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Key findings fromTHE 2019 U.S. B2B

ECOMMERCE MARKET REPORTTechnology and competition drive rapid growth and innovation

in how companies do business online

B2BecNews, a Digital Commerce 360 brand

SPONSORED BY:

OVERVIEWSIZING UP B2B ECOMMERCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Definitions of terms 5

THE ADVANCE OF B2B ECOMMERCE WEBSITES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

SPONSORED Q&APunchOut2Go 6Kibo 10

CASE STUDIESCrash course: Changing the way auto repair parts are purchased 13How a drivetrain manufacturer retooled its website 16

DATAElectronic transactions account for a majority of B2B sales 3Getting into the game 8What are your biggest challenges in building your B2B ecommerce business? 9Most companies are investing more in B2B ecommerce 12Many are investing a lot more 12

2 ©Copyright 2019 B2BecNews (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of March of 2019.


OVERVIEW

SIZING UP B2B ECOMMERCEElectronic Data Interchange, or EDI, which

allows companies to exchange such standardized business documents as purchase orders and invoices via electronic networks.

In 2018, these three electronic channels accounted for $7.579 trillion in B2B transactions, or 50.7% of total U.S. B2B sales of $14.951 trillion, up from 49.2% in 2017, according to the B2BecNews analysis.

That means 49.3% of B2B sales, or $7.372 trillion, still took place through traditional B2B channels, such as phone and fax orders and face-to-face transactions. And that $7.372 trillion in offline transactions represents the still-massive market opportunity for B2B electronic commerce.

Long before there was a commercial internet, companies did business electronically to cut costs and improve efficiency. But the internet dramatically accelerated the move from phone and fax to electronic ordering, and 2018 represented a milestone in that transition: For the first time U.S. companies made more of their sales to businesses electronically than through traditional purchasing methods, according to an analysis of business-to-business sales by B2BecNews, a publication of Digital Commerce 360.

But business-to-business transactions are more complex than those in the business-to-consumer arena, and the B2B channels are more varied than the retail websites and marketplaces that attract consumer dollars. For the purpose of this report, B2BecNews has broken down B2B electronic transactions into three categories:

Ecommerce websites and online marketplaces where many companies sell a wide variety of products;

E-procurement software that allows companies to purchase electronically from approved sellers, either via their websites or electronic catalogs, and industry-specific and more general online networks and exchanges where registered buyers and sellers do business;

ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS ACCOUNT FOR A MAJORITY OF B2B SALESPercentage of 2018 U.S. B2B sales by purchasing method

Source: B2BecNews

EDI 32.5%

E-procurement/networks

11.0%

Ecommerce sites 7.2%

Manual transactions 49.3%

©Copyright 2019 B2BecNews (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of March of 2019.4

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE 2019 U.S. B2B ECOMMERCE MARKET REPORTB2BECNEWS

OVERVIEW • SIZING UP B2B ECOMMERCE

A detailed look at the three main channels ofelectronic B2B transactions, with estimatesof sales and growth in each channel and keytrends.

An in-depth look at Amazon Business,including the features it offers that accountfor its popularity, number of sellers and howit’s impacted other B2B players.

Exclusive data from B2BecNews surveys ofmanufacturers, wholesalers and distributorson their ecommerce plans and priorities,their participation in Amazon Business andother marketplaces, and the inhibitors totheir ecommerce growth.

Articles on personalization on B2B sites andhow punch-out software can boost onlinesales.

Four case studies of how companies areinvesting to improve their B2B websites,overcome internal obstacles to ecommerceand boost online sales. l

How channels break downEDI still accounts for the big bulk of electronic B2B transactions—64.1% in 2018, according to the B2BecNews analysis. But that share is steadily dropping as other web-based forms of B2B transactions gain traction.

Growth is especially strong in e-procurement software and online networks linking registered sellers and buyers. Those channels accounted for 21.7% of B2B electronic transactions, up from 20.0%.

There has also been slower but steady growth in sales on B2B ecommerce websites and online marketplaces, particularly the rapid growth of Amazon Business since its launch in 2015 by ecommerce giant Amazon.com Inc. Sales on these websites increased by 11.0% in 2018, according to B2BecNews, and accounted for 14.3% of electronic sales between businesses.

