Chart of the Week: sales surge towards omnichannel future

The rise of omnichannel B2B sales continues to surge as findings show it is the preferred method of almost 95% across industries, according to a survey.

A total of 94% told the McKinsey & Co. study that a multi-option approach where customers can buy face-to-face, remotely and online is as effective or more than before Covid-19.

The research found buyers roughly stick to a rule of thirds for these formats.

However, the B2B Pulse survey also shows customers are more willing than ever before to make purchases through remote or online sales channels.

The findings show 35% would spend at least $500,000 in a single transaction, up from 27% in February.

Meanwhile, 77% of B2B buyers are also willing to spend $50,000 or more.

What’s behind the figures?

Online consumption was a custom experience well before the pandemic hit.

The private lives of buyers saw seamless experiences through platforms like Amazon and Netflix – why would they not want the same in business?

Meanwhile, the imposition of lockdown measures saw a rapid move towards digital solutions.

Buyers and sellers turned to online channels, with their popularity now expected to remain high in the future.

What does it mean for organisers?

Online marketplaces are the perfect example of the networked business which have risen to dominate the web. There are a number of reasons why marketplaces are an attractive line of business:

• Network effects: the more users you get, the more useful/cheap your product becomes, the more users you get – Uber vs. taxis.
• Barrier to entry: Once they have a strong network effect, it becomes increasingly difficult to enter or replicate the marketplace – Airbnb vs. hotels. Ecoystems of users are the new source of competitive advantage and market dominance.
• No inventory means they are can be cheaper to operate easier to scale and easier to pivot.

For event organisers, online marketplaces come with some specific advantages:

• Audience growth. Your brand can become embedded into the workflows of buyers year-round by providing an essential tool for finding and comparing products and services, which can significantly grow your audiences.
• Revenue growth. Bundling recurring revenue subscriptions to a marketplace alongside exhibiting at an event is an opportunity to increase the value of exhibiting, gives suppliers more leads and ROI.
• Brand protection. Most importantly, having a marketplace in your portfolio presents the opportunity for forward-thinking organisers to embed themselves in the transactions between our visitors and exhibitor audiences outside the confines of an exhibition.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article and found it useful. At ExpoPlatform, we want to help you build better events and communities. Please get in touch and ask for a demo here. Thank you.