The team at software platform Sana Commerce recently released The B2B Buyer Report, which highlights some of the pressing topics in business-to-business buying and is based on research conducted globally last fall by Sapio Research. You can download the report here.
Since this topic is right up our alley, we asked our very own Paul Mattioli, the executive vice president of EBI, for a few thoughts on the findings and what they tell him about buying in B2B today. Here’s what he sent back:
• The most intriguing inflection point in the Sana report—and there many—is that more 73% of B2B buyers prefer ordering online and 71% are digitally native. For these digital-native buyers, reliability, efficiency and speed are the most important reasons for opting for online ordering.
• What’s most interesting beyond the demographic shift driving buying behavior is the nuance between ease and efficiency this data captures. Efficient ordering considers order and fulfillment speed combined with accuracy—which are paramount to the UX of online transactions.
• Given that buyers are also sellers within the B2B ecosystem, path-to-purchase mapping must be enriched through active and intentional customer insights. Simply compiling digital metrics is not enough to target and satisfy customers who no longer want face-to-to-face interaction to make a final purchase decision. Consider this: Nearly 80% of participants in some recent Endeavor Business Intelligence research said that they have already selected a supplier or solution when they actively enter the buying cycle.
