Photo: Arno Senoner & Jacques Dillies
Last year, turnover in B2B e-commerce reached the seven trillion US dollar mark. Estimates predict annual growth of 20 percent by 2032. A study by FinTec Billie examined the online shopping experience of business customers in Europe.
In the same period, turnover in B2C e-commerce was estimated at around 3 trillion US dollars. Nevertheless, B2B e-commerce lags far behind B2C e-commerce in terms of customer experience, even though the potential of the B2B market is enormous. To shed light on this, Billie has examined the shopping experience of business customers in Europe.
As part of the B2B Checkout Report 2024, the 20 best online stores in Germany, the UK, Sweden, France and the Netherlands were selected on the basis of Similar Web's traffic rankings and evaluated using 29 predefined criteria in the areas of checkout structure, layout and functionality as well as input screens, goods dispatch and payment methods. https://go.billie.io/b2b-checkout-report-de
Improved business climate: strengthening regulatory relief
According to a recent analysis, 50 percent of the online stores surveyed are unable to carry out cross-border transactions. The European Union has launched an ambitious project: the creation of an integrated digital market (cross-border e-commerce). This is intended to promote fair competition between digital companies in all member states and establish uniform standards for online trade and consumer protection within the EU.
https://de.statista.com/themen/5265/cross-border-e-commerce/#topicOverview
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/983771/umfrage/cross-border-e-commerce-umsatz-in-europa/
Despite the efforts made to date, there is still considerable room for improvement in cross-border online trade in the EU, particularly with regard to regulatory facilitation for B2B e-commerce. To date, legislation has mainly focused on the needs of the B2C market, while the B2B sector has been largely ignored. However, the effects of this imbalance are becoming increasingly clear.
On the road to harmonization: EU plans to harmonize VAT rules
Efforts to harmonize accounting and VAT standards and introduce uniform rules for e-invoicing and e-identification continue to encounter difficulties. Challenges in the area of digital payments in B2B e-commerce are making progress even more difficult. One reason for this is that the Payment Services Directive is primarily geared towards trade between consumers and does not take sufficient account of transactions between companies.
Recent studies show a remarkable development of cross-border trade in French online stores. 70 percent of them actually enable cross-border transactions, which is well above the European average.
Optimization potential in B2B e-commerce: majority of stores do not have their own checkout
Business customers have the option of shopping via a special B2B checkout. It is obvious that many stores without a dedicated B2B checkout are primarily geared towards the consumer market. Some of these companies are not yet fully exploiting the potential in the business customer segment. If they fail to offer business buyers the opportunity to act as a company, sales potential remains untapped.
https://smartstore.com/de/punchout-connect-mit-oci-und-cxml-fuer-die-e-procurement-industrie/
The study shows: Almost half of B2B stores require customer registration at checkout
In comparison, British online stores in particular show weaknesses. German online stores lead the way in B2B checkouts, as 89% of business customers can easily shop as a guest without registering. Across Europe, 65 percent of B2C checkouts allow guest purchases. This indicates that consumer-oriented retail will continue to offer a better customer experience in the future.
Lack of variety: more than half of B2B stores neglect important payment methods
For business customers, it is crucial that online stores meet their specific requirements in terms of available payment methods. By offering a wide range of payment options, retailers show themselves to be forward-looking companies that take their customers' needs seriously. Best practice identified in this study is an ideal combination of credit or debit card, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) or purchase on account, digital wallets such as PayPal and another alternative payment method such as bank transfer.
https://smartstore.com/de/plug-in-bnpl/
Only 42 percent of the checkouts surveyed offer Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) as a payment method, despite BNPL being one of the preferred options in B2B commerce. Compared to consumer commerce, where 58 percent of the stores surveyed accept some form of BNPL payment, there is still a lot of catching up to do in the B2B sector. Online stores offer more flexible payment options in the consumer segment than in the B2B segment.
Only 36 percent of B2B stores that offer BNPL allow business customers to make purchases over 5,000 euros. They should consider the needs of their business customers and set appropriate limits to ensure smooth transaction processing. This is not sufficient, as business customers often require higher transaction limits due to their tendency to place higher order values. It should be noted that online stores with in-house BNPL solutions bear the risk of payment defaults and fraud themselves and therefore often set lower limits.
