Why Is B2B E-commerce Order Management Gaining Ground?

Businesses that have not included e-commerce order management in their B2B sales strategies should begin to seriously consider doing so. “By 2014, 40 percent of b2b marketers expect to be … committed to e-commerce as a means of marketing and selling,” a recent article from BtoB Online reports. With an estimated $559 billion worth of business being done annually in this market, businesses not taking advantage of e-commerce order management are in great danger of losing out.

Up until now, the e-commerce model has been focused heavily on consumer transactions. Manufacturers and wholesale distributors have largely stayed out of this market, but that is changing and it’s happening quickly. “[B2b] e-commerce technology is improving. It’s offering more consumer-like experiences, and it’s becoming just as easy,” says Rob Mihalko, VP-seller marketing at Ariba Discovery, a web-based matching service that helps buyers and sellers to connect.

So what is driving this adoption of e-commerce order management among manufacturers and wholesale distributors? BtoB Online’s study indicates “constraints on marketing department resources [are] the No. 1 driver of e-commerce adoption, cited by 47 percent of respondents.”

Marketing departments stand to benefit greatly from the direct customer contact an e-commerce implementation affords. It’s also important to note that distribution channels are shrinking for manufacturers due to the success of sites like AmazonSupply.com and Google Shopping for Suppliers. For distributors and manufacturers, having an e-commerce presence is paramount to maintaining customer relationships.

The customer generation benefits of e-commerce order management are also plenty. Manufacturing and distribution businesses are using e-commerce “…to reach new buyers; to generate new leads and general awareness; to find buyers ready to buy; and to differentiate products and service from the competition’s,” the BtoB Online article explains. Business customers are beginning to behave like consumers when it comes to web purchasing. Consequently, they have greater expectations of their suppliers when it comes to sales and customer service on the Internet.

“Among the more significant benefits,” the article affirms, “[is] the signal it offers that a company is a forward-thinking digital enterprise…” In the coming years, manufacturers and distributors who do not invest in e-commerce will find themselves lagging behind competition and buyer expectations. Since only a minority utilizes these benefits now, companies are offered a stark choice: either forge ahead now and seize the innumerable benefits of e-commerce order management, or be left behind.

Source: BtoBOnline, June 2013