The shift of B2B sales to digital channels is one of the biggest transformations in commerce in the current decade. Gartner predicted years ago that 80% of B2B sales will be online by 2025 (source). In the US, B2B eCommerce is expected to grow by 11% in annual revenues and reach the $3 billion mark by 2027 (source).
The pandemic further accelerated the change, and business customers' needs and demands for flexible ways of buying continue to grow. B2B companies can no longer scale their business solely through trade fairs or direct customer contact, and the constant intensification of international competition is creating pressure to keep up.
B2B eCommerce is not just a new sales channel for a company, but a strategic tool for growth, efficiency, and customer experience. In this blog, I will look at the typical barriers to growth faced by mid-sized B2B companies and how a modern e-commerce approach can address them. Finally, I will illustrate the business benefits through a case study and list concrete steps to become a B2B eCommerce business.
Common challenges for B2B companies before the digital leap
Many traditional B2B organisations face a similar situation today: the business is still going strong, but they struggle to scale up without additional hiring. The potential of process digitalization may still be unclear, and working days are spent on time-consuming, manual routines.
Typical everyday challenges include:
- Receiving orders is manual: Orders are only received by email or phone, which makes the process slow and error-prone.
- Sales are people-dependent: Customer relationships are built based on individual salespeople, which prevents sales from being scalable.
- Customer-specific prices are not known: Price information is only available on a single Excel, which is not centrally available for all.
- Product information is scattered: It is difficult to find up-to-date and correct product information, as it is in many different places and is difficult to update.
- Repeat orders are a drain on resources: Customers and vendors spend a lot of time re-ordering, even if the process can be automated.
- Data is transferred manually: Manual transfer of data between systems takes time and increases errors.
- Service is interrupted during absences: Salesperson absences can effectively interrupt customer service altogether.
Another common barrier to growth relates to situations where the potential for digitalization and automation of processes has already been identified, but people still do not have the courage to take practical steps. Often, the organization lacks technical expertise and a cross-business vision of how modern technology can improve growth opportunities.
For example, such beliefs may be firmly held:
- "We have such a complex range of products." - Fear that e-commerce will not meet the needs of your business.
- "Customers want to call us, and always have." - The belief that personal service is the only right way for customers to do business.
- "Our vendors do a good job, we don't need an online store". Fear that the introduction of eCommerce would take away the work of vendors and not see them as complementary.
- "Order volumes and prices vary too much." - Lack of confidence in the flexibility and functionality of digital processes.
- "ECommerce is a complex IT project, and it's not helping us." - Fear of project costs, timescales, and scope - not seeing the benefits of the investment.
However, an increasing number of business customers are demanding digital access. Customers are increasingly part of a generation that is used to shopping online and expecting the same in their working lives.
A digital commerce platform can also provide a clear competitive advantage if other companies in the industry have not yet gone digital.
What is B2B eCommerce, and how does it solve operational bottlenecks?
B2B Commerce refers to business-to-business transactions in a digital environment. While in consumer eCommerce the buyer is an individual, in B2B eCommerce the customer is another company. In B2C eCommerce, transactions are often based on a single product and a one-time purchase, whereas in B2B, customer relationships are long-term and purchases are often based on contracts, standard prices, product customization, and ordering patterns.
The online store acts as a portal where business customers can browse products and services, place orders, view their terms and conditions, prices, and delivery details – all at their own pace, without any intermediaries. Typically, orders can only be placed when logged in to the online store, and customer accounts can easily be customised with company-specific price lists, product ranges, payment options, and delivery methods.
Like consumers, business customers also value the ease and speed of shopping. Thanks to eCommerce, shopping is no longer tied to office hours or a specific contact person but is now available when the customer needs it, even when salespeople are not available.
The key objective of B2B eCommerce is to move repetitive, administratively heavy sales work to an automated and flexible digital channel that serves the customer, saving resources for both sales and the buying customer. At its best, B2B eCommerce improves the customer experience and boosts the overall efficiency of an organization's business.
The following automations and processes can be added to B2B eCommerce to make buying easier:
- Up-to-date product information, prices, and stock balances available to customers in real-time
- Customer-specific prices are automatically displayed to the logged-in user
- The possibility to order independently, regardless of time and place
- Salespeople's time is freed up for specialist work when routines are automated
- Data on buying behavior is collected, which can be used to improve sales and marketing
- High-quality content pages support the customer's purchasing decision and reduce the need for personalised guidance
You can read more about B2B eCommerce functionalities and the Adobe Commerce platform here. You can also learn more about how AI can increase efficiency and improve the customer experience on our AI blog.
B2B eCommerce is a strategic investment, not just an IT project
The implementation of an online store is often seen as a purely technical project that can be outsourced as a stand-alone project. In reality, however, it is a complete business model overhaul that the whole organization must be ready to commit to. A deep understanding of customer needs must be at the heart of the development. The online business must be built around those needs and not just on the terms of the organization's internal processes.
