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Archanaa John
ABSTRACT
B2C eCommerce is no longer the big revenue generator. B2B eCommerce is clearly transitioning from a
seller to a buyer-driven platform with customer experience becoming a key factor in driving B2B
eCommerce. In the US alone, Forrester expects B2B eCommerce to reach $780 billion in 2015 to $1.1
trillion by 2020. The role of mobile is also taking a pivotal role in B2B transactions with rapid trend of
B2B buyers using smartphones & tablets to buy goods online. Research has indicated that 67% B2B
companies are expected to invest in mCommerce in 2015. At present, research indicates that nearly 3-5%
of the total B2B sales are coming from mobile devices with an additional 7-10% for B2B activities such
as product research. Digitalization coupled with mCommerce will serve as catalysts to revolutionize the
way B2B business in conducted in future. In the years to come, the B2B market is expected to continue to
grow and gain further momentum mimicking customer-purchasing models in order to gain competitive
edge.
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Archanaa John
eCommerce is no longer the form of Commerce that used to be back in the years with just shopping carts
and transactions. It has evolved into a predominant customer-facing channel where customers leverage
more control than ever. According to Power Retail, nearly 70% of eCommerce (B2B & B2C) is expected
to shift to a highly customer-centric model focusing heavily on individual customer experience by 2018.
2014 was a year of retail sales explosion which accounted for more than $1 trillion in the United States
alone (GlobalDots, 2014). Buying online has simply become the most convenient and a universally
acceptable way to purchase almost anything, giving consumers more insight into what they are buying in
addition to providing multiple channels to deliver products. Retailer businesses have increasingly
recognized the influence and importance of analytics and big data with omni-channel becoming highly
competitive among many retailers across the globe. Mobile eCommerce was observed to have grabbed a
pivotal role in omni-channel shopping with mobile payments & apps that provide conversion capabilities
taking shape in 2014.
In 2015, cross-channel shopping is said to become the mainstream with cross-channel retail predicted to
reach up $1.8 trillion by 2017 according to Forrester (Sucharita Mulpuru, 2013). Multi-channel
integration with “Click & Collect type services” is predicted to become a common functionality among
most retailers. Large eCommerce brands are expected to continue to spread their international footprints
and explore growing markets such as Asia Pacific, Latin America, India, etc. (Zia Daniel Widger etal.,
2014). Some brands that have already taken the plunge into growing markets in 2014 are expected to
continue to expand in 2015 according to Forrester. For example, Williams-Sonoma & Zara opened their
eCommerce stores in Mexico in 2014. eBay expanded their operation in Russia and still others such as
Calvin Klein, Burberry launched their eCommerce stores in China’s most popular and largest eCommerce
market, Alibaba’s Tmall.
Will B2B eCommerce industry beat the B2C eCommerce in 2015?
So far, clearly, the B2C industry has shown tremendous growth. Forrester expects the B2C industry to
continue to grow at an exponential phase with heavy focus on customer acquisitions, retention and
fulfillment (Sucharita Mulpuru, 2014). Big Commerce predicts B2C eCommerce to reach a whopping $2
trillion in 2015 across the globe with $6 billion predicted to come from India eCommerce alone according
to Gartner (Gartner Symposium, 2014). Morgan Stanley predicts that eCommerce in India will rise to
$137 billion by 2020.
Like the B2C industry, the B2B ecosystem is also a lucrative industry with eCommerce sales expected to
reach $12 trillion by 2020 according to Frost & Sullivan. Forrester predicts that B2B eCommerce in the
US alone will reach $1 trillion (twice the size of B2C eCommerce) by 2020 (Susan Wu, et al; 2015).
