B2B Procurement Goes Digital

By now, online shopping in the consumer marketplace is old hat. That people make a variety of purchases over digital channels is hardly newsworthy. B2B procurement is another story—buyers and sellers are adopting digital strategies to further business goals.

Procurement professionals on both sides of the coin are hungry for insights into what’s moving digital purchasing trends forward and how their organizations can adapt to the shifting paradigm. It’s no wonder corporate buyers’ online shopping behavior and suppliers’ e-commerce capabilities are hot research topics. Let’s take a peek at some business to business sales research highlights:

• Online procurement on the rise. Almost half (46%) of respondents in Accenture Interactive 2014 State of B2B Procurement Study said their companies will increase online purchasing next year. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of B2B buyers made online purchases in 2014 versus 57% in 2013—and 46% spent at least half of their corporate procurement budgets online in the last year.
• Most pre-purchase product/service research occurs online. Forrester research commissioned by Accenture Interactive and SAP hybris for their report Mastering Omni-Channel B2B Customer Engagement found that 98% of global business buyers do at least some online research on work-related purchases, even those that they make offline. To do so, they are using online consumer marketplaces (33%), search engines (26%), and business marketplaces (17%).
• Leading suppliers are keying into customers’ demands. In partnership with Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management, digital agency Siteworx investigated the digital presence of America’s top B2B manufacturers for their XConnect: A B2B Analysis report. They reveal that B2B purchase managers and procurement decision-makers rank the top 3 attributes for B2B manufacturer websites as price, shipping/inventory, and site response time. What’s more, companies delivering the strongest digital experience and aptitude for meeting customer expectations are more likely to have a responsive website design, offer mobile apps, and deliver targeted, differentiated messaging when compared with their lower-ranking peers.

High Expectations in the Digital Arena

B2B buyers are looking for experiences that mirror those in their personal B2C transactions. They’re paying attention to more than the products available for purchase online—it’s about the service they receive, and that can influence whether or not they’ll become repeat digital channel customers. Suppliers who want to remain competitive are under increasing pressure to optimize the online shopping experience they create for their customers and potential customers. At the very least, their process needs to be user-friendly, flexible, and accessible anytime and anywhere, complete with customer service and post-purchase support. Their online buyers may also be interested in the availability of various payment options, personalized recommendations, enhanced search functionality, and product ratings and reviews.

Delivering on these demands is easier said than done, as B2B suppliers typically have legacy systems in place to support traditional supply chain purchase transactions. Digitizing even a piece of their process can be time-consuming and costly. But it’s mission-critical for many organizations to expand their capabilities—and we will continue exploring the nuts and bolts of this challenge. After all, digital procurement is something we’re sure to be hearing more about in the months and years ahead.

Exploring the Consumer-led Transformation of Corporate Mobile Payment Technology