The value of B2B e-commerce increased by 30% during the pandemic, and the forecasts for 2021 say it will increase by up to 40%, according to the report “E-commerce B2B – Business in the Internet” prepared by for Santander Bank Polska by the Mobile Institute. This means that the market may reach the value of as much as PLN 637 billion (approx. EUR 139,5 billion) this year.
The Polish e-commerce market during the pandemic is developing at a very dynamic pace, the value of B2B e-commerce turnover in Poland, including both sales via an e-store or platform (i.e. web), and direct data exchange in electronic form (EDI ), at the end of last year it is estimated at around PLN 450 billion. […] During the pandemic, the value of B2B e-commerce increased by 30%, and the forecasts for 2021 indicate an increase of up to 40%. this year, this market may reach the value of as much as PLN 637 billion (approx. EUR 139,5 billion), announcement in the report.
Such a rapid development of e-commerce will also force changes in the logistics sector, it was noted.
“Delivery of goods ordered on-line is an increasingly important component of the entire purchase process. Apart from the price and availability of goods, the speed of delivery and its timeliness are the most important factors for companies placing orders online. The growing expectations of B2B and B2C customers towards the e-commerce sector will be in the coming years, they meant for the logistics industry the need to invest in digitization, improving processes and systems,” said Małgorzata Nesterowicz, director of services and family businesses at Santander Bank Polska, quoted.
The positive assessment of e-commerce is largely influenced by logistics, approximately half of the surveyed B2B sellers consider the speed of deliveries (54%) and their timeliness (50%) to be the most important for their customers. Therefore, among the functionalities in the area of delivery and logistics, B2B e-sellers most often offer their customers order status tracking (59% of them). The second most popular option is the ability to change the delivery address – 40% of B2B e-sellers offer it. Every third surveyed company offers the option of shipping directly from the manufacturer (so-called dropshipping), and every fifth express delivery has been replaced.
The number of functionalities offered by e-sellers varies depending on the company’s time of operation in the area of B2B e-commerce and its experience related to the implementation of e-commerce. The companies that have been operating in e-commerce for the longest time – over 5 years, have the most implemented functionalities in the area of logistics. Delivery tracking is offered to its recipients by 84% of companies in this segment, and the possibility of changing the delivery address is 54%. It is also worth noting that companies that perceive the implementation of e-commerce as a success offer much more functionality than other entities, it was also stated in the report.
Due to the development of B2B e-commerce, delivery time is becoming more and more important in the area of transport and logistics. Nearly every third company (29%) when asked about trends in B2B e-commerce indicates an increase in its importance. There is still a mismatch in this aspect. between the offer of e-sellers and customer requirements. Only every fifth seller offers express delivery, and at the same time as many as 58% of online buyers in the B2B segment consider this feature to be one of the most useful. approaches and a clear trend of automation of logistics processes, especially in newly emerging modern logistics centers dedicated to e-commerce services.
Another trend is personalization of the offer. B2B e-commerce is characterized by large orders, usually repetitive, but at the same time requiring individualisation. Even now, among the analyzed sectors of the economy in transport and logistics, the deepest personalization of the offer can be observed. 43% of the surveyed transport and logistics companies indicate that they personalize services to the level of a single company, and another 14% – to the level of specific departments or areas in the client’s company. Such personalization requires system integration – as many as 28% of logistics service providers work with clients on the basis of EDI (electronic data exchange), the study also shows.
Source: Santander Bank Polska and ISBnews
