What’s new in B2B e-commerce? [trends for 2021]

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amasty

5 min readMay 26, 2021

What is B2B e-commerce?

B2B e-commerce is the online sale of goods or services between businesses. Instead of accepting orders using human resources (sales representatives) or manually (by phone or email), orders are accepted digitally, which reduces overhead costs.

The growing interest in online sales and the development of the B2B e-commerce segment is driven by the pandemic and global shift to remote work. But not only. B2B companies tended to go online long before the crisis: digitalization took over the market, and more and more B2B companies were leaning towards it.

So what are the trends in B2B e-commerce development for 2021?

Trend 1. Mobiles are capturing the traffic

The increase in the number of purchases from mobile devices is a fast-growing trend that continues to grow this year. Plus, the age of mobile shoppers is growing. Users from 25 to 44 years old began to order from smartphones more often and caught up with 18-year-olds by this indicator.

What actions can be taken based on this info?

At the very least, you can optimize your site for mobile devices. The second thing that can be done is to improve the loading speed of the site, which will improve the user experience, and as a result, boost mobile conversions In addition to all this, you can implement the ability to pay using mobile devices. (Apple Pay, Google Pay)

Trend 2. Focus on user experience

Since we have touched on the topic of user experience, let’s continue with it.

The e-commerce market for the mass consumer has long taken the study of user experience and the creation of an intuitive, user-friendly interface on its basis as the norm. But B2B has paid much less attention to UX design.

But that very time for change has come. Good design has become an advantage in B2B that helps you stand out from the competition. The business audience is increasingly telling suppliers that they want to enjoy a high-quality user interface just like the final mass consumer.

Trend 3. Diversifying of payment options

Another thing that we have already touched upon is payments.

One of the competitive advantages of some brands over others is the variety of payment methods that cater to the interests of customers. Offer a potential buyer a convenient payment method and they are more likely to make purchases from you.

In 2021, more and more e-commerce companies are expected to start accepting payments in new formats, including cryptocurrency. This type of payment is beneficial in that it takes lower transaction processing fees and is quick to process transactions.

Trend 4. Transparency for a potential buyer

Many do not want to display their prices on the site. This is very inconvenient for users. One way to solve this is to show prices to logged-in users only. This can help ungroup users so that they only show prices to those who need you or/and give access to a certain type of prices for the desired type of users.

This way you can sort out “useless” traffic because users who log into the system are most likely already interested in buying. In addition, you will have user data that you can use further in your activities.

Trend 5. AI-powered personalization

The customer experience management market is expected to grow significantly. B2B customers want the same experience as B2C buyers, and brands need to align if they want to be successful.

How can artificial intelligence help with this?

AI-based algorithms study the profiles of existing and potential customers in social networks and collect data that you can use for future advertising campaigns, including increasing their effectiveness by focusing on specific parameters collected by the AI.

Trend 6. AI? Yes, but what about AR?

For most users, the fear because of which they hesitate to make an online purchase is that they are afraid not to guess the color, size, shape of the product, which is fraught with wasted money and time waiting for the product. Augmented reality solves this problem. AR technologies allow customers to see how the product will look in reality.

What are the benefits for the B2B sector?

B2B sellers often deal with specialized equipment that is often large and heavy. AR makes them easy to show such items.

Augmented reality can save shoppers the hassle of flipping through product demos by visualizing key features on a screen.

Implementing augmented reality elements in a store can increase conversions and decrease the return rate, and help clients to understand in advance whether they like the product and whether it suits their requirements.

Trend 7. Voice shopping

If you have a smartphone, then you’ve probably used voice assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. Businesses are already introducing similar services. 41% of Amazon users already shop through Amazon Echo using their voice. For shoppers, this is an opportunity to make a purchase faster with less effort.

For B2B e-commerce business owners, this means adjusting their SEO strategy to meet new market demands as the methods for entering text and audio queries are different. For many companies, this is also an opportunity to stay ahead by offering customers the experience they want.

Trend 8. Instant messaging with chatbots

Users want a quick response to their queries. Long wait times are one of the most common reasons why users get frustrated when placing an order online.

This is where chatbots can help. One of the best solutions for improving customer service is chatbots as they help improve the shopping experience. The main advantages of chatbots are that they help to reduce waiting times and can work 24/7.

Trend 9. Omnichannel sales are still here

The last trend I want to share with you is omnichannel sales.

Omnichannel sales have been gaining popularity among e-commerce companies for 3 years already.

The more channels and touchpoints with the audience will be used, the higher your business conversion rate will be. Therefore, try to increase the number of traffic sources, enter marketplaces, work with SEO to gain more organic traffic, and use social media.

Examples of successful B2B e-commerce websites:

Blackbaud

ACME

Quill