Over the past several years, the explosion of the consumer eCommerce economy has been impossible to ignore. The transition from traditional sales channels to eCommerce channels has been massive and dramatic, and it has revolutionized the retail sector.
There is a perception, however, that the eCommerce revolution has been a consumer phenomenon and that it’s not something that manufacturers and B2B companies need to worry about.
That perception, unfortunately, is inaccurate. A Forrester Research study found that B2B eCommerce generated $780 billion in sales in 2015, an increase of more than seven percent from the previous year. The study predicted that B2B eCommerce will grow to more than $1 trillion by 2020. That is not a shift that can be ignored.
To make a successful foray into eCommerce, manufacturers must learn the lessons that retailers have already learned.
B2B customers are, in the off-work hours, retail eCommerce consumers, and they’re bringing their retail expectations to work with them. Thus, B2B eCommerce sellers have to understand the new kind of digital customer they’re dealing with.