Keeping tabs on what your competition or peers are doing, talking, or thinking has always been a crucial thing to do if you want to succeed. In our current B2B global market, filled to the brim with new brands, new technologies, and massive cross-border competition, genuinely understanding what B2B leaders are discussing has become vital.
Especially because these topics are a genuine expression of the industry's deepest concerns, desires, and innovations and will shape the future of B2B commerce. Won’t it be nice to know where your business is heading before you reach it? That’s why today we want to share with you the insights of our newest discussion paper, ‘What the leaders in B2B are talking about’ and ponder on every one of these hot topics for the B2B industry that will surely give your brand the competitive edge you are looking for!
1. Empowering B2B growth with data-driven intelligence
2. Enhancing B2B e-commerce with highly personalized user experiences
3. Embracing sustainability and social responsibility
4. Harnessing the potential of platforms in B2B e-commerce
5. Opportunities of ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies in B2B
6. The opportunities new technologies offer in B2B
7. Holistic ways of working to improve user experiences and business performance
1. Empowering B2B growth with data-driven intelligence
In our Twitter and Instagram reality, B2B businesses have quickly understood that people are opinionated and passionate about things. About all things. We currently live in a ‘permanent feedback society’. Thus, products and services should be customized to cater to the customer's interests, desires, points of view, and individual specific needs.
Data-driven intelligence is the perfect way to do so. B2B leaders can use various data sources and analytical tools to derive valuable insights into customer behavior, overall business performance, and internal processes.
By examining interactions with the website, mobile app, or other channels, they can identify patterns and preferences, enabling them to enhance website functionalities, shop features, and customer care. These insights also help optimize procurement, supplier management, employee performance, and strategic decision-making processes.
Predictive analytics are also part of a data-driven approach and allow businesses to anticipate customer behavior, pinpoint potential churn risks, and reveal upsell or cross-sell opportunities in real-time. Data-driven insights can help plan for risk management, financial forecasting, and sustainability initiatives, contributing to a more agile and responsive organization.
By leveraging data to streamline operations and refine strategies, B2B leaders can unlock new growth opportunities, provide customized customer journeys, and achieve long-term business success. Not to mention that data-driven intelligence is the first and foremost step to achieve the next e-commerce evolution: autonomous commerce.
2. Enhancing B2B e-commerce with highly personalized user experiences
The second hot topic currently being discussed by B2B Frontrunners is personalization and customized user experience. Delivering personalized experiences in B2B e-commerce offers numerous benefits, such as:
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Providing a competitive advantage by differentiation in crowded markets.
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Increase engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty on an individual customer and also at an overall level.
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Facilitating targeted upselling and cross-selling.
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Allowing for efficient addressing of unique needs and preferences.
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Aligning services and products with user expectations to provide powerful personalization experiences.
But personalization during the customer journey is not only profitable for the B2B organization, but it is fast becoming a most desirable trait for customers. According to the “B2B Future Shopper Report” by Wunderman Thompson, 70% of B2B buyers crave tailored product suggestions and offers.
To achieve a high-level of efficient customization and personalization, B2B businesses need to be able to handle massive amounts of data collected from the users and properly processed by a combination of data-driven intelligence and human ingenuity.
Also, companies must pursue a customer-centric culture to maximize the benefits of personalization.
A customer-centric culture prioritizes understanding and addressing customers’ needs and preferences. Key steps in building this culture include:
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Defining and promoting the customer journey as an ambition from the top to the bottom of the organization.
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Implementing a collaborative customer-centric cross-department way of working and KPIs.
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Adopting a holistic customer journey design and orchestration model.
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Incentivizing customer-centric behavior and rewarding employees who deliver personalized experiences.
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Using interaction data and user feedback to continuously analyze, refine, and improve personalized experiences.
3. Embracing sustainability and social responsibility
Another key topic for B2B leading companies – and this one in particular for any company wishing to be successful nowadays – is sustainability and social responsibility.
In short, both things have become a humanity collective goal in order to guarantee our survivability and happiness in this little blue rock we call home. But how and why should B2B business care for this? Well, the answer is pretty simple: B2B is many times the top echelon in a product/service chain.
Thus, creating a sustainable wholesaling or B2B environment provides B2C retailers with a clear direction on how to tackle their own business models, as well as creates a positive precedent by actually changing the way our entire production and distribution systems behave. A sustainable B2B global market can be the tipping point to push the entire global economy into more eco-friendly and socially responsible behavior.
But how can B2B businesses embrace sustainability? To embrace sustainability and social responsibility, B2B e-commerce companies can implement strategic initiatives like adopting eco-friendly packaging and shipping methods, sourcing products and materials from ethical and sustainable suppliers, implementing energy-efficient practices in operations and facilities, engaging in corporate social responsibility programs and philanthropic activities, and providing transparent information about sustainability efforts and progress to stakeholders.
And what can B2B businesses get from pursuing and implementing sustainability and social responsibility?
Integrating sustainability and social responsibility into B2B e-commerce offers numerous benefits, such as:
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Enhancing brand reputation and attracting environmentally conscious customers.
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Reducing costs through resource optimization and energy-efficient practices.
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Ensuring compliance with environmental and social regulations.
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Encouraging innovation and long-term business resilience.
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Meeting the expectations of stakeholders, including customers, employees, and investors.
