Author: Viktoria Grimm, Project Manager at ECC KÖLN

B2B retail is facing a variety of challenges: Increasing customer demands, the use of artificial intelligence and the relevance of sustainability are just some of the issues that are putting the industry under pressure. This makes it all the more important for companies to prepare for future trends and challenges in B2B retail. These can be summarized in five top topics:

1) Customer experience to ensure success

B2B commerce is characterized by rising customer expectations, which are transferred from B2C commerce and are increasingly congruent. Both wholesalers and manufacturers are recognizing the relevance of customer experiences and a pronounced customer focus in order to become and remain in the relevant set. There are many ways to optimize the customer journey and offer added value for procurers. The omnichannel excellence factor has become an important requirement for companies given the increasing variety of channels. This is because customers are also switching between different channels in B2B purchasing and expect a seamless shopping experience. Although the automation and digitalization of relevant processes required for this still poses major challenges for many B2B companies, there is a consensus on the relevance of tackling these issues.

2) Digital services as the be-all and end-all

Digitized and automated processes not only save companies time and money, they also enable, for example, a personalized customer approach and the implementation of digital services that simplify the procurement process and take the shopping experience to a new level. Customer portals are of particular interest here: They are classified as highly relevant, especially in industrial procurement, and are preferred over procurement systems(ECC COLOGNE: From Catalogs to Clicks, Part 1, 2023). Due to their high relevance, customer portals are already widely used and simplify the entire customer journey. Customer portals can offer important added value through services such as custom product configurations, document downloads and simple returns management. An existing challenge in this context is that the relevance of the individual functions and services that a customer portal should offer is assessed very differently by the sales and procurement sides. It is therefore crucial for providers to keep an eye on the different target groups and adapt their offerings accordingly.

3) Competitive advantage: innovations

In an era of global competition and constant market changes, B2B companies are faced with the challenge of being innovative and creative in order to gain a decisive competitive advantage. The majority of B2B companies (83%) are also aware of this and see effective innovation management as a key factor for long-term success. And in this context, too, the focus is on customer centricity, as a look at the top 3 trends critical to success in the next five years shows: artificial intelligence, metaverse and personalization. Among the new technologies, the use of AI is already widespread in the B2B sector, but the topic of metaverse is also gaining in importance. The majority of B2B decision-makers surveyed see future potential in this area and believe that the metaverse can offer a new B2B online experience ( ECC COLOGNE: B2BEST Barometer Vol. 9, 2023).

4) Personnel as a decisive factor

The shortage of skilled workers is clearly noticeable and is reflected in unfilled positions and overtime: Around 87% of wholesalers and 75% of manufacturers are affected by the shortage of skilled workers(ECC KÖLN: Hire me if you can, 2023). Last but not least, there is a lack of digitally savvy talent. But how can companies meet this challenge? One thing is certain: The optimization of working conditions – keyword flexible working models -, technical equipment or even certain offers for employees should be high on the employer’s agenda in order to become more attractive to employees. It may also be worth taking a closer look at possible reasons for termination in order to derive measures for the future. And when it comes to attracting new employees, companies should not be afraid to look for them where a large proportion – especially Gen Z – spends a lot of time: On social media channels like Instagram or Tiktok. Digital processes and fast and complete data availability are essential for existing staff, especially in customer service and field service, to work at their best.

5) Sustainability as a priority

The topic of sustainability has rapidly gained relevance in recent years. Not only customers and employees increasingly expect environmental protection measures and resource efficiency from companies, but political pressure has also increased. This is not just about environmental protection, but also about social responsibility, occupational health and safety and ethically responsible corporate governance (ESG criteria). Around 81% of B2B decision-makers believe that commitment to ESG criteria is important in order to remain competitive in the long term. When formulating specific goals, the focus is primarily on the environmental aspect. Despite the great awareness of the relevance of the topic, there is still a lot of room for improvement in practice, as around 65% of the companies surveyed are still at the very beginning in the area of ESG according to their self-assessment ( ECC COLOGNE: B2BEST Barometer Vol. 10, 2023).

It is clear that a large number of complex topics are currently shaping and influencing B2B retail. It is therefore important for companies to address future-relevant topics such as AI, sustainability and the metaverse right now and incorporate them into their (long-term) strategy. And even if not all measures can be implemented in the shortest possible time, it is important to acquire knowledge now, create important foundations such as clean data and the necessary tools and initiate processes.