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Archanaa John
Forbes observed that the B2B ecosystem has rapidly moved away from those cumbersome legacy systems
which involved the EDI, towards a user-friendly, cost-efficient and interactive online platform where
customers talk to the buyers from anywhere in the world. In other words, many B2B buyers are now
beginning take away the need to have their sales representatives to explain about their products (Forrester,
2015). Furthermore, Forrester observed that B2B businesses are beginning to invest substantially in re-
platforming and rebuilding their B2B eCommerce sites in order to stay ahead of the eCommerce game
(Andy Hoar, et al; 2014).
eCommerce has already become a digital conduit among the B2B buyers with the current B2B industry
expected to focus heavily in the digital bandwagon, converging of customer portals, social media
channels, shopping cart sites, etc. into eCommerce (Internet Retailer, 2014). The past several years have
been a B2C world with eCommerce predominantly focused on establishing convincing customer
experiences for the B2C market and B2B eCommerce only took the back seat. However, today, clearly,
B2B buyers are elevating the bar and demanding B2C-like standards and shopping experience to their
technology savvy B2B buyers. Research conducted by Econsultancy in 2014 revealed some examples of
B2B eCommerce sites which have already taken the plunge delivering exceptional B2C-like eCommerce
services to its B2B buyers. MSC Direct, Black Envelopes, Quill, Spring, Grainger, Screw Fix, Firerock,
Amazon Supply, Fastenal etc. are just a few examples listed by Econsultancy for delivering phenomenal
eCommerce shopping experience and providing robust design and functionalities contributing to
generating new business in the B2B space (Econsultancy).
Considering the current B2B explosion, Forbes predicts that real money is with the B2B market and that
B2B eCommerce will reach $6.7 trillion by 2020 with China emerging as front runners in the B2B
industry (Frost & Sullivan, 2014). B2B eCommerce was already found to have almost doubled the B2C,
with $559 billion in eCommerce in 2013 (Andy Hoar, 2012). In the most recent article published by
Forrester, estimated that B2B eCommerce will touch $1.1 trillion accounting for 12.1% of all the B2B
sales in the US by 2020 (The US B2B eCommerce Forecast, 2015, Figure 1). In a survey conducted by
Forrester with Internet Retailer, out of 236 B2B buyers, approximately 75% said they prefer buying from
an eCommerce site than buying from a sales rep and 93% B2B buyers said they prefer to buy online when
they feel sure on what to buy. In short, Forbes predicts that B2B eCommerce will offer a “forward-
thinking” eCommerce platform which will allow multiple ways to pay for a purchase in 2015.
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Archanaa John
Mobile becoming an intrinsic part of B2B eCommerce
According to Forbes, B2B ecosystem is undergoing a major shift with respect to the way in which B2B
brands connect, engage and retain their customers. Today, it appears that it is simply not enough for B2B
companies to have an online presence, they also demand mobile-friendly sites to enable online purchasing
(Demand Gen Report); in fact, in a survey conducted by Internet Retailer, out of 105 B2B buyers
surveyed, nearly 85% indicated that they require B2B content to be optimized on mobile devices (Internet
Retailer, Feb 2015). Shopify evaluated data from over 100,000 eCommerce stores and inferred that nearly
50.3 % of the traffic was coming from mobile devices in comparison to computers which accounted to
49.7%. Research from several sources indicates that approximately 56% B2B buyers often use mobile
devices to view B2B websites and 67% of all B2B eCommerce companies are expected to invest in
technology in 2015 according to Forrester.
With mobiles already becoming an important channel for interacting with the B2B audience, Forrester
believes that all B2B businesses will soon adopt mobile commerce on regular basis to enable B2B
transaction, business customers and other similar companies to transact from their mobile devises.
According to an interview conducted by Forrester with W. W Grainger, nearly 50% of the mobile
customers mentioned they would place B2B orders on their mobile devices (Andy Hoar, et al., 2014). A
survey conducted by Oracle, of 100 B2B companies who participated in the survey, 52% confirmed that
they already use mobile devises to make a B2B purchase and estimated that 54% used their mobile
devises to research products.
