DHL Express has published a new whitepaper entitled The Ultimate B2B E-commerce Guide: Tradition is out. Digital is in, which predicts that, according the research by Gartner, 80% of all B2B sales interactions between suppliers and professional buyers will take place in digital channels by 2025 and online B2B will increase by more than 70% by 2027 to US$20.9tn (US$12.2tn in 2019).
According to the study, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of digitalization and affected the purchasing behavior of technology-savvy millennials, who are the main drivers of this global e-commerce growth.
“Even in times of worldwide shutdowns, globalization has shown its resilience, fuelled by digitalization and the power of global trade,” said John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express. “These trends have led to an ever-growing number of consumers to shift their shopping activities online.
“The pandemic has accelerated this development like never before, with a sharp rise in businesses selling their goods in the global marketplace. E-commerce and global logistics thus provided the key to unlock local shutdowns, keep economies running and mitigate the impact of Covid-19 for many of our customers.”
The whitepaper from DHL Express uncovers factors driving the growth of the global B2B e‑commerce market: besides general trends such as globalization and digitaliszation, a new technology-oriented generation of millennials is starting to make its mark. Already, millennials account for 73% of all professional B2B purchasing decisions. As digital natives, their experiences in the B2C-sector translate to high expectations when making B2B transactions, pushing companies to invest in digital solutions, such as selling platforms, while offering great growth potential.
“If B2B businesses want to make the most out of the new cross-border and e-commerce opportunities they need to start adapting to the changing buying behaviors. Especially with the upcoming generation of millennial as B2B decision-makers, who are further driving the digitalization of the sector. B2B customer experiences have to be more aligned with the digital B2C experiences,” commented Leendert van Delft, vice president global sales programs and global e-commerce at DHL Express.
