BigCommerce, the eCommerce platform for brands, released a new report on Monday (May 7) that showed 80 percent of merchants who responded to its survey accept B2B orders online, and 78 percent of those have been offering online purchasing for at least two years.
In a press release, the company said that based on the survey responses of 525 merchants that either supply other businesses or sell to both consumers and businesses, B2B eCommerce is growing along with overall eCommerce. Of the survey respondents, 83 percent of B2B merchants that do not yet have an online sales channel expect to add one within the next two years.
“Forrester predicts that B2B eCommerce transactions will reach $1.2 trillion by 2021, yet we still see an extensive amount of B2B sales taking place through traditional, analog channels,” said Jimmy Duvall, chief product officer at BigCommerce. “Today’s B2B buyers are hungry for a modern approach to business purchasing, and merchants that ignore customer preferences and available tools leave significant sales on the table.”
According to BigCommerce, the survey results highlight the importance that B2B eCommerce will hold for merchants. Of the merchants that sell online to other businesses, 48 percent have been doing it for more than five years. Many cite complexity and transparency as reasons not to sell to other businesses online.
Additionally, more than 37 percent of respondents said that the challenge of managing multiple websites was a reason not to embrace B2B eCommerce, while 33 percent blamed the hesitation of executives to reveal pricing online. Still, while business owners think pricing gives them a competitive edge, it’s the reputation that can matter most – BigCommerce found that 53 percent of merchants cite their reputation as one of their strongest selling points.
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