The pandemic has forced many B2B companies to add ecommerce capabilities quickly to keep orders flowing.<\/p>\n
“B2B organizations that were planning to do more with digital five years down the road had to accelerate their timeline. Covid made them,” said Challin Meink, senior marketing director for Avionos, an agency.<\/p>\n
The transformation is almost certainly permanent, changing how B2B companies operate. It’s also incomplete.<\/p>\n
1. Buyers prefer ecommerce. <\/strong>Even before the pandemic, B2B buyers expected the “convenience, simplicity, and accuracy” of a digital experience, said Meink.<\/p>\n This should not be surprising since the same purchasing professionals who place orders on behalf of their employers also shop for themselves. They are accustomed to the ease of ordering from Amazon, Walmart, or any of the thousands of retailers selling online.<\/p>\n “More than three-quarters of buyers and sellers say they now prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions \u2014 a sentiment that has steadily intensified even after lockdowns have ended,” according<\/a> to an October 2020 McKinsey & Company report.<\/p>\n Upwards of 80 percent of professional buyers believes that a combination of remote human interactions and “digital self-service” are safer, easier to schedule, and less expensive than an in-person experience.<\/p>\n “Only about 20 percent of B2B buyers say they hope to return to in-person sales, even in sectors where field-sales models have traditionally dominated,” according to the McKinsey report.<\/p>\n What’s more, throughout 2020 B2B buyers became happier with the new remote and ecommerce sales processes. On April 9, 2020, about 54 percent of those McKinsey surveyed believed the new, Covid-driven B2B sales model was effective. By August 11, 2020, the proponents were 75 percent.<\/p>\n