The enterprise has struggled to adopt the mobile device in a way that is secure and efficient, especially when it comes to areas of finance like procurement and payments. Last year, a report by TSYS and the NAPCP found that B2B mobile payments continue to lag in terms of adoption rates, citing supplier resistance and a lack of upper-management support to make the shift.
But mobile procurement and eCommerce could be another story, according to eMarketer. Researchers at the firm released a new report this week, “B2B Mobile Marketing and Advertising 2017: Chasing the Ever-More Mobile Buyer,” that suggests corporate buyers are eager to adopt mobile procurement solutions.
“B2B customers have mobility in mind,” said SAS Institute Global Director of Customer Intelligence Wilson Raj in an interview with eMarketer. “That means mobile is more than a channel; it’s really a moment, a point in time and space when a B2B customer pulls out a mobile device and wants to do something for work within the immediate context.”
But that issue of “supplier resistance” cited in other studies emerges again with eMarketer’s latest report. Analysts said there is a disconnect between expectations of corporate buyers and the experiences that B2B suppliers and marketers can actually offer.
A newer workforce may pull up adoption rates of mobile procurement solutions, however; eMarketer cited research released by Salesforce last year that found that 84 percent of millennial professionals agree mobile is vital to their work.
Today, researchers noted, the mobile device is especially important for education on business-related content — for example, reading news related to their industries or using mobile apps developed for their work.
“Mobile usage for B2B buyers hasn’t cannibalized desktop,” concluded eMarketer. But there is evidence that mobile devices are building steam in the workforce, especially for procurement purposes.
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