The future of B2B commerce: A sneak peek

Welcome back! Hope you're doing well. Today, we offer a sneak peek into the future with an expert on the subject. ??

In our recently launched report about digital commerce in B2B the Nordics we posed questions about the near future. Here’s what the respondents expect in 3 years:

?? Most of the companies anticipate digital sales growth despite recession.

?? The recession may even present an opportunity to accelerate digitalization.

?? Digitalization is seen as an enabler for internationalization.

As expressed by one of the respondents ??

?But what if we want to look a bit further… let’s say 5-10 years away from now.

What does the fortune teller say?

The crystal ball remains murky ??; no one truly knows what lies ahead.

Yet, there are those with a knack for predictions… ??

Say hello to Tobias Bergstr?m, an experienced digital commerce advisor who loves to look into the future. ??

Tell us a bit about yourself

Hi, I'm Tobias Bergstr?m, Digital Commerce Strategist at Commerce Mind AB .

Commerce Mind offer companies (truly) independent advice and support when it comes to e-commerce and omnichannel business.

We help ?? big and small companies, B2B/B2C/D2C with everything from setting long term business objectives, to channel conflict management, business cases, architecture, interim assignments as well as procurement of platforms and partners to.?Whatever it takes to do better digital business. Independently.?

How do you think advancements in digital technologies will impact the B2B e-commerce landscape over the next five years?

As I see it the B2B ecommerce transformation has just started. ??

Tech is a driving factor, but we as a society are going through a rapid digital change that will make the industrial revolution look like a smaller adjustment. We can’t even fathom the changes ahead of us.

Trying to predict the B2B ecommerce landscape in five years is like giving a weather forecast for next year… But in five years, hm ??, I don’t think B2B ecommerce will be considered something potentially new and cool, but a very natural part of our everyday work life and way of doing business.

My guess is that B2B commerce won’t be managed by a small team of company experts sitting in the “digital team” but be an integrated part of many peoples’ daily work. Where digital selling is an integrated core competence.

2 major driving forces ?

There are 2 major driving forces or incentives for companies that dive into B2B ecommerce, and depending on which force you focus on, your business will develop accordingly:?

1) Operational efficiency??? – trying to minimize the transaction cost per order and freeing up time for staff that today manually deal with orders, or?

2) Boosting sales??? - Drive sales and market share through new customer segments, new markets, new categories etc.

If your focus is operational efficiency, EDI and similar transaction channels will be as important as ecommerce. If your focus is boosting sales, you need to acquire a lot more competencies and experiences before you will see real results.

Your focus on cost vs. sales will to some degree define you as a company in the future. ?? ??

What are the emerging trends and technologies that are likely to shape the future of B2B digital commerce 10 years from now?

Channel crunch????

Everyone in the distribution chain tries to take on everybody else’s role. Already today B2B retailers and distributors are creating their own private labels and manufacturing operations, whilst manufacturers and brand owners open up direct-to-consumer sales channels (ecommerce and brick-and-mortar).

I think we will see “cold power wars” playing out in many industries, where everyone wants to be on top of the food chain. But at the same time, nobody wants to rock the boat too much and destroy their current relations with customers and suppliers.

AI ??

I guess we are all pretty fed up with newborn AI evangelists trying to get their message across on LinkedIN with broad and general statements, but AI?will?have a profound impact on how we do ecommerce in the future.?

And already have today. An AI is awesome for things such as pricing optimization, replenishing, personalization, translation, content creation, relevance, promotions, fraud detection and many, many other things. I often refer to?Amara's?Law, when it comes to digital trends (and AI specifically):

“We?tend?to?overestimate?the?effect?of?a?technology?in the short?run?and?underestimate?the?effect?in?the long?run.”

Currently, we are overestimating the effect in the short run.???

Do you think a B2B company will survive without digital channels in 10 years from now?

Is a very hypothetical question, as it isn’t really a choice for 99% of companies. Most companies will be forced to sell through digital channels either because customers will require it, or because all your competitors do it. The real question is if you can survive without really?embracing?digital channels.

But sure. Some will survive. But they will probably struggle in some parts of their value chain.

