B2B Next 2019: Key Takeaways from the Amazon of B2B Commerce Conferences

By taking a content-first approach, B2B Next continues to put its customers first - the conference attendees - and we all learned a ton as a result! This is how conferences should be done.

B2B Next continued its growth in 2019 and I believe is on track to become the center point of digital commerce content for the B2B sector. Kudos to Andy Hoar and the conference organizers in staying true to their mission of putting the conference attendees' interests first in planning and executing this show. This demonstrates true Amazon-style customer-first thinking. The quality of the content was excellent, not a warmed-over rehash of what we have heard before.

So... what did we hear? Here are my key takeaways.

Ecommerce has finally arrived to B2B in a meaningful way, and the majority of companies have caught on

For the first time EVER, when I asked the room of 130+ participants at my workshop, "Are you currently selling via Ecommerce," the vast majority raised their hands in the affirmative and said "YES". This is refreshing and encouraging. However, consider that almost 50% of B2B companies still do not have Ecommerce. So the ground remains fertile to build your competitive advantage, but time is short to get in the game.

During my workshop, "Mastering the Art of Running a Post-Digital Enterprise", I shared a framework for assessing your digital maturity from my book "Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce". It was exciting to see how many in the audience are already engaged in more advanced digital tactics to meet customer needs, including personalization of the digital experience, aligned selling channels such as digitally-enabled sales teams, and use of digital marketing to reach new customer segments. The bar continues to get higher in B2B - it is no longer just about Ecommerce, but about developing customer-centric relationships with digital as a foundational element.

The Stages of Digital Maturity: Where are you in your digital transformation journey?

Ecommerce is not just for the big boys!

It was great to see striking evidence that Ecommerce is not just an opportunity for the largest of enterprises with millions of dollars of capital to invest. One of the attendees in my workshop was Bay Fastening Systems, a mid-market distributor of fasteners. These guys doubled.... yes DOUBLED... their total company revenue by leveraging Ecommerce. Bay operates in an industry category that is highly commoditized. Their success reveals the power that digital can have when best practices are applied. Bay now receives 35% of their total revenue through Ecommerce, and 20-30 new customers per week are coming from digital sources. How did they do it? By making it really really easy for customers to order from them, providing world class customer self service via the web, and getting the direct sales team aligned behind the Ecommerce effort. They amplify efforts with digital marketing and SEO. This stuff has been done in the B2C sector for years, they are simply applying these best practices to B2B and beating the pants off of their competitors. Wow.

The lesson - just because you are a small company doesn't mean you can't create massive gains from digital transformation. Ecommerce software and solutions are now within reach for companies of all sizes.

The industry is finally confronting - and moving beyond - channel conflict

For years I've heard B2B executives say "we can't launch Ecommerce or sell on Amazon or digitally enable anything because we'll compete with our channels." This is probably the #1 reason I've heard executives give for ignoring customers and remaining in the mire of the ''business is good enough" status quo.

Well, I'm finally seeing this start to change.

I sat in on an excellent session facilitated by master operator and digital veteran Marta Dalton of Unilever, "Managing Channel Conflict with Partners, Resellers, and Dealers". I heard manufacturers, brands, and distributors of all sizes openly discussing ways they are managing in this new world where sales channels are shifting and the customer is truly in charge. I heard tactics companies are using to accommodate customers digitally and manage through the resulting channel conflict rather than just avoiding it (or trying to ignore it). I heard about pricing and assortment approaches, as well as segmentation and personalization, and ultimately ways that will allow businesses that are truly executing to deliver customer value and stand out while being realistic about channel shifts. These are the discussions the B2C world had fifteen years ago that resulted in the best brands and retailers doubling down, reinforcing their value to consumers, and investing heavily in direct-to-consumer Ecommerce. These are the consumer brands that remain standing today amidst dozens of retail bankruptcies. Acknowledging the reality of channel conflict and finding constructive ways to approach it results in healthy discussions and action, and I'm glad to see these conversations now taking place in B2B.

Technology is no good if it's not FLEXIBLE

One of the most disruptive things any company can do is to re-platform their Ecommerce web site. Just ask me. Earlier in my career, while I was the COO of an online retailer, I had the unfortunate displeasure of re-platforming twice in two years (for many reasons I won't go into here). We had to focus an enormous amount of organizational resources on this effort, taking our eye off of building the business, and losing momentum (and revenue and profit) along the way. Huge opportunity costs. Don't do this.

