engaging digital experiences that meet the demands of modern buyers and drive growth, improve efficiency, and establish a competitive advantage.
B2B Ecommerce Strategy FAQs
What do B2B customers want?
B2B customers are heavily influenced by their experiences as consumers, meaning that they want many of the components of the B2B process to be similar to B2C. They want a frictionless, customized buying experience where companies meet their specific needs, make relevant product recommendations, and deliver the right level of engagement throughout the buying journey. They also want omnichannel capabilities to provide relevant information and fulfill customer needs across channels and platforms. The B2B ecommerce experience should be efficient, easy, and flexible.
What are the advantages of B2B ecommerce?
B2B ecommerce offers numerous advantages, including expanded market reach, frictionless customer experiences, personalized interactions, streamlined operations through technology integration, and the ability to meet evolving buyer expectations for digital self-service options.
How big is the B2B ecommerce market?
According to research from Statista, US B2B ecommerce will generate over $3 billion in sales by 2027, up from $1.7 trillion in 2021.
