There are many new B2B ecommerce trends in 2023, but we have handpicked what we think are 5 very important trends to help you to grow your business. Although it’s true that B2B ecommerce companies have fewer customers than B2C businesses, B2B customers make much larger purchases, so it’s important to get it right and we are hoping with the help of this blog we can show you how.
- Adapt your marketing for Millennials. Did you know that over 70% of Millennials now make B2B buying decisions? If you haven’t adapted your marketing to attract them and show them that your business can match their expectations, then you may be falling behind your competitors. Prior to 2020 Generation X and Baby Boomers made up the majority of the B2B audience and both were less comfortable making purchases online, whereas Millennials have grown up with the internet and are more familiar and dependent on technology. In fact, it’s not just your marketing that you need to adapt for this new generation that’s dominating the workforce, the following trends in this blog are geared towards them as well. This ties in nicely with the next trend on our list, as B2B businesses need to be using social media to their advantage when it comes to marketing by providing content that is valuable and helpful to their target audience. Not only that, but audiences now expect to use social media as a customer service tool to ask questions and address their complaints, and they expect quick responses, so the use of social media for B2B businesses is a must in 2023.
- Embrace social commerce. While selling on social media has previously been linked to the B2C industry, many B2B companies are now seeing the benefit of this trend. Did you know that 46% of B2B buyers begin their buying journey on social media? By setting up shops on Facebook or Instagram for example (choose the platform where your audience is most likely to be), you can catch them early on in the buying process. Even if they don’t make a purchase straight away and just use it to browse, you are taking advantage of getting your products in front of your ideal audience very early on in their buying journey.
- Offer an omnichannel experience. As mentioned above, customers now expect social media to be used as a customer service platform. So it only makes sense that buyers would like the same consistent experience across all online channels, so make sure that the experience they get on your website matches what they find on your social media platforms and so on. This includes keeping your inventory up to date, ideally with live stock availability, and posting helpful content consistently and always within brand on your social channels. This crosses over into all areas of the business, online or offline including email, phone or in person interactions – make sure that all experiences match up.
- Use your ecommerce website to get new customers. In the past ecommerce sites have been largely aimed at existing customers, for them to login and place their orders. This is something that grew in 2022 and will continue to be a very prominent trend in the future. It’s so important to make sure you have a user friendly website, where new customers can easily find out more about a business, use search tools, place orders and talk to customer services representatives via online chats. Also crucially, B2B ecommerce companies must ensure that the customer journey from landing on the website, to getting in contact or making a purchase is seamless, or it’s likely that potential customers will get frustrated and leave.
Something that’s very crucial to remember is that while of course your website needs to work for both existing and new customers, you first need to help buyers find your website with effective SEO. This includes carefully choosing keywords, adding ALT tags to your images and writing strong meta descriptions.
- Leverage online marketplaces. While it’s true that online marketplaces take a cut of the profit, their popularity for B2B businesses is only continuing to grow. Many B2B buyers find inspiration on marketplaces such as Etsy, Amazon and eBay. It’s a great way to get your products visible, especially if you are just starting out and don’t have an established customer base yet. The majority of Millennials are already using marketplaces for personal purchases, so it’s not a big jump for them to make purchases in their professional roles as well.
We hope you found this blog helpful and can integrate some or most of these trends into your business. If you don’t yet have an ecommerce website that is positively impacting your business then please get in touch with us at GOb2b.