How do you future-proof the business?

Flexibility is the new must-have in your Ecommerce architecture. Shopping features (both B2C-like and B2B core workflow functionalities) have become commodities. A price of entry into Ecommerce. These features are in all modern, capable software platforms. Yes - check the boxes to make sure you have the features you need, but if you aren't setting up a flexible ecosystem, you are in danger of falling behind your customer's expectations.

Think back five years. Who would have thought we could ask a little black cylinder named Alexa to play our favorite song, tell us the weather outside, or to re-order copy paper for our office? My 8 year old son now believes that all electronic devices should listen to what he has to say (particularly when his parents don't cave to what he wants!)

Enter something called "headless commerce." Companies like Elastic Path and Znode are deploying API-based solutions that allow B2B sellers to de-couple their front end web sites (often powered by content management systems, which are already optimized) from the commerce "plumbing" that enables transactions. Headless allows companies to turn-on commerce at any customer touch-point. Think about voice search and buying (a la Alexa), Internet of Things (my home printer orders its own ink when it is close to running out!), mobile devices, virtual reality eyeglasses, or just about anything.

I participated in a panel at Elastic Path's pre-conference workshop entitled "Why Losing your Head is a Good Thing", where we discussed how companies across industries are deploying this approach. I was impressed with the breadth of companies in the room, those either considering or already embracing headless. I gave examples such as Bosch Power Tools, which is using headless approaches to empower their customers to drive greater profits from their own business (see my earlier write up on Bosch here). This is an example of using flexibility to future proof a business.

Amazon Is HERE... yes, in B2B!

And I still don't think the industry realizes it

Amazon is just for consumers buying toothpaste and watching Prime videos, right?

Nope.

Amazon Business is for real and it's here - right now! I attended a portion of the Amazon Workshop at B2B Next and then served as an Expert Advisor at several Amazon sessions during the conference. I still don't think the B2B industry quite gets what is happening here. Some stats bear repeating: Amazon announced $10 BN in annual B2B revenue in late 2018. They will likely cross $15 BN this year. That is 50% year on year growth, and more volume than the vast majority of distributors. 50% of B2B buyers now purchase at least 10% of their work purchases on Amazon Business. B2B customer purchase preferences are shifting towards Amazon. It is a reality.

Judging from the questions I heard in the various sessions I was in, B2B companies are still trying to figure this all out. Many are failing to control their Amazon presence, control resellers, or manage their brand presentation or pricing on the marketplace. While Amazon is more penetrated in some B2B categories than others (e.g. office and MRO categories are more mature on Amazon than other segments), you don't have forever to get this right. If you are a manufacturer, get your products onto Amazon using a 3P reseller model (also called Seller Central), register your brand, and manage your product content, pricing, and resellers on Amazon. If you are a distributor or other reseller, you must figure out now what value you really offer to your customers and shore it up. And you should consider selling on Amazon to learn what the best in the Ecommerce business does to accommodate customer needs (and get your private label products on there!)

Remember, if you only differentiate on price and selection, well... Sears once differentiated on this basis. And only one company is best in the world at differentiating this way - Amazon. Anyone want to sign up to be the B2B version of Sears?

The good news is that there are approaches that work for Amazon for businesses of all types. I co-founded a firm called Enceiba to help companies establish and execute an Amazon strategy, while also helping to differentiate and maintain customer value outside of Amazon. We are the only Amazon consultancy that has a significant focus on B2B. I'm happy to help you figure out your Amazon path.

Keep up the B2B Momentum!

Finally, I want to congratulate Andy Hoar and the Digital Commerce 360 team on a fantastic conference. Keep up the good work, guys, you are moving the entire industry forward.

Onward and upward!!

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Brian Beck is a Commerce Strategist, Advisor, and Author of "Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce". He is also a Managing Partner at Enceiba, an Amazon agency that helps manufacturers and brands strategically capture their Amazon opportunity, and BECK Ecommerce, a strategic advisory firm. He can be reached at [email protected] or by mobile phone at 732-208-2763.