Accelerate your Digital Growth with Digital Commerce
What is Digital Commerce?
Digital Commerce is a business strategy to increase sales and profitability that represents a rupture with e-commerce, both culturally and technologically. The two share a lot of DNA, yet the distinction is meaningful because each approach has its own priorities and processes, requiring different technologies. The terms Digital Commerce and e-commerce are used loosely and sometimes interchangeably so it’s important that we separate them out explicitly.
By 2023, B2B organizations with digital commerce offerings will see 30% more revenue and a 20% reduction in costs, compared to competitors without B2B digital commerce sites
Digital Commerce vs eCommerce
If we think of e-commerce as a function, Digital Commerce is more like a culture.
It does not replace e-commerce, much less dispense with it. What it does instead is look beyond the transactional focus of e-commerce to embrace a customer journey that begins well before the moment of purchase, and extends well beyond it.
This difference in outlook has immediate business and technological implications. The calculations of e-commerce revolve around the revenue you generate while keeping a tight grip on inventory costs. In Digital Commerce, value is assigned to engagement in the buying process. The key metric of success is customer lifetime value, or the amount of revenue generated from the same customer over their brand lifetime.
So while e-commerce and e-commerce platforms have a narrow sales horizon, Commerce and Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) capture the entire experience of the customer(s) in a way that interfaces seamlessly with how they do business, and how they engage with brands.
Many B2B businesses engage in this without offering a transactional component although clearly, they would want to have the choice to do so in future. Businesses that sell directly from their site(s) must add e-commerce functionality to their DXP, either as a native solution, or as a third-party tool.
To sum up, Digital Commerce offers more to the customer than e-commerce – in fact the shift away from e-commerce is driven by customer demand, and the need to offer customers a seamless omnichannel experience. That is the thread that runs through all aspects of Commerce.
How do I Achieve Digital Commerce?
The transparency of the web, and the emergence of the marketplace, have tended to level off pricing differentials – and therefore the importance of price as the overriding, sometimes only, factor in a purchasing decision, even in B2B. Customers are increasingly looking for enjoyable experiences and in B2B that means first and foremost a frictionless path to purchase. Digital Commerce creates those experience by offering:
- Fast page loading times
- High-quality, relevant imagery
- Engaging website design
- An experience that’s consistent across multiple channels (website, social media, brick and mortar shop, support center, and traditional face-to-face sales)
- An experience that’s consistent across devices (PC, tables, mobile, smartwear, smart speakers, digital signage)
- Great content and a great mix of content. Brands have to project expertise and thought leadership with blog posts, e-books, and videos that create additional value for the customer.
- Content and product recommendations that are relevant. DXPs have powerful capabilities to segment content according to persona, or by login, so the customer is presented with the content (or the discount) that is relevant only to him. No distractions, no pain points.
- Personalized search. In B2B, wasting time on fruitless or irrelevant searches is a business cost.
B2B buyers are as demanding as B2C consumers in demanding a consistent and seamless experience across every touchpoint. If they land on your website and then move over to your Instagram account, they don’t want to feel as though they are interacting with another brand. Similarly, the custom discounts they are being offered in a brick-and-mortar wholesaler outlet need to be identical to the terms offered online.
What are the typical Digital Commerce business models?
When we buy a pair of socks or a picture frame online, we are engaging in a B2C or business-to-consumer transaction. The purchase of 10,000 socks from a clothing manufacturer or wholesaler is a business-to-business or B2B transaction. B2B digital sales are expected to hit $8 trillion at the end of 2022, already far surpassing B2C turnover. Another business model that has emerged is direct-to-consumer or D2C where manufacturers or wholesalers go over the heads of the middlemen that dominate traditional B2B to sell directly to the end-customer. B2C2B is another common model in which a manufacturer boosts sales to its B2B buyer network by engaging with the end-customer.
It is not always clear where one of these models begins and another one ends. In any event, businesses have to be ready to adopt the model that its customers demand, and Digital Commerce is the cultural and technological approach that gives you the agility to do that.
