E-commerce is more than just a buzzword. It’s a growing trend with large scale growth opportunities. In fact, a Frost & Sullivan report claims that the U.S., along with China, will be the largest B2B e-commerce market by 2020, with electronic sales reaching $1.2 billion that year.
From small start-ups to well-established businesses, leveraging e-commerce to better reach, sell to and manage customers is more feasible than ever. Thanks to the popularity of CMS system add-ons and SaaS platforms, starting up your own e-commerce store on an existing or new website is no longer a technical challenge.
Thinking about creating an online store to sell to your B2B customers? Consider these seven e-commerce stats:
Business to Business eCommerce Trends
1) 70% of B2B purchase decisions include at least two decision makers. Almost 30% of these transactions include more than five decision makers. This means it’s critical that business to business websites serve multiple buyer personas.
2) 74% B2B buyers research half or more of their work purchases online.
3) On average, business to business researchers do 12 Google searches prior to engaging with a specific brand’s site.
4) The average order value was $491 for B2B respondents versus $147 for B2C eCommerce executives.
5) 80% of companies implementing B2B eCommerce marketing believe that their customer expectations have changed due to B2C practices.
6) 10% average conversion rate, much higher than the 3% average reported by B2C executives.
7) 57% of the B2B buying process is done prior to engaging with the sales team. Business to business sites should be sales tools assisting the buying process.
8) Mobile devices account for 16% of visits to B2B eCommerce sites.
9) 60% of business to business buyers report that mobile played a significant role in a recent purchase.
10) 72% B2B customers want self-service access to accounts and orders.
These stats show that more and more business to business companies are engaging in e-commerce on some level. As e-commerce shops continue to evolve, it’s becoming a major contributor to a company’s sales growth potential. Even if your company sells only a portion of your inventory online, an e-commerce store is a great tool for educating your buyers, marketing your products and supporting your sales team.
Considering selling your products online and have questions? Shoot me an email and let’s discuss the options that might work best for you and your company.
All marketing tactics should be thought of as part of a larger whole, rather than separate pieces. By strategically integrating all marketing tactics, the marketing program becomes more effective and cost efficient. As a B2B agency, we developed B2B 360 Integrated Digital Marketing to meet this improved performance need. To learn more about B2B 360 and how it will benefit your business, download our free eBook: The Better Path to Top-Tier Tech Marketing.
