Consider this. The iPad is not yet four years old…and 69% of B2B companies expect to stop publishing print catalogs entirely within the next three to five years.  In a world driven by such profound change, one cannot help but ask, “What will B2B eCommerce look like in the years to come?”

Today, I’m pleased to announce the release of a report that peers over the horizon and begins to address the important question of where B2B eCommerce is heading in the next few years.  In “The New And Emerging World Of B2B Commerce,” Forrester finds that B2B companies are:

  • Calibrating for a shift in B2B buyer behavior.  B2B companies are responding to B2B customers researching and buying online and on mobile devices by creating digital assets where they once only had print and human assets.  Further, they are actively preparing for a reality where 50% or more of their total customer base will be buying online from them within three years.
  • Developing content-enabled commerce.  B2B buyers are looking for detailed product specifications, how-to videos, deep and broad FAQs, etc. to satisfy their insatiable appetite for content. In response, B2B companies are increasingly producing and syndicating targeted content aimed at driving purchase interest across multiple channels and preventing B2B customers from abandoning shopping carts.
  • Leveraging new channels to reach a fragmenting customer base.  B2B customers are actively optimizing their channel preferences for convenience, delivery speed, and price – all in real-time. They’re also using a variety of direct and indirect buying channels and forcing B2B companies to actively serve a broad set of online and offline channels — all simultaneously.

Is your B2B organization staying ahead of the curve? Are you successfully transforming into a digital-first enterprise? We’d like to hear from you.  Feel free to post a comment here or on Forrester’s community for eBusiness and Channel strategy professionals. In addition, you can email us directly.