Ricerche di mercato sull'e-commerce B2B

Through B2B e-commerce market research, businesses gain the actionable insights needed to refine their platforms, enhance user experiences, and stay ahead of industry trends.

How do businesses optimize their online sales strategies in an ever-expanding digital marketplace? B2B e-commerce market research provides insights into buyer behavior, emerging trends, and competitive dynamics in this rapidly growing sector.

What Is B2B e-Commerce Market Research?

B2B e-commerce market research analyzes data to understand the dynamics of the B2B online sales ecosystem. It focuses on uncovering insights into buyer behavior, industry trends, technological advancements, and competitive landscapes specific to the digital business-to-business environment.

Unlike traditional market research, B2B e-commerce market research delves into the unique challenges and opportunities of selling online to businesses. It addresses key areas such as:

• Buyer Preferences: How do businesses make purchasing decisions online? What features and functionalities do they prioritize on e-commerce platforms?
• Integrazione tecnologica: Which tools and technologies drive innovation in the B2B e-commerce space?
• Opportunità di mercato: What industries or regions offer the most growth potential for B2B e-commerce platforms?

Why Do Businesses Need B2B e-Commerce Market Research?

B2B e-commerce market research equips organizations with the insights to navigate the current business landscape, ensuring their platforms and offerings remain competitive and aligned with customer needs.

Optimizing Platform Design and Functionality

An effective e-commerce platform must cater to the specific needs of B2B buyers. Research identifies which features are critical, such as:

• Customizable catalogs and bulk pricing options.
• Integration with ERP and CRM systems.
• Advanced search and filtering capabilities.

Identificazione delle opportunità di mercato

B2B e-commerce market research helps businesses identify underserved segments, emerging trends, and geographic regions with high growth potential. For example, companies can explore:

• The rising adoption of mobile commerce in developing regions.
• The growing demand for eco-friendly products among corporate buyers.
• Opportunities to serve niche industries, such as specialized manufacturing or healthcare.

Staying Ahead of Competitors

Research enables businesses to benchmark their performance against competitors and identify areas for differentiation. Companies can position themselves more effectively in the market by analyzing competitors’ offerings, pricing models, and customer engagement strategies.

Techniques for Effective B2B e-Commerce Market Research

To maximize the potential of B2B e-commerce, businesses need to employ robust research techniques that provide actionable insights. The following methods are central to effective B2B e-commerce market research:

1. Customer Surveys and Questionnaires

Surveys help businesses understand buyer expectations, preferences, and pain points in the purchasing process.

2. Interviste approfondite

One-on-one interviews with key stakeholders provide qualitative insights into complex buying behaviors and platform requirements. These interviews often uncover nuanced challenges and opportunities.

3. Competitor Analysis

Understanding competitors’ offerings is essential for differentiation. This includes analyzing their platform functionalities, pricing structures, and customer engagement strategies.

4. Behavioral Analytics

Tracking user behavior on existing e-commerce platforms provides data on how buyers interact with features such as search filters, checkout processes, and product recommendations.

5. Social Listening and Online Forums

Monitoring discussions on social media and industry-specific forums can highlight emerging trends, common pain points, and customer expectations in the B2B e-commerce space.

6. Focus Groups

Engaging small groups of B2B buyers in structured discussions provides direct feedback on platform designs, marketing strategies, and service offerings.

Ecommerce Market Research: B2B vs B2C

B2B e-commerce market research differs significantly from B2C as decision-making is done through a systematic research process based on a team of experts. While just one consumer typically makes B2C purchases.

This means that B2B market research must take into account each team member’s different needs and concerns and how they influence the final decision. Likewise, B2B e-commerce market research considers the supply chain, a long network of intermediaries that includes distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and resellers, among others.

Di conseguenza, la ricerca di mercato dell’e-commerce B2B è tipicamente complessa rispetto alla ricerca di mercato B2C e l’emergere di nuove tecnologie e i cambiamenti nelle preferenze dei consumatori durante la pandemia hanno accelerato la transizione dei grossisti verso un ambiente digitale. Questo scenario offre opportunità e sfide agli specialisti di ricerche di mercato che devono passare rapidamente da un modello di negozio fisico a una trasformazione digitale basata sull'analisi dell'e-commerce guidata da AI e Machine Learning (ML).

Opportunità e sfide

The B2B e-commerce market has improved customer experience as a result of technological proliferation, such as cloud computing and AI. For this reason, market research should adopt new approaches and leverage innovative technologies to keep up with industry technological advances.

Opportunità

• L’intelligenza artificiale avrà un impatto sulle ricerche di mercato dell’e-commerce B2B. Gli strateghi delle ricerche di mercato dell’e-commerce B2B globale possono sfruttare l’apprendimento automatico e l’intelligenza artificiale per comprendere meglio i fattori trainanti delle intenzioni dei consumatori nel mercato B2B.
• I ricercatori di mercato possono utilizzare tecnologie digitali dirompenti per connettersi con fornitori, esperti, grossisti, rivenditori e tutte le parti interessate per ottenere dati più accurati.
• Sfrutta gli algoritmi ML per analizzare dati storici, non strutturati e prevedere le tendenze future del mercato.

