Across the board, respondents in a survey of 400 B2B companies, of which 75% of the respondents were from the automotive, high-tech manufacturing, retail, pharmaceutical, and telecoms sectors, agreed that the world of B2B commerce is evolving fast, and B2C trends are reflected in the B2B environment.
Yet, a large percentage of organisations (89%) in the telecommunications sector are facing challenges. For nearly half (48%), the biggest challenge is providing intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for multiple touch points such as the B2B online store or mobile apps. Two in five (41%) say they find it hard to manage complex organisational structures such as different user roles, multiple business models such as B2B, B2C, B2B2C, and B2X, multiple commerce touch points and multiple data domains. 40% find it difficult to deliver responsive and flexible customer service in order to respond quickly to any customer request.
One big challenge is how this change is driven by multiple factors – an average of seven in this sector. 83% of telecommunications companies said change was driven by customer demand and expectations. Also significant were developing technologies, permitting what was impossible before (76%) and business buyers engaging through various offline and online touch points with their peers and using multiple information sources to make decisions (71%).
Yet, over half (51%) agreed that bringing business buyers from offline to online could result in a higher overall bottom line and 48% said it could result in higher average basket values.
Jochen Moll, Member and Spokesman of the Board of Management at Intershop explains, "Where there is complexity, there is also opportunity. Organisations that can develop their B2B commerce channels now and offer a consumer-like approach will be well placed to capture market share. They will need to understand how to manage the complexities around their new channels, but the effort will pay off.”
Of the telecommunications B2B organisations surveyed in Europe and the USA that already sell online, the average percentage of B2B revenue from online sales is 38%. Of these, 96% are planning to increase the percentage they sell online, by an average 22%.
When it comes to the features needed in a B2B store to offer B2C-like merchandising, over three quarters (76%) of telecommunications organisations understood the importance of intuitive search and navigation, as well as online store analytics/monitoring in real time (71%).
Keen to support their sales representatives and account managers, 70% of the telecommunications businesses interviewed would like to be able to view sales reports such as total sales, or sales value by cost centre. Over two thirds (68%) would like to create and manage B2B accounts, cost centres and budgets, and 68% would like to be able to allow account managers to negotiate quotes.
Conquering Mobile
Intershop's 2012 E-commerce Report revealed that conquering mobile commerce was the top business challenge facing B2C retailers. In the near future, mobile channels will gain in importance in B2B too. In the 2013 report, of those telecommunications organisations that say mobile commerce will be important in the next 12 months, a total of 58% are planning to create a mobile-optimised store version that allows business buyers to see products, to purchase, to access their account profile and to track orders. 47% plan to create a mobile app that allows business buyers to see products, to negotiate the price, to click and buy and to track orders.
The findings from the survey underline that the transformation of B2B commerce is hitting a tipping point in 2013. The pressure in B2B is to cope with a large number of challenges and fast changing expectations, both from inside and outside their business: Integrating processes and systems, providing consistent cross-channel experiences and embracing mobile and social media, to name but a few.
"B2C has become the test ground for B2B companies to understand how e-commerce technologies can support their sales strategies," adds Moll. "After all, every B2B customer is also a B2C customer so if you want to understand the future of B2B, that is where to look.”
Moll concludes, "Interestingly, there is a noticeable disparity between countries in terms of how sophisticated their B2B e-commerce strategy is. E-commerce really is a global market place and B2B organisations need to raise their game to meet the highest benchmark."