The full report provides a detailed look at the evolution of electronic transactions in B2B commerce, with examples of how leading manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors are gaining market share. The full report includes:

Download the complete 59-page2019 U.S. B2B

Ecommerce Market ReportFor 15% off the full price, useDiscount Code: B2B2019KFR

THE 2019 U.S. B2B ECOMMERCE MARKET REPORTTechnology and competition drive rapid growth and innovation in how companies do business online

B2BecNews, a Digital Commerce 360 brand

B2BECNEWS

https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/product/b2b-ecommerce-market-report/


KEY FINDINGS FROM THE 2019 U.S. B2B ECOMMERCE MARKET REPORTOVERVIEW • SIZING UP B2B ECOMMERCEB2B

ECNEWS

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Ecommerce sites: This category includes all ecommerce sales that take place on a B2B seller’s website, log-in portal or third-party marketplace with a shopping cart and electronic payment by credit or debit card, or other form of payment such as electronic checks or an online credit service.

E-Procurement: This category includes software-as-a-service, or SaaS, and other forms of web-based procurement software that allow business buyers to connect to the seller’s system and to buy using specific purchasing and payment requirements agreed to by the buyer and seller. E-procurement software can also include a punch-out option, which lets a buyer link to a preferred supplier’s ecommerce site to browse and purchase among a contracted selection of products and pricing; once the buyer clicks to make a purchase, the transaction is completed in the procurement software, updating the financial and inventory records of both buyer and seller. E-procurement also

includes exchanges, a vertical-industry or general business/industrial “many-to-many” internet network where businesses can buy and sell goods and services directly online based on the available inventory and price set by the seller or at a quantity level and price negotiated electronically between a buyer and seller. These include such vertical industry networks as GHX (Global Health Exchange), Exostar (covering such industries as aerospace/defense, energy, chemicals, life sciences and healthcare separately) and Oildex. It also includes sales through more general “many-to-many” internet networks such as SAP Ariba.

B2B ecommerce: As used in this report, includes all sales through ecommerce sites and e-procurement channels. It does not include sales via EDI.

Electronic transactions: Includes all sales through electronic channels, including ecommerce sites, e-procurement systemsand EDI.

What’s new in B2B ecommerce?

B2B buyers are demanding automation, which is a huge win for sellers because it allows them to significantly lower their cost of serving their customers. Gone are the days of orders via phone, fax, email and portals. The B2B market has become more competitive in recent years as corporate buyers seek to increase operational efficiency and optimize procurement processes. B2B sellers are expected to innovate to win new business and maintain their existing customer base.

How would you describe today’s average B2B ecommerce buyer?

Buyers want the ability to choose products, have purchases approved and dispatch data to their ERP and financial platforms seamlessly. 41% of corporate buyers are under the age of 40, and that percentage will only increase. The younger corporate buyers are familiar with fast and efficient B2C commerce and are looking for the same efficiencies in their professional lives. They increasingly prefer to use B2B ecommerce solutions rather than email or more traditional procurement workflows.

What B2B ecommerce challenges do manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors currently face?

Many don’t provide ecommerce as an option to their customers. In fact, 80% of manufacturers and distributors process orders by hand. But most buyers do use procurement and ERP software, so the sales process is typically a complex dance involving a lot of manual data entry and back-and-forth document exchanges. This is inefficient, a waste of employee time and staggeringly expensive compared to the more modern tools that are available.

What strategies can they implement to overcome these challenges?

They need an ecommerce system that is equipped with punchout capabilities that can integrate the distributor’s online catalog with the back-office systems of buyers, allowing order data to be transferred between buyer and seller platforms quickly and efficiently. Automation accelerates transactions. To achieve this, they should partner with a vendor that specializes in providing e-procurement, ERP and commerce technologies, as well as order management systems.

What kind of partner should they look for?

One that provides agnostic middleware and takes a modular approach that mitigates and harmonizes specifically the interaction of data points between e-procurement and commerce. These services allow B2B sellers to seamlessly transact punchout, purchase orders, invoices and other elements based upon customer abilities and requirements.

What should B2B sellers know about the current B2B ecommerce landscape?

B2B sellers who don’t offer streamlined systems are at a competitive disadvantage. Building an online version of your B2B catalog isn’t enough; many buyers also demand automation fueled by integrations with their procurement, ERP, CRM and inventory systems. Manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors must create an e-business team that includes stakeholders from sales, marketing and IT because the B2B channel will no longer respond to a siloed approach. And the e-procurement channel in itself is a monster. B2B sellers must align internal resources and partner with a third-party vendor that knows, understands, and can bring value and scalability to your organization’s efforts and abilities.