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As mobiles phones have become a fundamental part of modern technology and an easy tool to access
information, it only makes more sense to explore the use of mobile by targeting B2B companies through
mobile marketing (B2B Marketing News Letter). According to B2B News Letter, B2B companies have
made huge plans to increase their mobile marketing budged by more than 40 % in 2015. It is estimated
that already more than half of the B2B companies are using mobile devices for various B2B activities
such as reading reviews, product information, comparison of prices & features, etc. According to a survey
in 2013, 92% of the B2B companies were already marketing their products online with 78% willing to
optimize selling through various touch points including mobile. In another study by Forrester, it was
estimated that 52% of the B2B customers were reported to use smartphone to make B2B purchases. At
present, mobile commerce accounts for nearly 3-5% of the total B2B sales and it is estimated to drive an
additional 7-10% of B2B traffic for activities such as product search before a purchase is made (Internet
Retailer, 2014). With B2B clearly expected to grow in the upcoming years, Netsuite suggests investing
heavily on providing good mobile sites for use cases, mobile upgrades, ensuring good content speed,
transaction capability & performance, faceted search, repeat orders, & customer-defined nomenclature to
be the keys to B2B success in future.
Furthermore, B2B companies which still do not have an online presence are shifting their offline
transactions to online & self-service options and are adopting B2C-like best practices to provide good
web experience. It is estimated that more than 75% of the B2B companies will offer mCommerce as a
service in 2015 and the mobile traffic will soon match the B2C mobile traffic (B2B Marketing News
Letter). With B2B eCommerce clearly poised to grow in the coming years, Forrester predicts the B2B
industry to grow disproportionately from 20% (2013) to 30 % by 2019. The B2B industry is expected to
ramp-up their technology spending & update their software for competitive edge. 2015 is also predicted to
be a year of mobile commerce investment, where B2B & B2C companies will continue to make mobile
an integral part of their eCommerce offering for both B2B & B2C activities.
Overall, B2B eCommerce is clearly transitioning from a seller to a buyer-driven platform with customer
experience becoming a key factor in driving B2B eCommerce. The B2B market is expected to continue to
growth and gain further momentum mimicking customer-purchasing models to gain competitive edge.
Digitalization coupled with mCommerce will further serve as catalysts to revolutionize the way B2B
business in conducted.
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Archanaa John
References:
1) http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Global-B2C-Ecommerce-Sales-Hit-15-Trillion-This-Year-
Driven-by-Growth-Emerging-Markets/1010575
2) https://econsultancy.com/blog/65259-which-b2b-ecommerce-sites-are-getting-it-right-here-s-15-
of-the-best/
3) http://www.forbes.com/sites/sarwantsingh/2014/11/06/b2b-ecommerce-market-worth-6-7-trillion-
by-2020/2/
4) “Key Trends in B2B eCommerce” Forrester Research, Andy Hoar with Carrie Johnson, Patti
Freeman Evans, Douglas Roberge, Jacob Milender, and Susan Huynh, December 2014.
5) “Key Trends in B2B eCommerce For 2013” Forrester Research, Andy Hoar with Patti Freeman
Evans, Carrie Johnson, Douglas Roberge, and Susan Huynh, October 2012.
6) “ US B2B eCommerce will be twice the size of B2C eCommerce by 2020” Forrester Research,
Susan Wu with Vikram Sehgal and Vishal Varshney, May 2015.
7) http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/india-set-to-become-world-s-fastest-
growing-e-commerce-market-115020601227_1.html
8) https://www.internetretailer.com/commentary/2014/06/24/five-best-practices-b2b-mobile-
commerce
9) http://ecommercenews.eu/key-e-commerce-trends-in-2015/
10) http://www.b2bmarketing.net/blog/posts/2014/08/12/mobile-commerce-future-b2b-selling
11) http://www.shopify.com/blog/15206517-mobile-now-accounts-for-50-3-of-all-ecommerce-traffic
12) http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/in-store-insights/2927-b2b-e-commerce-is-shifting-toward-
mobile
13) http://www.powerretail.com.au/news/gartner-rates-2014-e-commerce-platforms/
14) http://www.zdnet.com/article/b2b-ecommerce-sales-to-top-1-trillion-by-2020-forrester/
15) https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/13/million-sales-reps-will-lose-their-jobs-e-commerce-
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