4. Harnessing the potential of platforms in B2B e-commerce
B2B e-commerce platforms have become a staple nowadays. Still, their real power remains many times untapped as companies need help to make the most out of the platforms.
To maximize the potential of platform-based strategies in B2B e-commerce, businesses can either create their own platforms or collaborate with existing ones, broadening their market reach and customer base. By implementing API-driven integrations, they can establish seamless connections with other platforms, enabling efficient data exchange and streamlined processes.
Utilizing platform analytics, companies can gain critical insights into customer behavior, preferences, and requirements. Adopting a platform-centric approach to sales, marketing, and customer service can help deliver consistent, personalized experiences.
To maximize the potential of platforms, whether working with them or functioning as one, B2B organizations must foster a platform-centric culture that prioritizes collaboration, agility, and innovation.
Key steps in building this culture include:
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Developing a clear understanding of the role and functions of platforms and being aware of the benefits and risks.
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Developing platform managing or operating skills to ensure a cohesive approach to platform-based strategies.
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Constantly evaluating and refining platform strategies to stay ahead of market trends.
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Defining clear metrics and KPIs to manage platform performance.
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Providing ongoing training and analytical skill development to enhance understanding of platform dynamics.
5. Opportunities of ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies in B2B
ChatGPT's explosive success is but the tip of the iceberg regarding what generative AI – and other kinds of AI technologies – can truly offer to completely revamp the way we interact, do business, and even the way society currently operates.
Integrating ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies in B2B e-commerce offers numerous benefits, such as:
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Becoming truly user-centric and data-driven on an individual customer level.
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Streamlining operations and automating repetitive tasks, resulting in increased efficiency and reducing costs.
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Providing data-driven insights for better decision-making and strategy development.
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Personalizing the customer experience with real-time targeted recommendations and tailored messaging.
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Enhancing customer support and engagement through intelligent chatbots and virtual assistants.
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Fostering research, innovation, and experimentation to stay ahead of the competition.
ChatGPT and other generative AI can overhaul almost any aspect of businesses: from customer care, to personalization, going all the way through data analytics and even product and market research. We are at the dawn of AI evolution!
Still, while ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies offer numerous benefits, potential challenges and pitfalls must also be addressed, such as ensuring data privacy and security, managing the ethical implications of AI, and balancing automation with human expertise.
To tackle these challenges, businesses should implement robust data privacy and security measures based on legal and compliance guidelines, regularly assess and audit AI systems to identify and mitigate potential biases and ethical concerns and encourage collaboration between AI technologies and human teams to leverage the unique strengths of both.
Be in an open connection with AI suppliers, regulators, and clients and participate in the public discussion on using generative AI and data intelligence to stimulate fair use and avoid negative publicity and counter-productive regulation.
6. The opportunities new technologies offer in B2B
Nothing new here: new technologies give an edge, and you know it! That’s why keeping tabs on everything new that could meaningfully impact your B2B business is vital.
Incorporating new technologies and fostering adaptiveness offers numerous benefits:
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Improved efficiency and reduced costs through streamlined operations and data-driven decision-making
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Enhanced customer experiences by leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AI, IoT, AR, and VR
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Increased responsiveness to market changes and trends by fostering a flexible and adaptive mindset
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Optimized business processes, IT, and data architecture
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Accelerated implementation speed and ability to rapidly pivot strategies based on emerging technologies and opportunities
To maximize the potential of new technologies, B2B organizations need to foster a culture that embraces technology-driven innovation and adaptiveness. Still, new technologies also pose considerable challenges, and it is important that experimentation with such technologies – such as automation – doesn’t compromise existing processes, disruption of customer interaction flows, or negative publicity related to job displacement.
Balancing the benefits of automation with implementation and maintenance costs is also crucial. To tackle these challenges, businesses should adopt a phased approach to automation, develop retraining and up-skilling programs for affected employees, create innovation design programs that include the long and short-term costs and benefits of automation and innovation initiatives.
7. Holistic ways of working to improve user experiences and business performance
The speed at which B2B businesses evolve forces organizations to become more efficient and proficient. And to do so, perhaps the best approach is a holistic one.
Adopting a holistic approach to B2B e-commerce offers numerous benefits, chief among them:
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Enhancing customer satisfaction by delivering seamless and personalized experiences.
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Improving operational efficiency by identifying and addressing bottlenecks and redundancies.
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Facilitating innovation and continuous improvement through cross-functional collaboration.
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Strengthening brand reputation and customer loyalty by meeting and exceeding customer expectations.
But how can a B2B organization create a holistic approach? Well, the first step is to foster a customer-centric culture. And the best way to start doing so is by following these steps:
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Encouraging a customer-first mindset at all levels of the organization.
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Involving all departments in defining, improving, and extending customer journeys and journey functionalities.
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Implementing performance metrics and targets tied to customer value, satisfaction, and experience.
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Promoting open communication and collaboration between departments to ensure a unified approach to customer engagement.
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Empowering employees to act autonomously and use technology like AI based on clear criteria and guidelines.
All in all, it becomes clear that if you want your B2B organization to join the ranks of leading B2B companies and stay ahead of the curve, these 7 hot topics are a must for you to delve into. And what better way to do so than with our whitepaper “What the leaders in B2B are talking about”!
