Take for example Zalando. Today eight out of ten visitors come from mobile devices and 70 percent of sales are made from a mobile device. At the same time, the e-Commerce analysis of 2019 by Dansk Erhverv shows that approximately 40 percent of online shopping by Danes takes place via either a mobile phone or tablet. FDIH's e-Commerce analysis from March shows that six out of ten Danes today have a shopping app installed on their smartphone.
B2B webshops are lagging behind B2C webshops
When it comes to meeting customer expectations, the typical B2B webshops face an urgent challenge on mobile platforms. Both in terms of ease of use, clarity, load speed, and ultimately customer patience, B2B is today significantly behind B2C.
No matter what device you are on, B2C customers expect fast response and ease of use to an extreme degree when the new shorts, shoes or hand cream are going in the basket. The wave of responsive and mobile-ready e-Commerce have washed over the retail industry just 4-5 years ago. But if you shop as a business customer, the reality is entirely different and often quite an Old Norse.
The explanation is that there are still only a few B2B webshops that are built responsively. This means that they do not automatically adapt to ideal viewing and use on mobile devices. Earlier e-Commerce solutions for the B2B segment were developed for the computer and the dimensions and visual possibilities that this format enables. It is becoming increasingly clear that the original design is no longer up to date.
As consumers get used to shopping via mobile phones and tablets, e-Commerce within B2B will also experience a rapid transformation. Many companies experience that their existing webshop does not live up to the customers' expectations at all - and the consequence of this can be lost revenue and perhaps even lost customers. Besides this today Google also ranks web pages based on their ability to cooperate with a mobile device. These are strong arguments for reconsidering the future of your B2B webshop.
A new paradigm for the B2B webshop
There are many good reasons why we at Fiftytwo are currently experiencing a significant increase in the number of inquiries from B2B players who want to optimize their webshop for mobile devices.
Either by transforming the webshop into a responsive site. Or by starting over and building a new mobile-ready webshop from scratch. In this process mainly focusing on functionality on mobile devices and second on the traditional computer. If you have an ideal mobile webshop, then it works well on all devices.
Finally, we see a strong tendency for B2B companies to move into the app world. This sets the webshop free from classic browsers such as Chrome, Explorer, Safari, and Firefox. Instead, everything is ready for the customer to use just by touching the screen - 100 percent optimized for the mobile format and shopping on the go on the construction site, warehouse, store floor, etc.
App-based webshops also have the advantage that they bridge key functions on mobile phones and tablets. For example the camera which can be used for barcode scanning. Or geolocation that can facilitate handling orders, delivery, etc.
But whether you are in the market for a responsive upgrade of your existing B2B webshop or looking at the brand new possibilities in a mobile webshop solution or app, one thing is for sure. Your customers are already mobile, and so are your biggest competitors. The next battle for customers is going to be fought on mobile devices!
