Today’s B2B buyers aren’t satisfied with the status quo. They’re looking for rich, cross-channel buying experiences that make it easy to locate product information and complete purchases, similar to the experiences they enjoy when they shop on Amazon or other consumer sites.
Buyers also want more control in the buying process. A recent McKinsey study found that the majority of business buyers now prefer self-service offerings when making repeat purchases.
To get there, B2B businesses need to provide digital commerce sites that parallel the best eCommerce experiences the B2C universe has to offer. But many B2B businesses aren’t prepared to offer those kinds of experiences because they’re still using back office-centric ERP systems for commerce. These technologies focus on the product, inventory and financial records, and tend to be difficult to change. They simply aren’t built to enable an intuitive, customer-facing portal.
Read More from This Article: IDG Contributor Network: The battle between ERP and CRM for B2B commerce
Source: IT Strategy