B2B

In a recent article on the BBC Website, Business Reporter Simon Read highlights recent comments from the online grocer Ocado about the effect of Covid-19 on retailing.

As Ocado’s Chief Executive Tim Steiner explained: "The world as we know it has changed. As a result of Covid-19, we have seen years of growth in the online grocery market condensed into a matter of months; and we won't be going back."

His views are supported by the fact that Ocado’s sales during the first six months of 2020 grew by 27% to more than £1 billion.

This article describes how the retail landscape is changing permanently with significant movement online. However, what it doesn’t cover is the already massive global growth in B2B ecommerce, which dwarfs that of its B2C counterparts. 

So, what are the likely trends to emerge in B2B and B2C ecommerce as a result of the pandemic?

Helplama has published what it calls “50+ Customer Service Stats” and the data from a number of expert sources shows the powerful trend to move online.

For instance, In 2017 Nasdaq envisaged that: “By the year 2040, as much as 95% of shopping will be facilitated by eCommerce.”

But perhaps an even more startling statistic for that year came from Frost & Sullivan, who claimed that: “Global B2B ecommerce sales are predicted to reach over $6.6 trillion by 2020, surpassing B2C valued at $3.2 trillion by 2020.” 

It is an extraordinary fact that B2B ecommerce receives so little publicity compared to B2C retail, as was indicated in a Yahoo Finance article in July 2019:

”More ink has been spilled and more cyberspace filled writing about business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce than almost any trend on the planet, But there is a segment that’s nearly twice as large, yet gets a fraction of the attention – business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce.”

In January 2020, just before the Covid-19 emergency was identified, a Forbes article further charted the extraordinary direction of travel in B2B ecommerce:

“B2B eCommerce, when compared to the B2C industry, is projected to be two times bigger than B2C in 2020. In fact, it’s anticipated to be the area of largest eCommerce growth from 2020 to 2025… Merit claims that 73 percent of B2B buyers today are Millennials, who prefer buying online—this is a large part of why B2B eCommerce growth has occurred at such lightning speed.”

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the trend to purchase online has accelerated dramatically. However, the statistics provided by Let’s Talk About Money do sound a note of caution, namely:

In 2018 Blue Corona Measurable Marketing Solutions recorded that: “An overwhelming 84% of people will not make a purchase online, if they are dealing with an unsecure website.”

There have been an unfortunate number of cases where data has been lost or misused, some of the most heavily publicised relating to that of social network users. So it is hardly surprising that people may be apprehensive when making online purchasing decisions. It is therefore imperative that any ecommerce standalone or website bolt-on facility can inspire trust in the level of security it offers.

Additionally, in an increasingly populated and therefore competitive online environment, ecommerce sites must strive to gain good visibility in search engine rankings.

BBI Brandboost has had many years of experience in building and populating ecommerce sites for both B2B and B2C markets and as we explain on the ecommerce page of our website: “Having worked in many industry sectors, we know how to reach different target audiences and give them an exceptional user experience. Additionally, being adept in Search Engine Optimisation, we can create appropriate formatting and SEO rich content to drive traffic to your site.”

The revolution in increased mobile device usage enhanced the opportunities for businesses to sell their products and services online. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown it caused has dramatically boosted online purchasing and as Ocado’s Tim Steiner has stated: “We won’t be going back.” We believe that this will apply to B2B sectors as well as consumer retail.

Now might be the ideal time for your business to invest in a new ecommerce site or upgrade an existing facility. If so, we’d be delighted to help with our expertise in these challenging times. Please contact us for advice and support.