Commerce Talk

Digitizing B2B To Serve Millennials & Gen Z

Business Development specialist Jared Seitz discusses how millennials are changing the game.

Millennials and Gen Z employees are rapidly entering the workforce and taking positions with B2B buying organizations — satisfying their preferences for digital solutions will be critical.

Transcript

Hey there, it's Jared from Acro with a quick Commerce Talk video about how Millennials are changing the B2B industry.

For many reasons, B2B has traditionally been slower to adopt new tech or to process their payments, orders, and recurring orders through their online channels. And why is that?

Well, typically, B2B businesses are in older industries. They've been around a long time, and they have older buyers who know the ins and outs of the business, including relationships with salespeople, dealers, and distributors. Or, they've been limited by complicated payment methods and account tiers.

What we're now seeing in the B2B space is that millennials have way more buying power than ever before.

In a recent survey, Gartner found that 73% of 20 to 35-year-olds are involved in the purchase-making decision. And of that, 73% one-third identified as the sole decision maker. So what does that actually mean? It means that roughly 25% of B2B buyers are now Millennials.

And what do Millennials expect when ordering online? They hope to be able to do it the same way they always do (in a B2C-like experience).

B2B, without question, is quite a bit different than B2C, and it's not as straightforward as adding products to a cart, adding a credit card or clicking a buy now button, but there are some ways to remove some of the friction seen in B2B Commerce to at least make things feel the same.

So if you're with a B2B company and have been tasked with digital transformation, you're a millennial (and can or cannot confirm you're the one calling the shots), or even if you're just a B2B Commerce Enthusiast like I am, I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, this is Jared with another edition of Commerce Talk.

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B2B buying behaviour has changed. Planning for B2B digital ecommerce transformation starts with a conversation.