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sales. Those annual sales could reach as much as $25 billion within the next few years, former Forrester Research analyst John Bruno, now a vice president with Elastic Path, and investment analyst Colin Sebastian of R.W. Baird & Co. said in separate reports last fall, basing their projections on their own research.

While some B2B ecommerce pioneers have been selling online for years, that’s not the case for many manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors.

That’s apparent from separate surveys B2BecNews conducted in 2018 of 150 manufacturers and 126 distributors and wholesalers. Of the 276 total

EDI and many e-procurement systems are designed to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers that have a prior relationship. But online shopping has trained business buyers that they should be able to search the web to research products, compare prices, find new suppliers and purchase from those suppliers’ websites.

Despite the complexity of many business transactions, business buyers increasingly expect B2B ecommerce sites to deliver the same convenience and ease of use of retail websites they use in their personal life. That’s a big reason many manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers that sell wholesale are dedicating significant resources to launching and enhancing their ecommerce sites.

Another echo of consumer ecommerce has been the growth in online marketplaces where many suppliers can sell to businesses, a process that’s been accelerated by the 2015 launch of Amazon Business. Fear of Amazon is a not insignificant factor in driving many businesses to invest in B2B ecommerce.

Competitors have reason to fear Amazon Business, which is growing at breakneck speed. Amazon said in late 2018 that Amazon Business was on track to surpass $10 billion in annualized

THE ADVANCE OF B2B ECOMMERCE WEBSITES

GETTING INTO THE GAMEWhen do you plan on launching your B2B ecommerce site? (For companies not currently operating an ecommerce site)

6 months 6 months 1 to 2 No plans or less to 1 year years to launch

Source: B2BecNews, 2018 survey of 276 manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors

35.2%

23.4%

16.4%

25.0%



if their customers start buying from a self-service website.

One difference was that a large number of distributors, 27.8%, called resistance from customers to buying online their biggest obstacle, versus only 13.5% of manufacturers. That may reflect distributors more often selling to small retailers and other companies, whereas manufacturers more typically sell to larger wholesale organizations that have the resources to move to new methods of purchasing.

Whatever the obstacles, one thing is clear: More procurement agents are used to shopping online for themselves, and expect to be able to buy from self-service B2B websites at work. That customer demand is the biggest driver for the growth of B2B ecommerce websites and marketplaces. l

companies that responded to the survey, just over half still did not have an ecommerce site, a sign that selling to business customers via websites is still in its early days.

But the survey also revealed that there is an urgency to get into the game. Of those companies that did not have an ecommerce site, 75% had plans to launch one within two years, including 58.6% that said they would do so within 12 months.

When asked about their biggest challenge in building a B2B ecommerce business, both manufacturers and distributors cited a lack of money. Both groups also pointed to a lack of support from top executives and resistance from internal sales teams. That resistance often comes from sales representatives that fear they will lose commissions, and possibly their jobs,

THE ADVANCE OF B2B ECOMMERCE WEBSITES

WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN BUILDING YOUR B2B ECOMMERCE BUSINESS?Multiple answers possible

Distributors ManufacturersCompetition from Amazon 15 46% 17 98%Difficulty in recruiting ecommerce personnel 23 71% 17 98%Resistance from customers to buying online 27 84% 13 48%Resistance from internal sales department 19 59% 19 10%Lack of support from top executives 20 62% 23 60%Lack of money 41 24% 53 93%Other 15 46% 19 10%

Source: B2BecNews, 2018 survey data

How has B2B ecommerce changed in the past few years?

B2B sales have historically relied on personal relationships between buyer and seller. While the relationship orientation lives on, B2B buyers today are shifting buying activities to digital channels—no different from how they shop for themselves. They are discovering, comparing and ultimately purchasing more products online as companies streamline buying processes. The shift to digital gives buyers access to more information and more options. For B2B sellers, the competitive landscape is tougher than ever.

How is B2B buyer behavior evolving?

B2B buyers are increasingly looking for a B2C-style experience when purchasing online. More people making business buying decisions became accustomed to online shopping at an early age. They’re more self-driven when it comes to learning about products and would prefer to browse the internet than talk to a salesperson. And people are pressed for time, so they need a faster way to purchase.

There’s also personalization and segmentation in the B2B space now. Tomorrow’s most successful B2B sellers will be those that embrace personalization driven by true machine learning as a way to accelerate the path to purchase. The more a seller can do to reduce friction, the more successful they’ll be. And personalization is a powerful way to make data-based recommendations that minimize that browsing time.

