According to a study by IDC Manufacturing manufacturers who have an effective B2B eCommerce strategy in place are much more likely to emerge from the current economic down turn positively. A strong eCommerce strategy will create the capacity to cope with serious competition from home and abroad,in addition to rising customer expectations and shrinking profit margins by giving companies the responsiveness and reliability that is essential.
According to the 34% of European companies accept only orders but just 4% of total manufacturing turnover is generated from B2B eCommerce sales. However B2B eCommerce spending in Europe is expected to increase.
This is a massive chance for manufacturers to realise the full potential of B2B eCommerce by identifying their key business challenges and resolving them with a logical B2B online set up.
The key challenges identified in the study are as follows:
1. Lower costs and increased productivity: More efficient and streamlined online selling and purchasing processes will enable manufacturers to achieve revenue growth, increase productivity through a reduction in errors and re-focus time spent on repetitive tasks towards more value-added activities.
2. Retain existing customers: Delivering an excellent customer service will be key to retaining customers against tough competition in a global marketplace. Manufacturers must provide a modern ‘purchasing process’ that is tailored to fit their customers’ needs
3. Manage product complexity: As manufacturers extend their product lines with increasingly complex variations, the ability to aggregate all product information, will become vitally important.
4. Innovation through services: An effective B2B eCommerce strategy can not only help suppliers and manufacturers to change the way they do business, but can also help them to stay close to their customers and better understand what service to offer to which customers and when.
5. Exploit new markets: Establishing a B2B eCommerce capability removes the need to invest in an onsite sales force or telemarketing team. Manufacturers will need to ensure that it is well promoted and incorporates the latest automated search engine optimisation functionalities so that products and specific product attributes are easy to find via Google, for example.
Commenting on the research, Ariel Lüedi, CEO of hybris Group, said: “For some companies, the ability to offer a product for sale, or to change a product in less time than a competitor, may mean the difference between being able to profitably market a product and missing a valuable sales opportunity. The Internet may have offered an alternative way for manufacturers to do business with each other but companies that take the time to build a long term B2B strategy will be the ones to emerge from the downturn in the strongest position.”