The sector was caricatured as set in its ways, hopelessly israel whatsapp number “analogue” in its cultural instincts, and fatally unaware of the digital tsunami heading its way.
The poor designs and thoughtless customer experience of the first generation of B2B e-commerce sites did nothing to change their image as the little brother of B2C.
This label is unfair because the B2B business model is much harder to get off the ground than retail. It’s not that leaders were blind to the possibilities of B2B e-commerce; they were on Amazon and eBay like the rest of us. But the technology to do it with their complex products just wasn’t there.
Amazon itself understood this and stayed away from B2B for a long time. After decades of experience and innovation in B2C, the digital giant finally created Amazon Business in 2015. It has grown at a spectacular rate since then, but that’s not the point; Amazon waited until it was ready because it knew that B2B e-commerce was a totally different proposition from B2C.
This was not insurmountable for all B2B companies; those selling simple products implemented one of the e-commerce solutions that were appearing on the market. Those with more complex products deployed a Content Management System (CMS) that allowed them to at least put their catalogues online in some way.