It also depends on your business and type of product you are selling. If you are GE and have the best MRI machine on the market, or you are Airbus selling commercial airliners, relational sales will continue to rule their world. But even there, spare parts and post purchase services might be fit for ecommerce sales… On the other side, very small B2B service companies might not feel the need to do ecommerce. Like your local accounting firm.

To sum up: Really complex products that require a huge investment will most probably survive, but can (and will) still benefit from ecommerce in parts of their business. Really small B2B service companies will have less need to compete with ecommerce as a sales channel.

What are the potential disruptions or innovations that may come from startups and new entrants in the B2B e-commerce space, and how can established companies stay competitive in this evolving landscape?

The biggest disruption, I believe, will not be some new SaaS services from smaller startups, but rather the emergence of niche B2B marketplaces. Just like with standardized B2C products, the marketplace that connects the many sellers and many buyers will be on top of the food chain and own the customer interaction. This is how the ecommerce space has developed for products such as books, music, travel, and fashion in the last 20 years, with marketplaces such as Amazon, Expedia, hotels.com, Spotify and Zalando. ????????

I see no reason why this development will stop at B2C products. I anticipate a lot of niche B2B marketplaces popping up that might deal with construction products, financial services, medical products, raw materials, office supplies etc. And I think that the creation of B2B market places will involve a lot of power struggles in the distribution chain. ????

Who will take on the market place role??? You? An external player? One of the existing manufacturers or brand owners? Your worst competitor? A retailer? If you don’t watch out for marketplace movers, you might find yourself in an unfavorable position in the distribution chain and see your margins evaporate due to commissions to a marketplace run by your competitor.

How can B2B companies in the Nordics utilize analytics and data-driven insights to optimize their e-commerce strategies, improve customer targeting, and drive business growth?

I meet a lot of B2B companies that see ecommerce as a project. When the project is delivered, they expect it to magically generate sales and margins by itself for eternity. Just because it exists. Rarely does ecommerce follow the same kind of planning, target setting and KPI analysis as the traditional sales processes (sales reps, inbound sales etc.). ??

I firmly believe that B2B businesses need to start looking at ecommerce as a strategic sales channel, and that involves incorporating it into the strategic planning cycle, putting it into the right organizational context and being very clear about the longer-term business objectives, targets and KPIs. When that has been done, analytics and data-driven insights come into play and can help you navigate towards your objective.

Is there something else you want to add?

No. I’ve already talked too much. ??

What is your tips to B2B companies today to be as successful as possible in 2030??

Make it a part of your daily business. Compare and treat it in the same way as all your other sales channels. Set objectives, plan strategically, do business cases for ecommerce investments, set targets and KPIs, follow up, adjust accordingly.?

Make sure your ecommerce capabilities, competences and experiences are widely distributed in your organization. Not only sitting in a corporate SWAT team.

Be bold.???? Nobody has the exact formula for B2B ecommerce success (yet). Things will be clearer in 2030, but the winners will be the ones who dared to try and sometimes fail. ??

Play the longer game. ???? Look at ecommerce as a reoccurring investment and not a one-time cost. Based on the longer-term business case, also budget for business growth and the unknown developments, and not only the IT project with three years’ depreciation.

Describe the future for Digital Commerce in B2B in one word.

Transitioning – Like the caterpillar to the butterfly.???? Creating ecommerce success for a traditional B2B company will take time, can feel awkward, and be a bit messy in the process. ??

If you have questions for?Tobias, you can find him here on LinkedIn.

___________________________

Thank you so much Tobias for your prophecy about the future. ??

And I must say, wow, after this interesting interview I'm pretty excited about the future for B2B digital Commerce. ?? What about you?

?That’s it for this time.

See you again in 2 weeks.

Cheers ??

Malin

?? Work with Litium

Whenever you're ready there's 3 ways Litium can help you:?

1. We help B2B companies scale their business and build revenue growth with our platform for digital commerce.?
2. We’re keen to build a community around B2B commerce, to share our knowledge and insights. Join our tribe and share your ideas and learnings!??
3. Crafters of commerce. We work with a B2B expert network, our ecosystem of partners and advisers have extensive knowledge and experience in digital transformation.

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