%20Logos,%20Icons/Asset%2046.png)
Spoiler alert: In the age of consumerized commerce, B2B buying must become simpler.
In recent years, the rate of change and innovation across B2B buying and selling has been positively explosive. Study after study confirms that buyers are doing more upfront research before ever talking to sales professionals. At the same time, the ease of ecommerce experiences has begun to cross over from the consumer space into the B2B sphere. In fact, companies from heavy industry and manufacturing to enterprise SaaS are exploring new ways to deliver experiences buyers demand.
Altogether, these trends are converging into a shift we call “consumerized commerce.”
But, what are B2B buyers looking for from a consumerized commerce experience?
Intuitive Product Discoverability
B2B buyers want buying experiences that draw on the ease provided by consumer browsing and shopping.
In consumer buying situations, buyers often have simple ways to guide themselves to the products they want and that fit their needs. In this scenario, buyers don’t need to know specific SKUs or even product names in order to discover what they’re looking for.
By contrast, in the B2B space, it can often be frustratingly difficult for buyers to navigate their way to products that match their needs and requirements. In this scenario, buyers who want to conduct more discovery on their own end up having to rely on sales much earlier in the process.
Ultimately, B2B buyers want to be able to guide themselves to the best-fit solutions without needing to be an expert in your product catalog.
Buyer-Friendly Configuration
As another layer to discoverability, B2B buyers want to be able to choose the products and services that combine to give them their best-fit solution.
Imagine shopping for a new car. As a consumer, you would likely visit a car maker’s website and not only be able to navigate to a model that interests you, but you would be able to configure that car model to suit your needs. By the time you visit the dealership, you already have a confident idea of what you want.
Keeping with our car example, visual commerce can play an important role here, where buyers are able to get a strong sense of how products, features, and additional services combine to create a full solution.
B2B industries are borrowing from this example to deliver a modern experience for today’s buyers. Most B2B purchases are not a simple “add to cart” motion for one product; B2B sellers know all too well how often tailored solution configurations come into play. So, why not enable the buyer to build some of their own click-based configurations early in the buying process?
Buyer-friendly configuration recognizes how modern buyers buy, and is especially meaningful for those who want to conduct thorough research before reaching out to sales.
Valuable Product Recommendations
B2B purchases are often expensive and can even be career-defining for the buyers giving final sign-off. Instilling purchase confidence early in the process can go a long way to support not only sales effectiveness but customer satisfaction. Smart product recommendations can make a big difference here.
From a consumer perspective, how many times have you added items to your cart and then discovered another product you liked based on the company’s recommendations? That ‘a-ha’ moment is a universal experience across B2C ecommerce, but not as common in B2B.
B2B companies can borrow from the B2C world by offering product recommendations to buyers that can unlock greater value. For example, if a buyer has found good-fit products and assembled a configuration on their own, there may be related products that would enrich the overall solution.
Surfacing additional recommended products in a B2B consumerized commerce experience will help the buyer to feel confident and ready to connect with sales to finalize their purchase.
Configuring Out Consumerized Commerce
Together, intuitive product discoverability, buyer-friendly configuration, and valuable product recommendations can enable B2B buyers to have a modern buying experience inspired by consumer ecommerce.
Want to learn more about consumerized commerce for B2B buying and selling? Explore more from Logik.io’s Commerce Perspective resource library.
