With the rise of e-commerce, customers have become accustomed to increasingly better, faster, and cheaper delivery solutions. To stay competitive, B2C businesses have been scrambling for the past few years to add more sales channels and adapt their supply chains to keep up with consumer demand. B2B businesses, whose sales have historically relied on established mutually beneficial relationships with their customers, will soon need to do the same if they haven’t already. After all, a B2B customer is a B2C consumer off the clock, and looking for the same online convenience and speed from their work-related purchases that they’ve come to expect as a regular consumer.
Everyone wants more convenience, whether they’re buying for a business or themselves
One third of B2B buyers said in a 2019 survey they want to buy 90% or more of their professional purchases online, and that was before a global pandemic accelerated expectations for e-commerce. Almost half of B2B buyers are already purchasing between 50% and 75% of their corporate products through online marketplaces, and these sales channels are only expected to grow. Worldwide B2B marketplaces sales are expected to reach $3.6 trillion by 2024, up significantly from 2018’s $680 billion.
Going omnichannel benefits your business as much as it does your customer
B2B buyers want to have the same fast and efficient shopping experience in their professional lives as they do in their personal lives, but customer satisfaction isn’t the only reason to consider omnichannel selling. B2B businesses with a strong e-commerce presence retain 89% of their clients, compared to the average 33%. Online channels and multiple buying options make repeat purchases easily accessible to B2B buyers.
Not sure how to adapt your supply chain for omnichannel? We can help
B2B sellers in an Accenture study named “difficulty sharing customer data and analytics between channels, countries and locations” as their number one difficulty in implementing an omnichannel strategy. Stord’s cloud supply chain, a bundled solution composed of a one-time integration, control tower software, and end-to-end logistics network, is your all-in-one omnichannel solution.
To be omnichannel today is to sell to and serve customers across multiple channels, including e-commerce. Stord can help you offer your products on multiple platforms while managing the supply chain from a single cloud-based software. Store products close to your customers using our nationwide footprint of warehouses and distribution centers, each of which is customizable to fit your customer’s high expectations for personalization and service. Start scaling your omnichannel supply chain with Stord today.
Give us a call at 866.502.9278 or reach out here.