In transitioning away from the chaotic 2020, it’s important to pay attention to the current market trends and know what to anticipate in the coming months. A lot is likely going to change on the B2B eCommerce front, and staying on top of those developments can help you ensure that you’re investing in solutions that bring results. Given how turbulent last year has been, there were a lot of predictions about how things would develop in 2021 – and some of them are already shaping up to be true.
You can’t afford to ignore the growth of those trends if you want your B2B operations to remain successful and have an edge over your competition. And in some cases, this will require you to explore completely new fronts. Let’s have a look at some examples of B2B eCommerce trends that you can’t ignore in 2021.
The Rise of Marketplaces
The emergence of marketplaces in the consumer-facing market, and their ability to stabilize their positions and take charge of the market, was a strong indicator that the same was going to happen in the B2B sphere sooner or later. The growth of Amazon Business proved that, and it looks like this trend is going to continue growing in full force through 2021. It’s hard to paint an accurate picture of the market situation one year from now, because it’s developing at a very rapid pace. Various other marketplaces have started to take ground and have been getting their own share of attention over Amazon and eBay’s offers.
Some predictions even go as far as to claim that over half of all marketplaces are going to support B2B transactions just a couple of years from now. To those who’re still relying on old models, the transition is likely going to be quite harsh.
Stronger Focus on Mobile
It’s no secret that mobile devices have been in the center of the spotlight for several years now. It seems like 2021 will be a particularly important year for the B2B sector in this regard, as the adoption rate of mobile platforms has been through the roof in 2020. This can likely be attributed to several factors – including the pandemic – and it’s important to align your current moves and expectations with that.
More than half of all commercial traffic now goes through mobile devices, but they still account for a relatively small percentage of the overall sales (around a quarter at the moment). This means that there is a lot of untapped potential there, and those who manage to get in on it first likely stand to benefit a lot in the long run. Proper adoption of this trend can sometimes require major restructuring of your operations, but it’s a viable long-term investment with solid prospects.
New Technological Realms
There’s also a lot to explore in the new grounds that have opened up in the last couple of years on the technological front. Virtual and augmented reality used to be seen as exclusive technologies that only a handful had access to, but that’s far from the case at this point. Both have become mainstream, with VR especially taking off during the last year. It’s obvious that both of these technologies will be dominating the market not too long from now, especially with companies like Facebook pushing into the field actively.
The problem here is that it can take a long time to prepare yourself for working with these solutions, and you have to understand how they work on a deeper level. They require a completely new approach to your work, especially when it comes to marketing and other related fields. If you take the time to prepare yourself now, you can easily take advantage of the growing popularity of both fields in the coming year. 2021 is most definitely going to see a lot of movement on those fronts, and it’s important to position yourself in a way to be able to reap those benefits as soon as possible.
Security
More attention than ever before is being paid to the security sector as well. Several companies have suffered data breaches that have jeopardized their operations in major ways, and those who were paying attention to their security managed to get off with relatively little harm in the end. It’s going to be more important than ever before to pay attention to this in 2021, especially if you plan on growing your operations to any significant size. You can’t ignore the risk of poor security – even when your business is still relatively young and doesn’t get that much attention.
This is another field where taking action too late can incur significant costs. You need to take control of the situation from early on, and build on that in a gradual manner. If you try to do everything at once, you’re likely going to leave a lot of open gaps, and that will come back to bite you later. Even better, you should consult a specialist to guide you through the process instead of approaching the problem yourself. There is a lot of ground to cover here, and you can’t rely on your own skills to guarantee that you’re securing your business on all fronts.
Customizable Third-Party Solutions
Last but not least, there’s also been a significant shift towards the utilization of customized off-the-shelf solutions instead of ordering new ones to be built from the ground up according to specifications. The B2B eCommerce field already offers lots of different products for storefronts and other similar areas, and it’s a good idea to take a look at that market and see what you can take over and customize to your own needs.
It won’t be easy to adapt to some of these changes – but it’s important if you want to ensure that you’ll be properly aligned for the future developments of the B2B market. 2021 is going to be a very active year in this regard, so make no mistake about investing your efforts in the right area.
