Experience is key for B2B buyers

B2B customers are shopping online more than ever before, and their experiences are influencing the decisions they make, according to Sana Commerce’s B2B Buyer Report 2024.

Two out of three B2B buyers prefer to order online through supplier websites, and 79% prefer to place repeat orders online. B2B e-commerce has become the norm, even for complex and high-value orders. 58% of B2B buyers want to conduct these transactions online, according to data from a Sana Commerce survey of 1,000 buyers.

But even though B2B online shopping has become commonplace, B2B sellers face a major threat: Too many buyers have bad experiences with B2B online stores. And buyers are willing to switch suppliers because of it. A Sana Commerce study found that 74% of B2B buyers said they would switch suppliers if another B2B online store offered a better experience. This problem is especially pronounced for US buyers, where that figure jumps to 91%.

Key takeaways from Sana Commerce’s B2B customer experience:

84% of B2B customers believe that the ease and precision of shopping in an online store are important.
79% of B2B customers prefer to place repeat orders online.
58% of shoppers prefer to place complex orders online.
Nearly 9 in 10 (87%) B2B customers believe that a bad purchasing experience affects their relationship with a supplier.

“Over the past two years, B2B buyers have advanced the adoption of e-commerce in B2B sales to the point that offline sales are now a marginal minority,” the study found.

Sign up

Sign up for free subscription Digital Commerce 360 B2B Newspublished 4x/week. Covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B e-commerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, Senior Vice President, B2B and Market Research, at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, TwitterFacebook and YouTube.

Key takeaways from Sana Commerce’s B2B customer experience:

More articles about charts and data

Sign up