B2B eCommerce Trends for 2021 & Beyond

B2B eCommerce Trends for 2021 & Beyond

Technological advancement has transformed the way we do business. It has made the customer more powerful and increased the market competitiveness. With ever-evolving technologies like AI, ML, AR, and cryptocurrency exchange we witness amazing trends in eCommerce businesses. The result? Better engagement, user-friendly, more sales, and ultimately more profits. 

With the introduction of eBay, Amazon Business, and Alibaba B2B marketplace, businesses now make most of the B2B sales online. Statistics show that B2B sales transactions will reach $1.8 by 2022 just in the USA. Therefore, it’s important to make a brand strategy for your eCommerce business. An eCommerce brand strategy will allow you to get more customers, and identify how you are going to achieve your revenue targets, and position yourself as a market leader. 

The global eCommerce industry is hitting its peak helping businesses increase both their inbound and outbound lead generation. There is no single industry that does not sell online. Congratulations, if you are already selling online if not you should make a strategy and start selling online.

Following are the top trends that every B2B eCommerce business should adopt and implement to increase its sales and improve profits. 

Fast Order and Supply

If you love statistics you would realize that the attention span of customers is, just 8 seconds. It depicts if the overall process of the order and supply delays, a customer can choose another business in just a matter of seconds. Therefore, it is important to make the process fast, easy and quick. 

A fast, easy and quick process appeals to customers. Choose the best way for the delivery of your items within 24 hours. A centralized management system and rich knowledge base can make the process a whole lot easier while boosting customer loyalty. Make sure your B2B business has a defined process for production and shipping. 

Try to make the process as fast as possible by collaborating with other businesses. If you are producing and supplying a single product, handing over the production phase to a third party can make the process a lot easier. 

Offer Discounts and Rewards

There’s a reason why most businesses offer discounts, sales, and rewards. For example, a Christmas sale of 50%, Black Friday Sale or New Year Sale, etc. Doing so encourages the customers to keep them connected to your brand. Giving discounts has been creating great results in terms of sales, and profits. You can also provide transaction-based discounts to get better eCommerce results. It strengthens brands loyalty over a longer period of time.

Introduce referral rewards to your eCommerce strategy to seek more and new customers. Referrals often buy with confidence and stay connected with your brand for a longer run. So why not implement that strategy as well? 

Introduce a Variety of Ways for Payment

Customers always love choices, be it buying a product or making a payment. Having more options allows them to choose the best that fits their needs. When you introduce a variety of payment payments it gives them the freedom to choose. They love the flexibility associated. If you have studied successful eCommerce businesses you will realize that they always offer more than a single payment method. 

You can also make third-party integrations including Paypal, 2checkout, Stripe, etc. 

Following are a few of the ways you can choose from: 

  • Credit card
  • Cash on delivery (COD)
  • Online wallet
  • Cryptocurrency 

Augmented Reality (Technology)

Augmented reality engages and appeals to your target audience in so many ways. With AR businesses can engage the audience on an autopilot basis. It enables the audience to immerse in your product which brings a higher chance of product success. In some cases it allows you to create a customized product. 

According to statistics, around 61% prefer eCommerce stores that offer AR brings an incredible opportunity for businesses and eCommerce stores. 

AR has already been incorporated in various industries like fashion, decor, home ornaments. It enables access to the product from all three dimensions. AR is majorly popular in the beauty and fashion industry in which they offer customers to try their product before they could actually buy it. It also allows them to try the product and how it looks in different colors and sizes. Together it makes it fun, informative, engaging, and more convenient. 

Artificial Intelligence

Understanding human psychology is the key to business success. Today the customer is more powerful than the seller which makes it pertinent for the businesses to dig deeper into customer preferences. 

AI plays a critical role in making the process easier and making sure the product is positioned well in the market. Apart from this, artificial intelligence is helping B2B businesses with sales management and understanding the psychology of both the shoppers and customers.

All the decisions based on AI are reliable since the whole strategy is backed by data. With AI businesses can easily get information regarding what customers love to have, shop, and where they shop. 

Make the Customer Experience Easy

User experience is the most important factor today. Customer experience can make or break your business. As mentioned earlier, today’s customer is more powerful than ever before. It is because the customer has unlimited choices at his disposal. As a result, businesses need to focus greatly on making the product appealing to customers so that they can earn confidence.  

In such a scenario, UX is more important than the actual product and that’s the reason why big companies have huge UX teams to make the product the best fit for their customers. 

User-friendly and great user experience is the key to product success. Even big companies like Google, Apple focus huge budgets to make sure product positioning is done right.

Mobile Shopping is Ranking High

Mobile shopping is the new normal, and it’s a no-brainer. It gives the customer freedom and businesses more opportunity to increase profits at scale. That’s the reason that mobile shopping is leading in the B2B marketplace as well. And it is still on the move. That’s the reason why most Shopify and web development companies focus on the mobile-friendliness of the website. 

40% of all eCommerce queries come from mobile devices. This figure is expected to increase and more people will be using smartphones and tablets than the desktop version. And, here are some of the interesting statistics:

  • More than 230 million people have smartphones in the US 
  • Around 100 million people have tablets

Make sure your eCommerce platform adapts to almost every kind of device that accesses it including mobile, tablet, or desktop. It must have a user-friendly layout that includes tap-friendly buttons and a call to action. It’s great to design and include visual content including infographics, videos that they can view through the small screens                                                                                                                                               

Conclusion

When it comes to eCommerce, making an easier and better system will create a win-win situation. Do whatever it takes to make your next B2B business successful. There are various important trends for making a product-market fit including giving a better customer experience, focusing on mobile commerce, offering discounts and rewards, and establishing a proper order management system.