A key and important focus of the digital landscape is B2C Ecommerce. From its inception in the late 1990s there has been a continuous increase in investment and innovation geared towards improving the customer experience and optimizing sales.

However, focus on the growing segment of B2B buyers and online businesses has lagged behind in spite of the growth potential in this arena. According to Forrester, B2B Ecommerce sales will account for 24% of total US B2B sales (as compared to 16% in 2021). This translates to a sales volume that exceeds $3 trillion dollars – now’s the time to position your company to optimize the B2B online buying experience.

2024 is the year to optimize your B2B online shopping experience:

  1. Business consumers are migrating to doing business online: As cited by the Forrester study, B2B online sales are growing at a double-digit rate. There are many reasons for this increase, not the least of which is due to the fact that business buyers are now seeing the digital channel as a faster, more efficient and easier way to do business. The ability to place reorders and access individualized product catalogs coupled with features such as personalization used in the B2C world are fueling digital growth in the world of B2B business.
  2. Shared expectations between B2B and B2C consumers: The basic convenience of being able to explore products, place orders, and check order status 24/7 and without waiting on hold are obvious commonalities. However, the similarities extend beyond the basics and include order, product, supplier and customer management.  Product recommendations, reviews and customer communication are important to all customers regardless of whether they are purchasing for themselves or an organization.
  3. Unique B2B requirements: While individual consumers certainly require details about an individual product, products sold in a B2B model are often more complex and require advanced specifications. Often-times, there’s a main product catalog containing all of the products at the standard price (similar to a B2C business) as well as one or more additional catalogs that may contain special pricing, a predefined product selection or both.

It’s not uncommon for businesses to have both a B2B and B2C presence, and it can be difficult to efficiently manage both in the digital world if they’re built on separate platforms. However, it doesn’t need to be that way. Solutions such as BigCommerce make it easy to manage the needs of both business models on a single platform.

The team at Thanx Media is experienced in building both B2B and B2C sites and assisting our clients with growing their online business. Contact us today and let’s get started!