Four51 reports that e-commerce grew 10.2% from 2010 to 2011, and that by 2020, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce sales are projected to account for the majority of sales. A recent survey by Handshake found that over 79% of companies with B2B sales already have customers looking to place orders online. Ultimately, B2B companies are experiencing a dramatic impact on sales and production for several key reasons:
B2B partners demand self-service.
It is the responsibility of B2B partner salespeople to work with you to source products and services that you own. According to ECOMM2, these people may need to order from anywhere, anytime. Because they can’t realistically be available all the time, more and more businesses are looking for self-service solutions to order products and services on demand.
For example, Cerasis Rater enables B2B sales by allowing other B2B partners to automatically request repeat orders, get freight rates, and provide e-commerce fulfillment and delivery. Ultimately, if you want to stay in business with B2B companies, you need to be on the same page with your B2B e-commerce technology.
E-commerce will dominate B2B sales by 2020. Ranga Bodla of Netsuite Blog explains that B2B sales through e-commerce will account for 12.1% of all B2B sales by 2020. Today, the majority of shoppers research potential products online before making a purchase decision. In other words, up to 74 percent of B2B sales can be lost if customers can’t access information about products online. In most cases, it’s about finding the best product at the lowest possible price.
Businesses want a platform, not individual systems. Historically, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) dominated the manufacturing and warehousing industries. Companies could invest in software packages that improved tracking and management of product flow. But the days of SaaS systems are coming to an end. Instead, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) will replace on-premise SaaS.
PaaS is similar to SaaS, but focuses on bridging the gap between different locations and companies, creating a more cohesive, collaborative effort to achieve higher profit margins and production capacity. At the same time, the increased security measures of PaaS technologies make it more profitable for companies to use PaaS systems like Cerasis’ Transportation Management System (TMS) rather than continuing to invest resources in managing in-house closed SaaS systems.
Your customer base develops.
With more and more information available online, your customer base fluctuates almost daily. Today’s demand forecasts can change suddenly, and the causes of change range from political opinions to social media reports. Unfortunately, to keep up with this ever-changing demand, companies must have a way to generate and analyze real-time data that reflects what their customers want now. This is also essential to maintaining B2B relationships. Ultimately, customers will be working with your B2B partners to place orders and request freight quotes based on your data. So you need to be prepared to provide this information 24/7, and the only way to meet this need is with an integrated TMS focused on e-commerce.
Pricing models will follow “Amazon standards.”
Pricing models will also change. Amazon has created an environment where customers can expect record delivery schedules and near-zero shipping costs. As Abbe Miller of NetSphere Strategies explains, today’s customers discover new products online every microsecond, and those products need to be available immediately at the right price. Failure to do so can lead to poor B2B relationships and cause irreparable damage to your business.
B2B e-commerce reduces the conflict between B2B and B2C sales.
There has always been conflict between B2B and B2C sales. There was just no efficient way to separate all the processes without separate warehouses and distribution centers. Because e-commerce is based on every order, every occasion, being able to separate order types allows your business to continue operating seamlessly and meet the needs of your B2B and B2C customers.
Identifying real-time supply chain needs requires big data.
Big data is a whole other topic. More data is collected every day than in human history, but using that data is complicated. Companies need to instantly assess risks, costs, changes in demand, and more, but traditional systems can’t handle this amount of information. Therefore, outsourcing solutions like self-service PaaS can meet the analytical needs.
Customer service relationships are becoming more and more involved in the early stages of the product lifecycle.
The final impact of B2B e-commerce on sales and warehousing in B2B relationships is how it impacts customer service overall. While customer service previously began with the checkout process, with e-commerce solutions, service starts before the sale. This helps customers choose the right product and also reduces costs in the reverse logistics supply chain. For example, customers who can “chat” online with a company representative benefit from that representative’s immediate access to shipping costs. At the same time, the entire process can be further customized to meet the end user’s specific requirements. This increases the security of the customer service relationship and reduces costs for the B2B partner as well.
The Big Picture: The Future of B2B E-Commerce
E-commerce is here to stay, and companies selling B2B will fall behind their competitors if they fail to put in place a reliable, integrated system. At the very least, Amazon is well on its way to weeding out companies that can’t operate a B2B e-commerce platform. Fortunately, Cerasis Rater is one solution manufacturers and retailers can use to meet the needs of an increasingly e-commerce society and ensure continued success.
Check out some of the far-reaching impacts of e-commerce on B2B relationships, illustrated in the infographic below, created by Handshake:
