The B2B buying journey has historically been both high-touch and highly complex. But the ease and personalization found on consumer-facing ecommerce sites, especially robust marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart, are simply too good to ignore. As a result, B2B buyers are increasingly demand B2C-level experiences for their business needs, a need that is driving organizations to level up their digital experiences.
In fact, more than three-quarters of B2B companies claim their buyers expect a digitized sales process, according to Deloitte Digital research. However, nearly the same amount (71%) of respondents describe their processes as “moderately to extremely manual.”
“This disparity between expectations and reality will continue to drive businesses to invest in B2B commerce and related technologies,” said Ram Chandel, Global Commerce Practice Leader at Deloitte Digital in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “Additionally, companies already in a more advanced state of maturity are realizing their business needs are evolving, and their foundational technology is becoming outdated to support growing business demands.”
These two realities are converging and inspiring manufacturers, wholesalers and mass marketplaces alike to modernize their tech stacks and implement more robust customer experiences that are more aligned with modern B2C behaviors. Chandel offered additional insights on the evolution of B2B ecommerce and the new drivers for CX success in a recent Retail TouchPoints report. Key takeaways from the conversation include:
Reality 1: The B2B Buying Committee Has Forever Changed
The core demographics of the modern B2B buying committee have changed, with most of the U.S. workforce now dominated by millennials and Gen Z coming up the ranks. These consumers “came of age with smartphones in hand and laptops in backpacks,” Chandel explained.
“Therefore, the B2B buying experience is not just about shopping and checking out,” Chandel said. “Customers are looking for end-to-end self-service, using the channel and time of their choice for capabilities such as product discovery, configuration, pricing, quoting, ordering, reordering, order tracking and post-purchase service in a seamless user experience.”
In fact, that seamless user experience is especially critical for this audience, largely because they’ve grown up with the ease of platforms like Amazon, Netflix and even Uber. Even though these organizations represent different industries, they have set new benchmarks in online UX.
“Younger users expect a B2C-type experience, with no need for human interaction to perform end-to-end business activities, including discovery, purchase, and service,” Chandel added. “They expect B2B systems to perform like B2C systems in terms of speed and capabilities. Also, younger users are open to looking for alternatives if they find the current seller difficult to work with.”
Reality 2: The B2B Sales Process is Complex. Digital Solutions Need to be Equipped to Support Them
The B2B sales journey often involves multiple buyers and stakeholders within an organization. And when the time comes to make a purchase, buyers must embark on a lengthy process that includes product configuration, invoicing, payment, service and support, reordering and other steps. Organizations are seeking more robust ecommerce solutions that include modular components to support their needs and enable a more seamless customer experience.
“Composable commerce is making it easier to create feature-rich platforms more quickly,” Chandel said. “Companies can now provide features that were difficult, if not impossible, to implement earlier. For example, best-of-breed search products use artificial intelligence (AI) to show more relevant results compared to the out-of-the-box search results of most leading ecommerce platforms.”
Organizations also are investing more in modernizing the front office with back-office transformations, according to Chandel. “B2B companies are facing the need to upgrade their back-office systems, particularly ERP platforms, to scalable cloud systems,” he said. “Several companies have already upgraded and the remaining plan to upgrade their ERPs in the coming years. ERP upgrades create a great opportunity to modernize the front office in parallel, taking advantage of the new architecture and capabilities provided by the new ERP system.”
Reality 3: Ecommerce Transformation Requires Companywide Alignment
As younger executives enter the workforce and their behaviors and expectations evolve, organizations must ensure they have a centralized mission and vision for how they plan to iterate and innovate through the ecommerce experience. In fact, most transformation projects fall flat due to a lack of long-term vision and roadmap, according to Chandel, as well as lack of internal alignment among key groups and inadequate change management.
“Companies should create a multi-year transformation roadmap to gradually modernize their B2B commerce ecosystem,” Chandel explained. “Capabilities should be prioritized based on customer demand (voice of the customer), current and future business needs and business value.
“For a successful transformation, commitment from top commerce, sales, marketing, service and technical leadership is critical, as customers are looking for an end-to-end experience — not just order placement,” he added. “B2B commerce modernization programs require strong program management to oversee multiple tracks, stakeholders and complex technologies such as ERP, AI and integrations, while balancing competing priorities.”
And of course, every major transformation project should have commitment and periodic involvement from senior leadership, such as the Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Information Officer. Having these leaders in the “steering committee” is “critical to making the initiative successful,” according to Chandel.