How B2B e-commerce powers growth through personalization

80% of consumers will leave and purchase elsewhere following an unsuccessful search, according to Google. This translates to trillions of dollars lost in revenue for retailers every year. Implementing a strong personalization strategy is imperative if B2B companies want to remain competitive.

Bridging the gap in B2B e-commerce expectations

The gap between the expectations of B2B buyers and the digital experiences delivered by B2B e-commerce continues to be big, according to commercetools. Despite enormous shifts in the adoption of digital tools within B2B e-commerce, these businesses still leave their customers wanting more.

As private B2C users, many B2B shoppers expect the same intuitive and user-friendly experience often found on B2C webshops. Unfortunately, they’re left wanting, as the smooth experience more often given in a B2C context is rare to find in a B2B scenario. For this reason, B2B e-commerce companies are missing out on various opportunities to increase average order values, boost loyalty, increase revenue and more.

Why is effective personalization still a hurdle for B2B sector?

Understanding the complexities of people, processes, and technology and knowing how to effectively use this to their advantage has been a tough nut to crack for B2B e-commerce businesses.

For a typical B2B e-commerce transaction, many factors need to be considered. These include multiple decision-makers, hierarchical structures, distinct purchasing journeys, and pricing considerations. Because personalization in a B2B setting is not only limited to user behavior but must also consider these factors to deliver truly personalized experiences, processing this data in real time can be a challenge.

The technology doesn’t lack, but the slow adoption of it makes it difficult for B2B e-commerce businesses to truly understand their target audience and segments. This makes it hard to deliver the personalized experience and customer centricity that shoppers expect.

What an effective, personalized B2B buyer journey looks like

Imagine that you’re a coordinator within the engineering industry. Depending on the project, the bits and pieces you need are highly specific. To make sure you’ve got the right components, searching for them must be easy with the option to search through a product ID, EAN number, and dimensions. The search engine must be fast and understand complex naming intuitively.

But with a large product catalog, being able to see and find absolutely everything the store has to offer may not be relevant for your particular role. Besides an intuitive search experience, the B2B webshop must implement relevant sorting strategies, filters, and relevance modifiers so that you get to see only that which is relevant to your role and your project.

Ahlsell, the largest technical distributor in the Nordics, is a good example of how personalization strategies elevate the B2B shopping experience. Several key B2B features allow them to personalize the buyer journey in real-time. What brings particular value is the consideration of the behavior of the individual user in the particularities of the company context and the specific project being handled.

Also, predictive analysis is used to recommend relevant alternatives or products that pair well with what they put in the basket or often buy. All in all, this cuts the time spent on purchasing in half, greatly improving efficiency, despite complex naming conventions. For Ahlsell, it has enhanced their service levels and made customers make repeat purchases.

Wrapping up…

Personalization is no longer a nice-to-have if B2B e-commerce businesses aim to keep and grow their market share. B2B shoppers expect the same smooth experience they get in B2C, and B2B e-commerce businesses need to adopt technology to deeply understand and intuitively deliver according to the complex B2B needs.

By offering a smooth, personalized experience in real-time, whether during search or recommendation, even across channels, businesses can keep customers happy and coming back for more.

Let us help you grow your B2B e-commerce!

We've got many years of experience with personalization within large and complex B2B setups. We've seen it all, and we'd love to share our best practices with you.

Let's explore your personalization potential

Christian and the team know all things B2B :-)