Why Digital Commerce is Necessary in B2B
The shift away from a culture of sales to one of customer experience fits the B2B business model much better than B2C, contrary to what one might expect. Customer relationships in B2B tend to be much longer term, and heavily dependent on loyalty. Also, the B2B purchasing cycle is very extended so you need a DXP with the stamina to nurture it across many touchpoints – and stakeholders. We often talk of “the B2B buyer” but there is never just one buyer. The ordering trajectory in B2B pulls in a lot of buyers at different points in the journey which is never a step-by-step linear progression. Conclusion? More than B2C, B2B companies need the cultural stance and the technologies of Digital Commerce to create powerful narratives, time and again.
As times change and technology evolves, the entire B2B ecosystem - wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, and suppliers - need to adapt to new approaches to commerce. In today’s market, that means developing your business models and going digital. Those companies that do so, successfully position themselves as industry leaders and their brand, customers, and bottom-line benefit.
Explore all the commerce channels at your disposal
Businesses have more sales channels at their disposal than ever before. Whether it’s online sales portals or e-commerce shops, your company needs to test various channels to establish what the best solutions are for your products and services.
With Ibexa DXP, you can develop the tools and processes required to connect directly to customers through e-commerce sites or push your catalog to the leading marketplaces in your industry.
Its modular design means Ibexa DXP scales as you do and ensures you’re able to begin the digital transformation process in the most intuitive and affordable way possible.
Expand your business by diversifying and multiplying the sources of revenue
Access to multiple channels means multiple ways of doing business. This opens up the possibility of diverse revenue streams and allows you to reach a wider audience. Many B2B businesses are experiencing considerable success combining channels and making the most of their ability to sell in several different ways.
Core products can be listed on leading industry marketplaces and supplemented by more specialist products that are only available through your dedicated B2B online sales portal.
Having found your product via an e-commerce marketplace, customers are encouraged to channel shift towards your purpose-built channels, giving you the opportunity to impress with your seamless customer experience.
Ibexa DXP ensures this cross-channel approach is easy to establish and effective when implemented. It puts all the power of the latest digital commerce channels at your disposal.
Deliver rich experiences to all audiences
Customer behavior is changing and businesses must adapt if they’re to remain relevant. Rather than directly pushing products, the emphasis is now on offering friction-free customer experiences and guiding the buyer through the customer journey.
Ibexa DXP helps you eliminate obstacles and craft smooth customer experiences that encourage brand loyalty and the development of long, mutually beneficial business relationships.
It does so by breaking down organizational silos, helping you maintain brand consistency, and equipping your company with the tools it needs to take advantage of a wide range of digital commerce channels.
Streamline complex B2B buying journeys
B2B and B2C business models vary considerably. However, one of the main distinctions is who decides on and authorizes a purchase.
Unlike B2C, B2B buyers are rarely a single person. Instead, they’re teams, with each team member playing a different role and shouldering their own set of responsibilities.
This can make for complex customer journeys. While one individual may organize a purchase, another might have to authorize it. Ibexa DXP streamlines the buyer journey by allowing you to manage the purchase process and workflow.
You can regulate the buying process, designate different roles distinct access permissions or allow the customer to manage the process themselves.
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Accommodating dynamic pricing and the B2B approach
B2B also differs from B2C in that pricing and payment are far more nuanced and dynamic. It’s not unusual to utilize tiered pricing structures or for customers to attempt to negotiate more favorable terms. This can cause problems for companies that still struggle with organizational silos and that can’t facilitate the free flow of information between business systems.
Ibexa DXP is the solution for your digital commerce needs. Offering easy integration with existing business systems, such as CRM, ERP, and PIM, it ensures your employees have access to up-to-date information and enables you to offer precise and flexible custom prices. In today’s fast-paced business environment, the ability to get a real-time reading on your inventory position is invaluable.
Buyers are more willing than ever before to spend big through remote or online sales channels, with 35% willing to spend $500,000 or more in a single transaction (up from 27% in February 2021). 77% of B2B customers are also willing to spend $50,000 or more
Learn More
If you'd like to understand what B2B e-commerce is, visit our dedicated page and get more insight on the inherent opportunities in B2B online sales.
To discover a game-changing B2B e-commerce platform that helps you create a seamless digital customer experience with automation and personalization visit Ibexa Commerce page,
