B2B commerce: Reframing revenue growth from front to back

A new generation of B2B buyers expects a digitized experience when researching, evaluating, and purchasing business-to-business (B2B) products. As these buyers bring their expectations from the consumer world into the business realm, companies can converge B2B and business-to-consumer practices to stay competitive and drive revenue growth.

Our research shows that customer experience (CX) is now considered a serious differentiator in B2B commerce.

88% of B2B buyers seek more flexibility and responsiveness throughout their purchasing process.

81% of B2B buyers indicate a need for increased self-service and web-based tools.

69% prefer digital platforms, such as supplier ecommerce websites and customer portals, for key moments like reordering.

37% of B2B buyers express a willingness to pay a slightly higher price to a supplier that offers ease of doing business.

Omni-channel B2B commerce—the ability to offer an end-to-end digital sales experience across multiple channels—represents a shift in how businesses approach sales. It's more than just having a website or offering online ordering. It involves creating a unified and seamless customer experience across all physical and digital touchpoints.

Shifting from transactional to experiential

B2B buyers expect a new level of convenience, personalization, and flexibility in their business interactions. They want to be able to research, order, track shipments, and get support on their terms through their preferred channels. So, how can businesses standardize their B2B processes and create a digital-first sales experience?

Embrace omnichannel B2B commerce: Create a comprehensive digital sales experience across all channels to better serve customers.

Prioritize CX by offering self-service tools: Users want digital platforms for reordering and flexible processes. Focusing on the CX of these sales channels can lead to higher sales conversion, increased customer retention, and cost savings.

Connect strategy to capabilities: Align your customer segment strategies with your commercial capabilities to ensuring a seamless experience across physical and digital channels.

Design an operating model for CX: Your operating model should facilitate coordinated experiences across various functions, with management routines and incentives focused on delivering targeted experiences.

Measure, evaluate, and optimize CX: Regularly measure CX across customer segments and value delivered by internal functions. Actively monitor program success and make necessary adjustments.

Trust and empower channel and frontline employees: Invest in employee and channel partner experience. Provide digitally enabled capabilities to ensure efficient execution and prevent CX failures.

B2B commerce and back-office integration: Upgrading front-office systems alongside enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrades can enhance digital selling capabilities.

Use B2B commerce marketplaces: Tapping into the rapid growth of digital marketplaces presents an opportunity to expand your reach and optimize sales.

This focus on experience enhances customer satisfaction and leads to tangible business benefits. For instance, businesses with excellent CX see an average cost saving of 12% and experience 8% higher revenue compared to those with less mature CX efforts.

What’s more, having additional salespeople on the ground supports revenue streams. And secondly, it creates a new, digital sales channel that can offset the initial capital investment and drive overall profitability.

Evolving in-sync: matching front to back

Even more opportunity arises when companies align their back-office transformation with a front-office CX update. Doing so can streamline sales processes, enhance efficiency, and ultimately drive growth. Our research suggests that embracing front-office transformation can cover up to 57% of the cost of implementing an ERP system in the long run, making it a worthwhile investment.

Integrating front-end systems like B2B commerce platforms with back-end systems gives businesses a unified view of customer interactions, order history, and inventory. What else does it enable?

• Personalized experiences that use customer data from both systems to tailor product recommendations, offers, and content, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Faster order fulfillment through automating data flow between front and back-office systems, reducing errors, improving efficiency, and streamlining order processing and delivery.
• Improved customer service by giving your people real-time access to order status, inventory levels, and customer interaction history.
• Automating manual tasks across both front and back office, such as order processing, inventory management, and financial reconciliation, frees up employee time for higher-value activities and reduces the risk of errors.
• Integrating data from both sides of the business provides a holistic view of operations, enabling better insights into customer behavior, sales trends, and operational bottlenecks. This means more robust, data-driven decision-making, leading to process optimization and strategic resource allocation.
• Faster reactions to new customer demands, market trends, or disruptions through a more nimble and responsive business model. Integrating front and back-office systems allows businesses to react swiftly by adjusting product offerings, pricing, and marketing strategies based on real-time data.
• Expansion into new markets and better management of increased order volume. Automating processes and centralizing data management facilitates smooth scaling without compromising efficiency or customer experience.

The chain reaction

By creating new digital sales channels, businesses can better meet the evolving needs of B2B buyers, potentially leading to increased revenue and improved customer satisfaction. These improvements can, in turn, contribute to a more positive and fulfilling work environment for sales teams, as they are empowered with efficient tools and processes.

Finally, the financial benefits derived from a successful front-office transformation can potentially help to offset the costs associated with back-office upgrades, contributing to overall business profitability.

Buyers are no longer solely focused on product features and price; they are increasingly prioritizing the overall experience they have when interacting with suppliers. This shift places greater emphasis on building relationships, providing personalized service, and creating a seamless and convenient purchasing journey.

91% of buyers are more likely to make a purchase from a supplier that is easy to do business with, and 79% are willing to pay a slight premium for this convenience.

Omni-channel B2B commerce is not just a technological upgrade; it's a catalyst for a comprehensive sales transformation. By embracing digital channels, using data insights, and prioritizing customer experience, businesses can create a more agile, efficient, and customer-centric sales organization capable of driving sustained growth and long-term profitability.

Let’s talk

From lead to loyalty, we know how to solve nuanced challenges in the B2B commerce space. Want to discover how you can synchronize the evolution of your front and back office? Connect with us today.

Key contact

Ashish Bhambhani
Partner, Technology & Transformation
asbhambhani@deloitte.ca
1-416-202-2744