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This post is the Coles-notes version of Brian Walker of Forrester Researchs presentation: Key Trends in B2B eCommerce: From Fulfilling Demand To Creating Demand If you missed it, you can catch the replay at the above link. The replay includes all Brians screenshots of real B2B examples (which didnt look right when resized to fit the blog specs) so I recommend you check it out to get the full effect.

Picture of Key Trends in B2B: Webinar Recap [source:getelastic.com]

Growth Drivers in B2B eCommerce The Range of Models in B2B eCommerce The Evolving B2B Site

Business to business eCommerce has been evolving quickly.

Its harder to observe B2B trends than it is for B2C because there is no leading site you can explore most of B2Bs features and functionality lies behind a veil. Much of the user interfaces, features, levels of integration, workflow and business processes are proprietary.

Improve operational efficiency Customer self-service and process automation Improvement in order capture and processing Fueled by the downturn and changes in the workforce Build stronger direct relationships Make it easier to do business Develop the brand Improve availability, responsiveness, and service Need to develop a direct relationships with customers Grow the business Acquire new customers in their preferred channel Grow through increased channel touch-points Retain existing customers switching channels Prevent customers leaving with sales rep changes Keeping up Prevent competitors from capturing market share B2B customer expectations are driven by B2C Evolving online B2B models are pushing the experiences forward B2b, B2B2C, B2B2B

Many B2B transactions still take place through fax, phone, inside and field sales reps. The B2B ecommerce site offers the chance to improve quality, timeliness of order capture and efficiency of process. It also allows for a stronger relationship, making it easier to do business 24/7. This is especially useful for a branded manufacturer selling to boutiques, where the order may be placed by the boutique owner at 10pm after the kids have gone to bed, for example. The manufacturer would not find it cost efficient to keep the call center open at all hours, but B2B customers may want to transact on their own schedule.

The website also strengthens the relationship between the company and the end customer, rather than relying on a sales reps who own accounts, and may take business with them if they ever leave the company.

B2C retailers have learned that multichannel customers increase the value of that customer to the business, and it works the same for B2B.

Often, B2B ecommerce projects are inspired by what the competition is doing. Innovation and competitive pressure is driving much of the growth in the ecommerce channel.

Authentication and initiating orders Custom catalogs, prices and offers Orders and lists created over time Order workflow, incl. quotation, punchout Scheduled delivery and fulfillment options Off-line sales integration, marketing support Multiple product and bulk order entry Product configuration and customization Complex promotions unique to B2B Invoicing, Remittance and Reporting

Authentication Required registration When you think about direct-to-consumer, you want to minimize the need for authentication / log in. Many B2C sites have learned they need to offer guest checkout for better conversion. Certainly there are marketing and service advantages to customer login for the B2C, but its markedly different in B2B where its far more important to show proper content, catalog, pricing etc. as part of your negotiations with them or their user type/role.

Unique promotions in B2B Promotions can get very complex in B2B, with geography, terms offered, order minimums, book-by and ship-by dates determining who is eligible for what promotion. There may be new promotions daily to move product as quickly as possible. What is typically too complicated for a consumer to evaluate is very common in B2B.

Multiple and Bulk Ordering For this you must enable businesses to order across all the variants of the product (example given is shoes choose your assortment of size/width/color). You must also show availability dates in same interface, which may vary as you replenish stock. Typically you wouldnt see this in B2C.

Quick Order Capability This is when the client can order entire an end cap which is pre-merchandised and ready to go with back stock for a retail store.

Product Configuration The ability to bundle and configure a product to order may involve custom manufacturing and other processes you wouldnt find in B2C.

Unique Reporting Needs A B2C site typically wouldnt allow a customer to run reports on purchase history, but this is common in B2B. A procurement manager needs to find who in the organization has ordered what, and a retail chain with different geographic divisions wants want to keep tabs on whats being ordered where.

Customer Self Service Change and view orders, create inquiries, create quotes, view returns etc. are all important to B2B. Customers may still like to call but theres a benefit to the customer and organization to offer these capabilities online (convenience, cost savings).

Online Merchandising Search Categorization Cross-Sells / Up-Sells Online Marketing Segmentation / Targeting Recency / Frequency Similar management challenges Heavy product content burden Integrating with large enterprise systems Customer Self Service

Product content (images, information, user guides, reviews, videos) is still important, and even more important than it is on B2C sites when the buyer requires technical specs, how the product should be used and education on specific details of the product.

Similarly, site search is important, especially for industry terms that are frequently misspelled (Latin or brand names, think of the pharmaceutical industry). Autosuggestion is helpful.

Cross-sell/upsell, bundling, product configurators, comparison tools etc. are also very important in B2B.[source:getelastic.com]

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