Study: B2B e-commerce market to grow significantly in coming years

Online sales are on the rise amid the pandemic and the same phenomenon is applicable to B2B e-commerce. A recent DHL Express study has unveiled that strong growth for the B2B e-commerce market is expected in the coming years, while unsurprisingly the pandemic has been driving digital transformation and has significantly accelerated B2C and B2B e-commerce growth.

DHL Express's new whitepaper The Ultimate B2B E-commerce Guide: Tradition is out. Digital is in predicts that by 2025, 80% of all B2B sales interactions between suppliers and professional buyers will take place in digital channels. The impact of the pandemic on the pace of digitalisation and the purchasing behaviour of technology-savvy millennials, who are now of age to be the professional B2B decision-makers, are the main drivers of this global e-commerce growth.

Currently, millennials account for 73% of all professional B2B purchasing decisions. DHL Express believes that millennials' experiences in the B2C sector translate to high expectations when making B2B transactions, pushing companies to invest in digital solutions, such as selling platforms, while offering great growth potential.

However, the acceleration of B2B e-commerce growth does not take place recently. In 2019, before the pandemic, global sales on B2B e-commerce sites and marketplaces already increased by 18.2% to reach US$12.2 trillion, outpacing the market size of the B2C sector. Through the pandemic and the resulting acceleration of digitalisation, this global B2B e-commerce volume is estimated to reach US$20.9 trillion by 2027.

“The pandemic has changed the way we live. Big or small businesses have embraced digitalisation at different levels. However, B2C commerce remains strong, while the B2B segment is recovering quickly, as a result of a convergence of online and brick-and-mortar businesses," said Ng Chee-Choong, senior vice president and managing director of DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau.