Balancing Online and Offline Procurement Channels in B2B Commerce

Corporate buyers are acting like consumer market buyers, using digital channels to research and purchase goods from their desktop and laptop computers, smartphones, and tablets. While all signs point to the digital trend continuing its ascent, however, traditional offline procurement is alive and well. In fact, suppliers are taking a new look at their various procurement channels in an effort to concurrently optimize them.

Not Just Digital

Plenty of B2B buyers and sellers still adhere to the customary ways of doing things. At this point in time, it’s not necessary to take their purchasing or procurement relationships completely online. As shown in Accenture’s Channel Shift: Measuring B2B Efforts to Shift Customers Online, the top purchasing channels available to B2B Buyers are:

• In-person sales representative (90%)
• Online through a website (86%)
• Over the phone (82%)
• Using a mobile device (58%)
• Electronic Data Exchange (50%)
• Third-party online marketplaces (38%)
• Distributers, dealers, partners (20%)
• Social media (10%)
• Email (7%)
• Direct sales, catalogs, kiosks, expos/events, brick and mortar stores (3%)

While the online website channel claims the second spot—and other forms of digital b2b commerce are present elsewhere on the list—there is clearly a strategic need for suppliers to continue investing in other areas.

The Omnichannel Strategy

Forrester research commissioned by Accenture Interactive and SAP hybris shows that focusing on delivering a seamless experience across channels is the way forward. Survey participants in Mastering Omni-Channel B2B Customer Engagement reveal the primary drivers behind their organization’s investment in omnichannel initiatives:

• Meet customer expectations (74%)
• Provide a consistent experience across channels (65%)
• (Recognition that) the omnichannel customer has a higher lifetime value (64%)
• Drive additional efficiencies and cost savings (60%)
• Match our competitors’ practices (55%)
• See an uplift in our customer satisfaction metrics (53%)

Indeed, many of these initiatives may in fact be aimed at creating/providing robust ecommerce platforms for B2B customers, addressing multiple channels serves the widest span of stakeholders. And first and foremost, that includes current customers. The Siteworx study XConnect: A B2B Analysis found that 82% of revenue of large B2B enterprises comes from current customers. So all of the channels they are currently using—online, offline, or both—need to be optimized for retention.

From Challenge to Success

As if implementing an effective online B2B procurement strategy isn’t challenging enough, devising an omnichannel strategy might be considered even more difficult due to its sheer scale. For an organization to succeed with an omnichannel strategy, it must deliver consistent, customer-centric experiences no matter what channel is being used. When data and processes are siloed, as they tend to be in today’s enterprises, it’s difficult to share customer information across channels, office locations, and systems.

Technology needs to be carefully and effectively integrated to ensure proper process functionality and measurement. Success, therefore, depends on adequate technology investment, supportive partnerships, and a commitment to doing what it takes to serve the both existing and future customers. B2B buyers, like their consumer market counterparts, are demanding change—so suppliers who evolve with their needs are well-positioned to grow with them.

Read B2B Procurement Goes Digital to learn what’s driving suppliers to expand their B2B online shopping capabilities.