The Future of B2B Commerce: Strategies, Technology, and AI with Jason Greenwood

B2B Commerce Is a Different Approach to E-Commerce

One of the most common assumptions in digital commerce is that a B2B experience should resemble a B2C experience as closely as possible.

But is that really the case?

In this interview from B2B Commerce Corner, Andrea Bosio of Zero11 and Rewix discusses with the podcast host the differences that make digital commerce between businesses a world profoundly different from the consumer sector, as well as the journey that led to the creation of Rewix.

Rewix was born out of a real problem

The story begins with a B2B project undertaken by Zero11 over ten years ago.

The platforms available on the market were unable to fully meet the client’s requirements.

This led to the decision to develop a new platform based on B2B processes rather than consumer ones.

Thus, Rewix was born, which has since evolved into a B2B E-commerce Experience Platform that integrates commerce, CRM, marketing automation, analytics, order management, and catalog management features.

Why B2B and B2C Are Different

The interview addresses numerous differences.

In B2B, the following may be necessary:

• different price lists per customer;
• confidential catalogs;
• customized payment terms;
• credit management;
• RFQs and negotiation processes;
• multiple open orders simultaneously;
• orders uploaded via Excel;
• size/color matrices and quick order;
• minimum order quantities;
• configuration of complex products;
• accounts with multiple users;
• approvals;
• integration with ERP and WMS;
• management of pallets, cartons, and containers;
• post-paid processes;
• marketplaces, dropshipping, and B2B2C.

It’s not just a matter of changing the front end.

The entire business process is different.

From “Shopping” to “Buying”

One of the most interesting concepts discussed concerns the role of the buyer.

In B2C, the experience is often designed around shopping, discovery, and emotional appeal.

In B2B, the buyer is working.

They often already know what they need to buy and want to:

find it quickly, order it quickly, and receive it quickly.

The goal of technology, therefore, becomes reducing the time and complexity required to complete a professional task.

Pricing and Account-Based Experience

In B2B, price is not necessarily a product attribute.

It can be a customer-specific factor.

The same item can therefore have different terms depending on:

• company;
• contract;
• quantity;
• market;
• customer group;
• commercial terms.

Similarly, there isn’t necessarily a single “customer”: there are corporate accounts with multiple people, roles, and responsibilities.

This difference also profoundly changes CRM, personalization, and marketing automation.

B2B Marketing Automation

Rewix also stems from Zero11’s experience in marketing automation.

During the conversation, it becomes clear that this is one of the platform’s distinctive features.

In B2B, a company generally knows much more about its customer than in B2C:

• purchase history;
• frequency;
• categories;
• account value;
• payment methods;
• commercial terms;
• buyers involved;
• spending potential.

E-commerce, CRM, and marketing automation can therefore work together on the same business relationship.

Payments and Credit

The financial aspect also changes radically.

Many B2B transactions are conducted on credit or with payment after delivery.

This means managing:

• exposure;
• customer creditworthiness;
• payment terms;
• credit limits;
• invoice management;
• reconciliation;
• B2B “buy now, pay later”;
• financial information.

The webinar also discusses the potential of fintech and open banking to support onboarding and risk assessment processes.

Marketplaces, Dropshipping, and New Business Models

Digital commerce can also transform the business model.

A distributor can turn its catalog into a digital service for retailers and B2B2C customers, providing:

• products;
• images;
• descriptions;
• availability;
• feeds;
• dropshipping services.

E-commerce thus becomes a platform on which to build new services and new value chains.

Strategy Before Technology

One of the key takeaways from the interview is particularly important.

Technology matters.

But choosing a good platform isn’t enough.

A B2B commerce project first and foremost needs a strategy, a roadmap, and a deep understanding of the business process it aims to transform.

And Then Comes AI

Rewix’s roadmap also looks toward artificial intelligence.

Among the areas discussed:

• a copilot to simplify platform usage;
• generation and improvement of product descriptions;
• automatic product recognition;
• Back-office simplification;
• Creation and optimization of the front-end experience;
• Use of data lakes and unstructured data.

The goal isn’t simply to add new features, but to make a naturally complex platform like a B2B platform increasingly easy to use.

The Bottom Line

B2B Commerce doesn’t mean just putting a B2B catalog online.

It means digitizing an entire business relationship.

Watch the interview and discover Rewix’s vision for the present and future of B2B Commerce.