How B2B businesses can manage their supply chains in a recession

Inflation, a predicted recession and disrupted supply chains could all take their toll on your business to business (B2B) sales performance in 2023.?

Accurate and up-to-date information, the ability to respond rapidly to changes, and an integrated approach to business data and planning will be the keystones to your success.?

B2B companies that continue to invest in technology and make the most of their?ecommerce capabilities are more likely to have the tools they need to respond effectively to the challenges ahead.?

However, the B2B landscape is complex and hard to predict. Here are some things to help you respond to your customers’ changing habits in a destabilized business environment.?

• Communication – making contractual agreements to supply your customers is difficult when you don’t have control over deliveries and onward distribution. Being transparent about the situation and what you can reasonably agree is at the core of acting in ‘good faith’. It will allow you to work together to achieve your joint commercial objectives. Maintaining open and transparent dialog will help to minimize stress and conflicts. Having an online sales portal where you can hold and share contracts and any necessary variations as they arise will help to keep things running smoothly.

?

• Forecasting – there are signs that inflation could slow down next year leading to reductions in the cost of raw materials. However, there will be a delay between peak inflation and prices coming down so B2B purchasing is likely remain under pressure.?

When your business systems are effectively integrated and you have access to a powerful application programming interface you can share data easily and securely. With reliable and accurate information throughout your supply chain you can give your existing customers confidence that their orders will be fulfilled. This will help with customer retention, which will be an important strategy for 2023.?

• Pricing – in uncertain times prices can be volatile, affecting costs and profitability throughout the supply chain. Long-term supply agreements often include terms allowing pricing adjustments but these changes then need to be updated quickly and reliably. This could represent a significant administrative overhead but it can be automated within your business systems using rules based on your contracts and terms and conditions. Integrated with your B2B ecommerce platform, your inventory and pricing information will remain accurate.?
• Buyer behavior – as inflation increases demand is likely to fall. The habits of B2B buyers are changing, with more purchases being completed online and very little time spent meeting suppliers.?

Having near real time information about customer behavior via your ecommerce platform means you can continuously review changing buying patterns. You can then refocus your marketing and make plans to reduce your inventory in good time.?

• Customer experience – providing a smooth, fast and efficient purchasing process will differentiate you from your competition. Excellent customer service and easy re-ordering with online experiences that reflect your buyers’ retail purchases will help you to keep your customers engaged and win new business in challenging times.?

Your ecommerce platform can make it quicker and easier for your buyers to find answers to queries with features such as predictive search. Smooth ordering, checkout, and re-ordering and easy-to-set-up accounts will allow both you and your customers to create quotes and negotiate terms.?

Ready for anything?

With the right tools you can be proactive and ready to respond to supply, cost and logistics issues up or down your supply chain to minimize their impact on your business. You’ll also be ideally placed to review and renegotiate your contracts with confidence.?

Find out how Cloudfy’s best-in-class B2B ecommerce software can help.?