Episode 64: The B2B eCommerce Landscape And Outlook With Mark Brohan

The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerce podcast welcomes back Mark Brohan for another episode of the world’s top B2B podcast. This was Mark’s third appearance on the broadcast and today’s discussion focused on the coming B2B ecommerce boom and how to prepare for it.

Mark Brohan is the leading researcher on B2B eCommerce and Vice President at Digital Commerce 360 who reports on all things eCommerce. B2B eCommerce is now accounting for a significant portion of all B2B sales and is driving innovation in many B2B organizations. Mark believes that B2B eCommerce is in a similar state to when B2C eCommerce was becoming a critical part of retail in the 2010s. This means its that critical for B2B organizations to get it right or become what the legacy retailers became who did not adapt to eCommerce fast enough.

Episode 64: The B2B eCommerce Landscape And Outlook With Mark Brohan

In this episode, co-hosts Isaiah Bollinger, CEO of Trellis, and Timothy Peterson, Chief Marketing Officer of SportsBiz, welcoming Mark Brohan to the show:

• Similarities between the B2C eCommerce boom from years ago and what’s now happening with B2B
• Pros/ Cons of traditional B2B infrastructures
• How B2B companies should view eCommerce – threat or asset?
• B2B vs B2C methodologies – can one learn from the other?
• Market predictions and trends to keep an eye on
• Velocity of change and what it means for retailers, wholesalers, and distributors
• Why speed of adoption will make or break manufactures and distributors that have been in business for decades

This podcast’s origin story

Podcasts are still a relatively new medium for content, but just because they are new doesn’t mean they lack power. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Podcasts have a unique ability to reach people on their time, whenever it is convenient for them – a way that previously did not majorly exist. Podcast listeners can take the information wherever they go and absorb it as they see fit. And that’s exactly what we are looking to do here. We want to reach a new audience of B2B eCommerce enthusiasts.

This podcast is all about B2B eCommerce. B2B is a different breed of eCommerce and it needs a different breed of Podcast. We get into the nitty-gritty of integrations, adoption, platforms, data and so much more regarding what makes B2B difficult to make successful for eCommerce!

We noticed that a few B2C podcasts exist on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, but nothing designed for the B2B eCommerce community. B2B and B2C eCommerce have a lot of overlap, but even more differences. Each has a different set of requirements and customer demands that impact project scope. Let’s call a spade a spade. B2B is harder, more complicated, and harder to market. But it is also a bigger piece of the pie. The eCommerce B2B roadmap to success is not as cut and dry as B2C and that’s why we have started this podcast.

B2C platforms like Magento and Shopify have large communities that support and have done the entre-level work of most projects. The same community does not exist for B2B, but we are starting to build it. The ecosystem may not be as mature, but as experts in the space, we hope this podcast will help some people wake up and reevaluate their online sales strategy.

The first podcast examines major trends around B2B eCommerce as well as answering all of the above questions.  Take a listen for yourself and let us know what you think!

We will be posting new episodes with special guests weekly. You can listen on our dedicated podcast website and download the podcast on all major channels: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Overcast, Pocket Cast, Castro, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Deezer, Listen Notes, and RSS Feed.