Punch-out catalogs: The bridge between e-procurement and supplier websites
supplier websites
PunchOut is a B2B application. Buyers can access a supplier's website through their own e-procurement application, where they can browse the supplier's web-based catalog and add items to the shopping cart. When the buyer leaves the supplier's PunchOut site, no direct order is placed in the store; instead, the selected items are returned to the e-procurement application.
Suppliers maintain the PunchOut catalogs and make them available online. This provides buyers with better information about items such as availability, discounts and shipping costs in real time.
PunchOut consolidates all catalogs into one application, enabling consolidation of purchases and more effective cost management.
https://smartstore.com/de/punchout-connect-mit-oci-und-cxml-fuer-die-e-procurement-industrie/
Optimization potential: User experience in B2B e-commerce can be improved
In addition to the points mentioned above, the user experience (UX) of the top 100 online stores was also analyzed, particularly with regard to the structure of the checkout, the input masks and the shipping of goods.
Checkout structure: Unfortunately, only 37% of checkouts show the progress of the order with a progress bar or similar visual aids. There is an opportunity here for many stores to give customers a clear overview of the progress of the checkout. 34 percent of online stores restrict customer mobility by not offering a return option in the checkout.
Input masks: 32 percent of online stores require shoppers to re-enter their shipping information because there is no autofill function. 61 percent of online stores check the entries in real time.
Shipping: 39% of stores could display the delivery times for products before checkout to improve the customer's shopping experience. In 16 percent of online stores, shipping costs are not displayed transparently in the shopping cart. However, 50 percent of online retailers offer different shipping methods.
Race in B2B retail: who is ahead?
Modernizing B2B commerce and increasing customer satisfaction with online shopping are crucial for the long-term success of companies in the current economic uncertainty. Through digital transformation, companies can optimize their processes, reduce costs, reach a wider audience and ultimately drive growth.
The boundaries between B2B and B2C are becoming increasingly blurred. Business customers today expect the same level of convenience, personalization and efficiency as in the private sphere. Digitizing B2B commerce and improving the customer experience are therefore essential strategies to adapt to changing market conditions. The report clearly shows the pent-up demand in B2B e-commerce. To be successful today, companies must offer modern, seamless and efficient shopping experiences that can compete with those in B2C e-commerce. The question remains: Which company will successfully rise to this challenge?
Pioneers in digital commerce: B2B e-commerce in the spotlight of the leading platforms
Who will take the lead in B2B e-commerce? Will it be the traditional B2B retailers who will play on their many years of experience? Or will it be the hybrid companies that are already active in the B2C segment, have advanced digital solutions and are now venturing into the B2B market? Only time will tell the answer to this question. It is already clear that growth rates in the B2C segment are leveling off after the Covid-19 boom. The leading digital commerce platforms are now increasingly focusing on B2B e-commerce. In other words, the race in B2B e-commerce has only just begun.
Methodology explained: how the "B2B Checkout Report 2024" study was created
https://go.billie.io/b2b-checkout-report-de
Billie analyzed the top 100 online stores in Europe between December 2023 and January 2024 to create the 'B2B Checkout Report 2024'. The 'Top 100' were selected based on Similar Web's traffic rankings and included the top 20 stores from Germany, the UK, Sweden, France and the Netherlands. Only online stores from these markets were included in the analysis. The evaluation was based on 29 predefined criteria.
These included aspects such as the structure and design of the checkout, functionality, input masks, shipping of goods and available payment methods. A binary evaluation logic was used to decide whether certain functions were available or not. For example, it was checked whether the store offered the option of shopping as a guest. In order to obtain meaningful information about the state of B2B e-commerce, consumer-oriented segments such as fashion and luxury were excluded from the analysis. The analysis therefore focuses exclusively on B2B e-commerce.
Billie is a partner of Smartstore. https://smartstore.com/de/plug-in-bnpl/
For further information, please contact us by phone or e-mail and our dedicated Smartstore team will personally take care of your concerns. We look forward to hearing from you!
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