Nonostante tutti i cambiamenti imminenti, le basi della ricerca di mercato dell'e-commerce B2B rimangono solide e si baseranno sugli attuali metodi di ricerca come focus group, interviste ai decisori, sessioni di co-creazione, interviste video, sondaggi via e-mail e qualsiasi altro modo di condividere le conoscenze con gli esperti del settore.

Sfide

• Mancanza di dati di qualità sui clienti. Due to the smaller number of buyers and the specialized nature of services, a shortage of quality customer information hinders personalization efforts.
• Adozione rapida di nuove tecnologie di ricerca. Man mano che le transazioni business-to-business diventano sempre più intelligenti e complesse, il rapido progresso tecnologico svolgerà un ruolo sempre più importante e gli analisti di mercato dovranno fare affidamento su nuovi strumenti di analisi per tenere il passo con questi rapidi cambiamenti.
• Restrizioni sui dati. Many governments worldwide are amending and strengthening their data security and privacy protection laws as part of their efforts to build consumer trust in B2B e-commerce platforms.

Tendenze

Sulla base delle opportunità e delle sfide nella ricerca di mercato dell’eCommerce B2B, le tendenze previste sono le seguenti:

• Maggiore utilizzo di AI e ML since they are game-changer technologies revolutionizing the business environment.
• Processo decisionale basato sui dati is becoming increasingly prevalent in business, and market research is key in providing the data needed to support these decisions.
• Market researchers use big data per ottenere informazioni dettagliate nel comportamento e nelle preferenze dei clienti e prevedere le tendenze future del mercato per l'e-commerce B2B.
• Molte più imprese lo sono raccolta e analisi dei dati da dispositivi mobili e social media per ottenere informazioni dettagliate sul comportamento e sulle preferenze dei clienti man mano che sempre più clienti utilizzano dispositivi mobili e social media.
• Le aziende fanno sempre più affidamento dati in tempo reale per prendere decisioni rapidamente e adattarsi alle mutevoli condizioni del mercato.

Giocatori chiave

Si prevede che i principali attori del mercato globale dell’e-commerce B2B rimarranno gli stessi nei prossimi anni e aumenteranno la loro quota di mercato aziendale. Alcuni dei leader di mercato sono:

• Amazzonia
• Commercio fai da te
• Alibaba
• CinaAseanTrade.
• Rakuten
• Walmart
• eBay
• Mercateo
• Fonti globali
• IndiaMART

Prospettive della regione

Asia Pacific (APAC) has established itself as one of the leading regional markets for B2B e-commerce, and APAC is expected to remain the leader in the sector. However, North America is expected to exhibit strong growth, and most of the market research will be done in this region due to the presence of major B2B companies and business consulting firms.

Punti chiave

L’e-commerce B2B è un mercato in rapida crescita che offre significative opportunità per le imprese. Comprendendo le caratteristiche uniche del mercato B2B e utilizzando strumenti digitali all'avanguardia per la ricerca, le società di consulenza e le società B2B possono prendere decisioni aziendali informate e avere successo nello spazio dell'e-commerce B2B con strategie di marketing su misura per il mercato esigenze

What Makes SIS International a Leader in B2B e-Commerce Market Research?

SIS Internazionale is a globally recognized authority in B2B e-commerce market research. We offer comprehensive solutions that empower businesses to thrive in the digital marketplace. 

Soluzioni di ricerca su misura
SIS International customizes its research approach to align with each client’s goals and market dynamics. We help businesses explore new markets, optimize platform features, or identify emerging trends.

Portata globale con competenza locale
With a presence in key markets worldwide, SIS International gives businesses a nuanced understanding of regional variations in buyer behavior, regulatory environments, and industry trends. This ensures strategies are both globally informed and locally effective.

Innovative Methodologies
SIS employs cutting-edge techniques, including behavioral analytics, AI-driven tools, and advanced segmentation methods. These methodologies enhance the depth and accuracy of insights, giving businesses a competitive edge.

Expertise Across Industries
We have extensive experience in the technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics industries. This breadth of knowledge allows the firm to address these sectors’ unique challenges and opportunities.

Esperienza comprovata
Having worked with Fortune 500 companies and emerging leaders, SIS has established itself as a trusted partner for businesses seeking to dominate their e-commerce markets.

A proposito di SIS Internazionale

SIS Internazionale offre ricerca quantitativa, qualitativa e strategica. Forniamo dati, strumenti, strategie, report e approfondimenti per il processo decisionale. Conduciamo anche interviste, sondaggi, focus group e altri metodi e approcci di ricerca di mercato. Contattaci per il tuo prossimo progetto di ricerca di mercato.