How should manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors be responding?

B2B customers need tools that allow them to maximize their buying power. Since they are often buying at scale, B2B sellers should be offering them relationship-based pricing, tools for quick re-purchasing, and the ability to manage their accounts and procurement roles.

What challenges are they facing in accomplishing this?

First, maintaining client relationships at the account level can be tricky because a single account may have many individual contacts. Second, they may also struggle with efficiencies across people, processes and systems. Working at scale means wringing every last bit of profitability from each transaction. And finally, taking on a digital transformation project can be intimidating, especially when you’re moving away from legacy systems and onto the cloud; however the long-term risks of inaction—or even slow-walking that transformation—are extremely high.

How can they overcome these obstacles?

Manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors should make every touch point meaningful at an individual level in real time, and across all devices during the buying journey.

They should understand the importance of having a singular tool across channels and segments. While the overhead of separate “integrated” tools may seem manageable upfront, over time this can become inefficient and cost-prohibitive versus a truly unified platform with native capabilities that can scale and you will not outgrow.

And finally, transformation can be daunting, so thoughtful change management and governance are a must. Having a microservices-based architecture with business user configuration tools allows for faster time to value and maintenance as well as the option for headless commerce to support customer experiences over time.

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An executive conversation with Vinesh Vis, Chief Sales Officer,

Kibo

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eCommerce with the Speed of B2C and the Power of B2BThe Kibo commerce crew has the tools and the know-how to help you build lasting digital relationships with your buyers.

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The internet-driven revolution that has transformed the way consumers shop is also changing the way businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and school systems make their bulk purchases. There is no going back, and a growing number of companies that sell B2B are making the investments necessary to compete in the Internet Age. l

Manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors are showing by their spending plans that they recognize the need to serve customers better through electronic channels.

84.5% of distributors told B2BecNews in 2018 that they planned to increase their B2B ecommerce spending in the year ahead, including 71.0% who planned to increase that investment by more than 10%. Among manufacturers, 79.4% planned to increase spending, with 75.3% projecting a spending increase of more than 10%.

That spending is likely to take many forms beyond just adding features to ecommerce websites. B2B sellers are also investing in technology that offers greater ease of use and analytics data for enterprise buyers making purchases through such well-established channels as EDI, e-procurement software and electronic purchasing networks.

The internet has broadened the reach of electronic purchasing beyond the relatively large companies with the resources to implement EDI or sophisticated procurement systems. Now, any business buyer with an internet connection and a web browser can shop for millions of products on the Amazon Business marketplace and the growing array of ecommerce websites being launched and enhanced by B2B sellers.

CONCLUSION

MOST COMPANIES ARE INVESTING MORE IN B2B ECOMMERCE…Plan to increase spending on B2B ecommerce next year

Yes 79.4%

No 20.7%

Yes 84.5%

No 15.5%

Manufacturers Distributors/ Wholesalers

Source: B2BecNews, 2018 surveys of 276 manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors

…AND MANY ARE INVESTING A LOT MOREHow much spending will increase

Distributors/ Manufacturers Wholesalers10% or less 24 6% 28 9%10 1-25% 35 4% 40 8%25 1-50% 27 7% 21 1%More than 50% 12 3% 9 2%

Source: B2BecNews, 2018 surveys of 276 manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors


service and increase sales to collision repair shops. “One thing we’ve learned is that they’re busy—some doing hundreds of cars a month—and they’re the one that has to deal with the insurance company and fix the car properly,” he says. “They need to quickly choose the right parts while writing an estimate.”

The collision repair shops can use CCCParts.com to connect with some 350 insurance companies for information on what a repair customer’s insurance covers. Then, as they prepare repair estimates, shop managers can use the ecommerce site to view available fenders, engine hoods and other auto body parts from multiple suppliers that fall within the product

American Honda Motor Co. and Tonkin Parts Center, a major West Coast auto parts supplier to collision repair shops, are among the suppliers participating in the CCC Parts online trading system from CCC Information Services Inc. American Honda, the North American subsidiary of Japan-based Honda Motor Co. Ltd., has signed up nearly 1,000 Honda and Acura dealers to buy on the CCC Parts platform, and those dealers were already connected to more than 14,000 collision repair shops.

Leigh Guarnieri, national collisions marketing manager for Honda and Acura automotive brands at American Honda, says the auto manufacturer has studied how to provide better

CASE STUDY

CRASH COURSE: CHANGING THE WAY AUTO REPAIR PARTS ARE PURCHASED

The collision repair shops can use CCCParts.com to connect with some 350 insurance companies for information.



