Billion Dollar B2B Growth thru E-commerce

The Third Growth Option with Benno Duenkelsbuehler and Guests

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I learned a great deal in this episode from Brian Beck, a leading 23-year practitioner, expert, and operator in e-commerce: we talked about the why, what, and how of growing revenue streams through B2B e-commerce. Brian also wrote the book on the subject – Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce – and our conversation touched on breaking down the complexity of e-commerce (into consumer-facing and operations-facing, pre-sale and post-sale), the importance of cross-functional translation and alignment, and demystifying this great opportunity for manufacturers and distributors.

2:42 – “There are so many parallels between what we experienced in consumer (e-commerce) and what businesses – manufacturers, distributors – who operate B2B ecom segments, experience.”

3:14 – …on why B2C ecom is so important to understanding and optimizing B2B ecom: “B2C ecom set the precedent for B2B ecom… that friction-less buying experience on the B2C side doesn’t yet fully exist on B2B, but it’s happening.”

5:25 – “The same dynamics are now occurring in B2B. The buyer has more choices and more power and more transparency than they ever had before.”

8:06 – … on the B2B buyer’s mindset and expectation “the next generation of B2B buyers that are here, are Amazon natives.”

9:25 – “Millennials are going to be 75% of the workforce in two years… you’ve got to make that buyer’s job easier thru the e-commerce experience… it has to be hyper efficient.”

12:51 – Talking about midsized ($10M to $20M revenue companies) who grew significantly thru B2B ecom: “management’s willingness to act is what holds companies back, more so than the tools and technology – they are here and available today.”

15:30 – “The brutal reality of the situation is that the customers’ expectations have changed. If you’re not willing to make the change, you may not be in business in 10 or 15 years.”