Digital-First B2B Commerce Strategy for Millennial Buyers

The times are transforming. The millennial generation, now in its twenties and thirties, is beginning to fill executive-level roles at organizations where they work, not counting the large number who have set out on their own and launched their startups.

This implies that people in this group are now in the position of buyers, and they will be the ones B2B firms will have to engage with when trying to attract new business. While millennials are not digital natives like previous generations, they have spent a substantial chunk of their life growing up with technology. As a result, firms seeking to do business with consumers must first learn their behavior and then communicate with them through those channels.

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Keeping this in mind, here are three trends to watch in 2022 if you want to engage with millennial shoppers.

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Digital Communication

The days of a sales agent visiting a prospect with catalogs and samples to try to convince them to buy are long gone.

42 percent of millennials use real-time messaging and 42 percent use social media while at work. This implies that, as B2B buyers, they choose multichannel communication techniques for rapid and instant gratification information that provides them with everything they need in the most efficient way possible.

Contact with salespeople, whether face-to-face or in person, was formerly the initial step in the sales process; however, for millennial purchasers, they are increasingly secondary channels. These encounters are still crucial, but millennials prefer that they take place deeper down the funnel. Millennials regard internet searches, vendor websites, coworkers, and peers to be their key sources of knowledge, with the younger end of the demographic choosing social media in particular.

As a result, your B2B firm will need to rethink its sales funnel in 2022 to ensure that you are contacting prospective clients where they are.

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A Global Digital Marketplace

In the digital era, millennial shoppers are likewise shifting their sourcing patterns. Businesses used to rely on a single, local, and consistent supplier to get what they required for their operations.

We now live in a world where the internet has created an entirely new world of supply alternatives, and millennial customers are eager to take benefit of it. This new platform has even allowed millennials to buy directly from manufacturers, a practice that has grown by more than 20% since 2017. During the same time, distributors saw their buying share fall by 15%, to 38%, while manufacturers and online marketplaces increased by 10% and 17%, respectively.

This trend is expected to continue as we approach 2022. To stand out in the internet's spinning maelstrom, B2B enterprises that wish to stay competitive must have a strong online presence.

Millennials are also substantially more inclined to buy items from countries outside than that of the United States. According to research, millennial customers obtain over half of their items from other countries, far higher than their baby boomer or even GenX colleagues.

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Additional Services

As a result of the service that millennials have grown to anticipate as a result of their encounters with consumer companies such as Amazon, they are searching for B2B buying partnerships that are as similar to those experiences as feasible.

When placing product orders, millennials have come to anticipate lightning-fast delivery from B2B firms, thanks to Amazon's lightning-fast shipping. Twenty-six percent of millennial customers prefer that their purchases arrive within two days. They are also willing to pay a little extra for speedier delivery, comparable to Amazon Prime, with 81% eager to pay for next-day delivery.

Millennial buyers are also seeking B2B companies who offer exceptional customer service. This is influenced, once again, by the brand names with whom they choose to do business. A whopping 87 percent of millennials said they would gladly switch their company to a different vendor if they thought it would deliver superior after-sales care.

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Final Thoughts

Millennial clients are changing the game and will continue to do so in 2022. Brands that are willing to recognize trends and deliver the services and engagements that this generation expects will be the most successful.

"The increase of Millennials in the workplace brings in a new age that challenges long-standing industry traditions," said Brooke Yamini, UPS's Vice President of Marketing Operations. "Not only do these youth, tech-savvy customers want their things delivered quickly, but they are also influenced by additional services and after-sales support."