B2B customers also love cross-channel purchases

The reverberations of transformation are affecting everyone – and B2B commerce is no exception. Yet so far, there is no real documentation of the extent to which business customers use one sales channel to obtain information before using another for purchase. All the same, many B2B companies would like to know which sales channels their business customers combine, as well as how satisfied they are when they change channels during their search for information.

Advancing digitization seems to be shaking things up in this area. B2B commerce is transforming. But what can suppliers do specifically to gain customers through it?

Cross-channel offerings are attractive for B2B

From B2C commerce we already know that retailers can win their customers’ favor by offering contextual and relevant information on all channels and along the entire customer journey.

A survey we compiled together with ECC Handel, a leading market research institute in Germany, shows that a similar approach is also viable for B2B customers.

B2B commerce needs a rethink

The survey looked at procurement processes executed  via personal contacts, using printed catalogs and online.. The result: Business customers love changing channels. B2B businesses therefore need to make sure that their channels are fully integrated. If not, they may see their customers switch to other suppliers, particularly on the Internet, which is frustrating for both seller and customer.

It’s interesting to see that 71 percent of B2B customers who carried out their last procurement process online state that they’re generally satisfied with the experience.

But it’s amazing that nearly 74 percent of business customers report that the experience was even more satisfactory if they had changed channels before executing their last online purchase. Who could have predicted that?

The core results of the ECC Handel study 2016 are:

• Multi-channel purchase behavior is dominant: Two in three corporate customers use several purchase channels simultaneously. In addition to the internet, print media and personal contacts are particularly relevant for the purchase of indirect goods.

• Personal contact precedes almost every one in three print or online purchase: There is intensive interaction in all directions and between all purchase channels, however.

• Cross-channel provides customer satisfaction: Changing channels between the search for information and the conclusion of the purchase results in a higher degree of satisfaction (73.9 percent in the case of internet purchases) than a purchase process carried out through a single channel (71 percent in the case of internet purchases).

• Change of channel within the sales system of a single provider leads to increased customer satisfaction: If the provider is changed along with the channel, satisfaction is lower (66.3 percent in the case of internet purchases) than it is for consistency in the choice of provider (76.9 percent in the case of internet purchases).

• Fundamental market changes in the field of online distribution: As the leading online provider of indirect goods, Amazon has further potential for growth; electronic interface connections are playing a greater role, and the first B2B apps are becoming increasingly important.