It is also good to understand that an online store alone will not solve all of an organization's problems, and will run itself once launched. Maintaining, developing, producing content, and optimising processes requires resources and sustained effort to achieve the desired results.
In addition, eCommerce rarely works optimally on its own. Scaling a digital B2B store often requires the support of other systems, such as:
The seamless cooperation of these systems with the eCommerce platform forms the basis for efficient digital business. Read more about the holy trinity of systems here.
B2B eCommerce benefits through a case study
Imagine a wholesaler of building materials, whose customers are building companies and retailers. The company has 20 employees and an annual turnover of around 12 M€. Up to now, orders have only been received by telephone and e-mail. Sales staff spend several hours a day processing orders and transferring data to the various systems.
Measure: Launch of an online store
The company decided to implement a B2B eCommerce solution, which will be directly integrated with the ERP system and product information management used by the company. The eCommerce solution will support:
- Up-to-date product information and balances
- Customer-specific prices and ranges
- Possibility to place orders 24/7/365
- Easy to view order history and easy renewal of orders
Annual impact on business
1. Reduction in time spent on order processing
- Before: 4 traders x 2 hrs/day = 8 hrs/day to process orders
- Per year: 8 h x 220 working days = 1760 h
- Average wage cost: €30/h
Savings: €52 800 / year
2. Fewer errors and complaints
- Orders go directly into the system, and data moves automatically from one system to another→ fewer human errors
- Estimated reduction in complaints: -40 %
Reduction in complaint costs: €10 000 / year
3. Freeing up salespeople's time for customer work
- By saving time, sellers can contact more customers and serve them better. This increases additional sales.
- Estimated additional sales to existing customers: +3 %
Increase in turnover: 12 M€ x 3 % = 360 000 € / year
4. Easier acquisition of new customers
- The online store also serves as a marketing channel → conversion rate improves, and sales are scaled up.
Increase in turnover: 12 M€ x 3 % = 360 000 € / year
Summary:
| Benefit | Estimated Impact |
| Order processing savings | 52 800 € |
| Reduction in complaints | 10 000 € |
| Additional sales to existing customers | 360 000 € |
| Sales from new customers | 100 000 € |
| Total | 522 800 € |
How to Become a B2B eCommerce merchant – 7 Steps to setting up a successful B2B online business
1. Map the baseline
Analyze your current business model, customer journeys, and internal processes. Identify pain points that slow down sales or eat up resources unnecessarily, such as manual ordering processes, fragmented customer information, or reliance on individuals. We can help with Pinja's pre-screening!
2. Engage sales and the whole organization
For the project to succeed, it's crucial to get full organizational buy-in for the change. Clear communication of goals helps sales and marketing teams see the eCommerce channel as a sales enabler and not a competitor to their work.
If the organization doesn't commit, long-term business value may be lost, and internal friction between teams may arise.
3. Define your customer's needs
Genuinely put yourself in your customers' shoes and involve them from the very beginning of the project. Who are our customers and what are their expectations? How do they want to buy? Create customer profiles and identify pain points in the current buying process. Make sure your online shop meets these needs, not just the wishes of different departments within your organization.
4. Clear strategy and objectives
What do you want to achieve with eCommerce? Scalability, new customers, cost savings, internationalization? Define indicators and objectives that will allow you to assess the future performance of your online shop.
5. Select the right tech stack
Choose an eCommerce platform that supports your business goals and scales with future growth. Ensure that the platform can integrate with systems such as ERP, PIM, and CRM for efficient and seamless communication. A knowledgeable partner will help you with these, so no deep technical understanding is required!
6. Invest in UX and content
A good B2B eCommerce site is clear, tailored to the customer, and contains enough information to support the buying decision. Ease of use and intuitiveness make the platform easy to use, so invest in the overall clarity of the eCommerce platform, search functionality, and the quality of the content.
7. Embrace continuous development
ECommerce is not just a one-off project. Customer behavior and store performance must be actively monitored even after the store has been launched. Data can be used to continuously optimize the shopping path and customer experience. In addition, resources must be invested in e-commerce marketing and content production to ensure sales growth and discoverability.
Now is the time to assess how well your company is serving its customers through digital channels - and how B2B eCommerce could take your entire business to the next level.
We'll help you identify the B2B eCommerce opportunities available to your business on the stack! With decades of experience in e-business development, we have built numerous complex B2B eCommerce solutions for some of the biggest players in their industries.
Read more:
Blog: Digital commerce trends 2025
Blog: Making digital commerce accessible by 2025 – what you need to know about the changes to the Digital Services Act
Blog: State-of-the art headless technology secures the future of your digital commerce
Blog: Three tips for a successful overhaul of your eCommerce systems
Blog: The sacred trinity of growing eCommerce: a modern eCommerce platform, ERP and PIM
eCommerce solutions – choose a platform solution for growth-oriented eCommerce
Product information management – centralized and cost-effective product information management