CASE STUDY • CCC PARTS

In order to eliminate the need for manual entry of transaction data, CCC Parts has addressed such problems by integrating its order platform with some of the business management software products—including Reynolds & Reynolds and Dealertrack—that support many repair shops, he adds. “It’s integrated into the product that repairers already use,” says Keith Burtram, senior manager, Tonkin Parts Center. “They don’t need to learn a new tool to do business with us, they simply view and purchase from our live inventory. We’ve seen significant sales increases since we started using the CCC Parts solution.”

The CCC Parts platform also provides ways for suppliers to compete online with promotions. Suppliers, Kinsherf says, realize that for any collision job, a repair shop manager may decide to use a recycled or aftermarket part if he thinks it offers better value than a product from an original equipment manufacturer.

Auto manufacturers, who have long promoted their OEM products as the best option for repairing one of their vehicles to maintain quality, rely on their networks of dealers to sell those products to repair shops. But dealers must

specifications and spending budgets set by insurers. They can compare the mix of product quality and pricing for each job as they search among original equipment certified by vehicle manufacturers, aftermarket products and products that have been reconditioned and recycled.

Exposure on the marketplace has enabled some dealers to sell more product lines to repair shops, says Darren McGettigan, business development manager for Fred Beans Parts, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Among his customers, “at least 10 to 20% have started purchasing additional lines,” he says.

Underlying the CCC Parts platform is CCC One, an enterprise resource planning system from CCC Information Services that coordinates and integrates information from insurers, parts suppliers and a collision shop’s own accounting software. “We provide integration in the background, so the shop owner just uses one online window to manage information and perform multiple tasks,” says Jim Kinsherf, vice president of the OEM business at CCC Parts.

CCC—which says its ecommerce platform processes about $13 billion in auto parts transactions annually—provides databases of information on historical records of vehicle damages and repairs, helping repair shop managers figure the cost of parts and labor required for specific types of collision work, Kinsherf says.

‘What we’re trying to do is making it easier for the body shops. It ’s a way for us to remain competitive.’Leigh Guarnieri, national collisions marketing manager for

Honda and Acura automotive brands, American Honda



CASE STUDY • CCC PARTS

When a collision repair shop manager is using the CCC Parts portal to find the best mix of products and prices to build a project estimate for a Honda or Acura vehicle, they can view the latest promotions available from American Honda as well as other suppliers. “Now all the information is on the portal screen,” Guarnieri says. When a shop needs to replace a car hood, the screen may show six options, including original equipment, aftermarket, reconditioned and salvaged parts, with the expected delivery time as well as price, he notes.

“They can not only see if we have it in stock, but see the lead time for how fast they can get it,” Burtram of Tonkin Parts says.

The portal enables American Honda and other suppliers to present their best products, prices and delivery times on the screen, while letting the repair shop manager choose the parts for a particular repair while writing the job estimate.

American Honda uses this system to promote its “conquest” programs, which provide dealers with pricing to help original equipment products better compete against their typically lower-priced aftermarket, reconditioned and other options. The car manufacturer also works with parts dealers to provide next-day delivery of products.

“What we’re trying to do is making it easier for the body shops,” Guarnieri says. “It’s a way for us to remain competitive.” l

compete with parts distributors and merchants who offer alternative products, including aftermarket or recycled items, as parts suppliers try to make deals with collision shop managers preparing repair estimates for vehicle owners. All of these options are available through CCC Parts. “CCC Parts is an open playground,” Kinsherf says. “It lets the market decide which parts get used.”

For American Honda, CCC Parts offers a way for it to promote its original equipment products to dealers and collision repair shops during the critical repair-estimating and product-purchasing process, Guarnieri says.

“Honda and Acura genuine collision parts are the only choices designed and tested for proper fit and crash performance by American Honda, and it’s critical that collision repairers see that they’re also price-competitive,” says Bruce T. Smith, senior vice president of American Honda’s Parts, Service & Technical Division. “CCC’s reach, along with the ability to put a promotional price upfront, are game-changers with better and more targeted results than we’ve achieved in the past.”

Without the portal, the collision repair shop manager would have to make several calls and send faxes to multiple suppliers, trying to compare available product offers. “That’s time-consuming back and forth, and a body shop may work on 200 to 300 cars per month,” Guarnieri says.


revenue of $4.18 billion, an increase of 25.1% from $3.34 billion for fiscal 2017.

