The 2022 B2B Buyer Report launched this October. We worked with Sapio Research to speak to over 1,200 B2B buyers about their current online buying experience. The results are both surprising and informative. Let’s take a look.
Buying online is more popular than ever. B2B buyers are spending two-thirds more online than they did pre-pandemic. And e-commerce has seen the largest increase of all buying methods. But research shows that B2B suppliers are failing buyers. The report reveals that over 50% of e-commerce sites do not fully meet the expectations of buyers.
Is your web store in the bottom 50%?
Find out how to improve your web store and customer experience based on buyer needs.
B2B buying is changing – so must B2B selling
Companies are now placing 428 business-critical orders online each day. But as more purchases have moved online, suppliers have failed to meet the needs of their increasingly digital savvy customers. Here’s what the survey revealed:
50% of web stores are not fully meeting the expectations of B2B buyers
94% of B2B buyers have faced customer experience challenges online
Order errors have increased from 28% in 2019 to 37% today — that’s impacting $1.8 million in orders, per company, each year
Does that mean that B2B e-commerce web stores aren’t equipped to deliver accurate and reliable customer experiences? Not at all. It’s just time to prioritize B2B e-commerce the same way your customers do. If B2B buying is changing, then so must B2B sales.
Making B2B e-commerce a priority
Before the pandemic, B2B e-commerce was not a top priority. But as buyers shifted their attention to online sales, suppliers didn’t have the scalability needed to support this major shift. 37% of B2B buyers have reported challenges with online order errors on (at least) a weekly basis. That equates to $1.8m in orders being affected by errors per company, each year. To better understand the reason behind these order errors, take a look at the in-depth analysis in the full report.
Relationships are key in the B2B buying process
When buyers were asked what was most important to them in the B2B buying process, 81% of respondents identified the relationship between themselves and the supplier to be at the top of the list. This one-on-one relationship is key, with 84% of buyers saying they would be more likely to purchase from a supplier if they had a good relationship with them, even if their competitors had better sales terms.
However, suppliers seem to fall short yet again. Despite relationships being so important, 39% of buyers listed customer experience as a major challenge with their suppliers. For suppliers looking to raise their game, figuring out where your buyers are experiencing trouble and remedying those troubles should be priority number one.
Learn how to meet your buyers’ needs
We surveyed 1,200 B2B buyers about their current online buying experience. See what they had to say.
