By Freya Purnell
A new survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Accenture and hybris has shown that 52 per cent of business buys expect at least half of their purchases to be made online in three years’ time.
The study, ‘Building the B2B Omni-Channel Commerce Platform of the Future’, also found consumer shopping habits are influencing how B2B purchasers expect to buy from suppliers.
Nearly half of business buyers (49 per cent) prefer making work-related purchases on the same websites they use for personal purchases.
B2B suppliers are certainly responding to the shift online, with 83 per cent saying they are either in the process of implementing or upgrading their e-commerce suite or planning to do so within six months.
When asked about the top features or functions they would like from suppliers, most business buyers chose enhanced search functionality on their website (60 per cent), following by showing ratings and reviews of products and services (58 per cent) and improved personalised product or service recommendations (50 per cent). When it comes to payment, 69 per cent prefer to use direct, instant online forms of payment, such as credit cards or payment systems, rather than purchase orders and invoices.
Eighty-three per cent of B2B suppliers agree that an omni-channel strategy is critical to a company’s long-term success by driving more sales and profit. But these companies are also looking beyond omni-channel to other technologies that will drive the future of their businesses – such as automated pricing options, which 62 per cent said they would invest in in the future, and wearable computing in distribution centres (49 per cent).
“Business suppliers have made a good start adapting to changing buying patterns,” said Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at hybris. “Now it will be important for them to ensure a truly seamless experience for their customers at all times and on all touchpoints. For instance, if a customer starts a process at their desk but has to leave for a meeting, their sales journey has to move with them via a digital device, offering minimal fuss around payment, shipping and other purchase options. For many B2B suppliers, this will require significant integration efforts – of back-end and fulfillment systems, as well as with their call centres and popular social media platforms.”
Survey respondents said the biggest barrier to implementing an omni-channel approach is difficulty in integrating back-office technology across channels (cited by 44 per cent of suppliers), followed by difficulty in sharing customer data and analytics across the organization (42 per cent); limits by distribution partners, franchises or wholesale customers (40 per cent), and conflict between channel organisations (36 per cent).
