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STUDY: One-Third of B2B Businesses Struggle to Provide a Seamless Omnichannel ExperienceCHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An increasing number of B2B businesses have made the strategic decision to deploy digital commerce, and CloudCraze, the enterprise B2B commerce platform built natively on Salesforce, surveyed nearly 200 companies to delve into this shift. In the report, 2017 B2B Digital Commerce Imperative, less than half (44 percent) of the B2B companies surveyed report their customers find their online experience very satisfactory. To better understand how the needs and expectations of digital B2B buyers differs across verticals, CloudCraze surveyed B2B companies with an online presence in the manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences, software and media technology, and B2B retail industries. “Businesses with inflexible, outdated commerce systems are unable to meet the complex needs of their buyers, putting them behind the digital curve,” said Ray Grady, EVP at CloudCraze. “Despite their industry-specific challenges, businesses across verticals can equally benefit from a customer-centric digital commerce model to help simplify their complex buying processes.” The survey found industries are at different stages of digital commerce maturity and each face a unique set of challenges based on the needs of their target buyers. Manufacturers However, many manufacturers are still operating with inflexible, on-premise systems, causing inefficiencies when it comes to servicing their buyers across sales channels, especially with low-volume customers. As a result, manufacturers are more likely to experience cost inefficiencies than other industries (45 percent versus 37 percent). Eighty percent of manufacturers have lost a business deal due to customer pain points compared to 37 percent on average across industries. This illustrates the detrimental impact that poor digital experiences can have on a business’s bottom line. Healthcare and life sciences Healthcare businesses are most likely to experience pain points when it comes to platform speed-to-market, often caused by the combination of outdated, inflexible systems and the industry’s strict regulatory procedures. Cloud-based solutions can expedite deployment and support sales teams working with complex customer needs, while meeting the complex regulatory and security requirements of this industry. Software and media technology To solve for this, businesses of this field need agile commerce systems that can handle the industry’s diverse revenue models and can support flexible marketing, promotions and ongoing changes to those supporting models. B2B in retail The study found the B2B retail industry faces challenges providing a seamless, omnichannel customer experience (44 percent) and is most likely to report customers struggle with order replenishment capabilities (39 percent). As a result, retailers in B2B are turning to SaaS solutions to increase the flexibility of their commerce offerings. "With digital-savvy consumers fast becoming the professionals in B2B buyer decision-making roles, every B2B industry must be optimized for digital commerce in the next five years,” said Chris Dalton, CEO at CloudCraze. “B2B companies are smart to get ahead of this digital transformation and prepare for the fully-digital world that awaits them." For more information, download the full study at http://www.cloudcraze.com/resource/the-b2b-digital-commerce-imperative/ About CloudCraze CloudCraze was one of 8 firms recognized in The Forrester Wave™: B2B Commerce Suites, Q2 2015 and as a Visionary in the March 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce. CloudCraze is a Platinum Salesforce ISV Partner.
Media Contacts Rachel Gulden Account Executive [email protected] 312.267.0530 Sarah Traxler Director of Marketing [email protected] 866.217.3210 |