It’s been quite a year for the B2B manufacturing business. While the ongoing pandemic caused uncertainty in some markets, it also drove many more B2B buyers online. Our recent survey found that 97 percent of B2B manufacturing businesses are feeling increasing pressure to get their products to market faster compared to just a year ago. On top of that, 87 percent of manufacturers indicated that they’re facing more competition now than they did last year. Manufacturers rushing to adopt e-commerce delivery have been challenged by technological limitations and the complexities of gathering and maintaining product information for all of the new channels and marketplaces they’re entering.
In the past year, manufacturers have adjusted quickly to changing consumer expectations related to regional social and political unrest, unanticipated impacts of Brexit, and growing environmental and sustainability demands. In addition, market demands spiked for some products, such as affordable above ground pools, flour, home office equipment, and microchips, while dropping precipitously in others, such as gas for commuter vehicles, business travel (hotels, airlines, and conference centers), office-sized toilet paper rolls, and much more. It became increasingly challenging to predict where the market would move next and how to ensure that the tech stack was up to delivering the right product information to the right platform, the right away. To help them meet this challenge, most manufacturers are adapting their business models and adopting new technologies, particularly automation and artificial intelligence (AI), to help them get ahead of the competition — and stay ahead of the curve.
The pressure to stay ahead is the driving force behind the majority of businesses in the B2B manufacturing industry changing their business model. According to our research, 88 percent have done so to compete in the current market conditions. It’s not surprising that they sought to change, given the massive shifts in supply and demand, because manufacturers as an industry have been hampered by outdated technologies and complex supply chains. The acceleration of digital commerce in 2020 made change critical.
Beyond the change in business model, organizations are also moving fast in embracing innovative technology, rich media, and new channels to bring products to market. None of our survey respondents indicated that they are currently working with the same stack of tools for managing product information as they were three years ago. That alone is astonishing — not one of them are using the same stack of tools — a clear indication that how product information was managed simply wasn’t working before and change was overdue.The most popular choices for this work now include master data management (MDM) software, customer experience software, and product information management (PIM) software, each of which is in use at about half of the respondents’ organizations. The growing complexity of product information, which has driven the uptake of such technology, is another factor leading organizations to turn to automation and artificial intelligence solutions.
The adoption of B2C techniques by B2B manufacturers is far from surprising. Many consumers already expect retailers to use artificial reality and virtual reality in their buying experiences, and many of those same retail consumers are also buyers in the B2B space. If buyers expect unique, differentiated online purchasing experiences when buying shoes, furniture, and luxury goods, why would they now settle for less when it comes to manufacturers? To create the experience their buyers now expect, 94 percent of manufacturers reported using automation and AI to deliver product information that’s tailored for each channel to meet the new needs and expectations of their buyers.
