According to new research, almost two thirds (62%) of business owners are more inclined to buy products for their company from Amazon over an independent online store.
The Attracting and Retaining B2B Customers in a World of Choice report by e-commerce agency PushON surveyed 1,000 business decision makers in the UK and found that for 50% of respondents, convenience was the main reason for shopping with a large online retailer, such as Amazon, for products such as computer software, furniture and office supplies. 55% surveyed also believed that Amazon offer greater choice than independent counterparts.
When asked why they would buy from a smaller business over a retail giant, 40% of participants said expertise and the offer of solid advice and customer service support. Second to this was improved online security for the reassurance of safe monetary transactions (37%) followed by a desire for a small business to provide more in-depth product information (35%).
In support of this, 52% of those surveyed said they would buy their office supplies from a small online outlet if they have previously experienced a good level of service from them, while 45% said they wanted to support smaller business when making purchases.
The survey also found that:
·80% of companies implementing B2B e-commerce believe that their customer expectations have changed due to the influence of B2C practices
·93% of B2B consumers prefer to shop online
·98% believed the quality of customer service support was an extremely important factor in their choice of online retailer
·42% of business customers purchased their furniture online because it is quicker than shopping in a physical store
PushON Managing Director Sam Rutley said: “Amazon’s success hasn’t come about by accident, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that over 60% of business owners turn to the retail giant when making purchases for their business online. When looking at the results of our survey, there are clear areas of the customer journey that can easily be improved to match or surpass Amazon’s offering.”