In fiscal 2018, sales from its aftermarket and industrial division grew year over year 13.8% to $1.024 billion from $900 million and represented 24.5% and 26.9%, respectively, of total sales. The company does not break out web sales.

In 2017 Meritor launched MeritorPartsExpress.com, enabling U.S. and

Meritor Inc., a supplier of axles, suspensions, transmissions and related equipment parts for trucks, buses and on other on-road and off-road vehicles, has launched an updated version of MeritorPartsXpress.com, a B2B ecommerce site with an inventory of 100,000 aftermarket products.

Aftermarket parts are big business for Meritor, which is based in Troy, Michigan. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2018, Meritor posted total

CASE STUDY

HOW A DRIVETRAIN MANUFACTURER RETOOLED ITS WEBSITE

The updated MeritorPartsXPress.com now includes new features to configure, search, find and buy parts online as well as check the order status from the manufacturer’s four North American distribution centers.



CASE STUDY • MERITOR

The updated B2B ecommerce site from Meritor now includes new features to configure, search, find and buy parts online as well as check the order status from the manufacturer’s four distribution centers in Florence, Kentucky; Santa Fe Springs, California; Edmonton, Alberta; and Mississauga, Ontario.

Other ecommerce site improvements include:Faster search for product lines, stocking

levels and brand options;

Authorized customers can create new guest accounts on MeritorPartsXpress.com to streamline ordering and monitor spending levels;

A new online forms process permits customers to return products without contacting customer service.

“With these enhancements, MeritorPartsXpress.com will help warehouse distributors, manufacturers and dealers not only find parts more quickly but also assist them in making important business decisions to grow their businesses,” Penzkofer says.

The improvements are bringing more visitors to MeritorPartsXpress.com, the company says. The average number of site visitors per day had increased 65% by early 2019 compared to when MeritorPartsXpress.com launched in April 2017, Meritor says. l

Canadian clients to shop for parts on computers, smartphones or tablets. MeritorPartsXpress.com replaced the former ecommerce site, MeritorPartsOnline.com, for U.S. and Canadian customers.

The new website improved on the previous site by offering enhanced search with quick identification of replacement parts by Meritor part number and product line, competitor part number, or keyword, the company says. Online catalog navigation was designed to help customers correctly identify replacement parts. To assist in the part selection process, the website provides more than 40,000 images, including photographs and line drawings, as well as three-dimensional and 360-degree views of Meritor’s aftermarket products.

But a year after launching MeritorPartsXpress.com, customers needed access to more online inventory and bigger, better and faster ways to customize purchases, says Brett Penzkofer, Meritor’s vice president, aftermarket, North America.

“Customers are adopting MeritorPartsXpress rapidly, and based on usage and feedback, the platform is working well for them,” Penzkofer says. “By continuing to increase functionality on the site, we’re offering customers a more personalized experience along with valuable information, and we’re making it easy to do business with Meritor.”



AUTHORS/SPONSORS

PunchOut2Go provides B2B cloud technology and solutions to businesses that need to easily integrate their

existing Commerce Technologies with their customers’ procurement systems to simplify the buying and selling process. PunchOut2Go provides 100% PunchOut Catalog compatibility and B2B order automation, connecting with any procurement systems globally such as Ariba, SAP, Oracle, Coupa, and PeopleSoft. The company’s goal is to make it easy for suppliers to do business with their customers by reducing the cost and complexity of integrating PunchOut and other eProcurement processes.

At Kibo, we provide cloud commerce

solutions inspired by your needs and designed to empower your teams. We’re at your side, committed to your financial success in an unpredictable world. Together, we can see further, think bigger, and climb higher. Our software and services include eCommerce, Order Management, Personalization, and Mobile Point-of-Commerce for retailers, manufacturers, and brands. Whether you’re an eCommerce veteran or just getting started, B2C or B2B, our solutions are designed to power the shopping experience – from first click to doorstep – and to scale with you as your business grows. For more information, visit kibocommerce.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHORDon Davis, editor at large at Internet Retailer, was until late 2017 editor in chief for the Internet Retailer family of e-commerce publications. He previously was group editor at SourceMedia’s Payments Group, and a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, Manufacturing Systems magazine and the Springfield (Mass.) Union daily newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected].

Don DavisEditor at Large, Internet [email protected]

MARK BROHAN

Research Director B2BecNews [email protected]

PAUL DEMERY

Editor B2BecNews [email protected]

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