The COVID-19 pandemic has affected day to day life of millions of people around the world. To face the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, businesses have had to react fast and adjust their business models. They did. They took their sales online. The pandemic has changed shopping forever forcing people to go digital. Nowadays, more and more people are buying goods and services online. Because of the pandemic, constantly evolving digital technologies, and purchasing decisions of small businesses, global B2B ecommerce is rapidly growing and attracting attention. By 2030, it is expected to reach USD 35,317.37 trillion. B2B entrepreneurs have increased their digital marketing budget to satisfy increasing customer demand. Today’s B2B environment is going through major changes. Here are some key B2B ecommerce trends to pay attention to in 2022 if you want to keep one step ahead of the competition.

M-Commerce

Social Commerce

Content Marketing Strategy

Self-service Ecommerce Portals

Personalized content

Before we dive into the B2B ecommerce trends, let’s get started with an explanation of B2B. What is it? B2B is short for business-to-business when one company markets and sells products and services to another. B2B entrepreneurs have businesses as customers and buyers, not individual consumers.

Now let’s have a look at the top trends.

M-Commerce (Mobile Commerce)

With the increased demand for ecommerce, it is important to make your website compatible with mobile devices as there are 6.6 billion smartphone users right now. The number of mobile users will continue to rise over the following years.

A site that is designed and optimized for mobile devices is worth having. According to Google, mobile usage drives more than 40% of revenue in leading B2Bcompanies.

As the owner of B2B ecommerce store, you should definitely invest in your mobile strategy. It doesn’t matter if you want to build a mobile-friendly website or a mobile app, having a proper mobile strategy is a key to being successful in today's ecommerce world. Statistics reveal that 25% of mobile apps are only used once. This speaks volumes about the importance of a good user experience. It is essential for both mobile apps and websites. Mobile-friendly websites and apps can improve your web traffic and most of the searches now come from mobile devices. Being mobile-first is a necessity nowadays and this trend is going strong every day.

Social Commerce

Social commerce is another trend to keep an eye on. Your customers are highly dependent on social media and you can use it to promote and sell your products. Your customers use social media to search for products, express their feedback and ask questions about your products. The information and reviews they find on social media help them with their purchasing decisions, thus increasing your sales. While some of them look at reviews to buy products or services, 40% of consumers use social media channels to discover new brands or products. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube allow you to connect with your online audience. Some of these social media platforms can make online shopping easier. For example, your customers can buy products on Instagram without leaving the app. As a B2B store owner, you can start your online store right on Instagram. You can make your galleries shoppable by tagging products on your photos.

78 % of social sellers outsell peers who don’t use social media. Social commerce can make brands money. According to Gartner’s report, 46% of B2B customers use social media to learn about solutions for solving their problems. Moreover, this powerful tool can help you raise awareness of your brand and drive traffic to your website.

Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing is an important marketing strategy. If you want to drive organic traffic to your website, generate high-quality leads, engage your customers, build long-term relationships and make your brand stand out then this is a cost-efficient way to do so.

“Content is king”

Bill Gates

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You can implement different tactics. You can use SEO, share your posts in a newsletter, and promote them in individual emails. Plus, you can create and distribute engaging, relevant website content that brings real value to your customers. These tactics will remain relevant for B2B Ecommerce companies in 2022. 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing in their overall strategy, as opposed to 86% of B2C companies that market with content. Look at the diagram below.

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As you can see, the majority of specialists in this niche use this cost-effective marketing strategy.

Self-service Ecommerce Portals

In the modern business landscape, self-service portals are gaining more attention as customers continue to demand them. A self-service portal can greatly improve customer experience (CX). As you know, a great customer experience leads to an increase in engagement and an increase in brand loyalty. 70% of B2B consumers prefer purchasing items from a website over buying them from a sales representative. It’s more convenient that way.

You should make the process for getting information about products, placing orders and tracking them, and reordering them as quickly as possible. Your customers should be able to make a quick and simple product comparison. A self-service portal benefits all parties, including your customer service team. It can save them from routine inquiries. They will have more time to focus on more important activities.

Personalized Content

Personalized content is a crucial part of your marketing strategy. Content personalization shows your online visitors the relevant content based on their preferences and needs. It creates unique experiences for visitors based on who they are and what they want. You show them that you are fully aware of their business and are interested in providing them with top-notch service. Moreover, relevant content can generate more leads. The majority of B2B buyers tend to agree that personalized content affects their decision to work with certain partners. With personalized content, you will improve your web traffic as more people will want to return to your website. Plus, it will make your B2B business stand out from the rest.

Conclusion

Everything seems to be evolving in today's fast-paced digital world and B2B ecommerce is no exception. Every year, new trends emerge, so if you want to keep up with constantly changing consumer behavior and have an advantage over your competitors, you need to adapt to any changes and stay up to date on all the trends. We’ve discussed some key B2B ecommerce trends that will undoubtedly be useful for your B2B business.