PAYMENTS
Four Areas to Address to Meet Digital B2B Commerce Expectations L BY BRANDON SPEAR
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TOTAL FINANCE
ooking back on 2021, the global B2B payments landscape experienced notable changes in sales channel strategies as eCommerce accelerated. As B2B customer journeys become more digitally influenced, a merchants’ payments offerings and capabilities need to evolve to better secure the sale. Recent research from Forrester Consulting revealed that 60 percent of merchants cited payment speed and security as top-of-mind concerns for customers moving forward to protect sales and customer experiences. B2B retailers face immense competition, amplifying the need to offer payment solutions that will drive revenue and support customer loyalty. Whether its through a salesperson, online or in-store, B2B buyers expect the same, seamless payments experience. Omnichannel selling has become a critical part of the customer experience and can differentiate a B2B seller from its competitors. It has also become a more successful way to prospect and secure new business than traditional, “face-to-face only” sales approaches according to McKinsey & Co. To help meet these rapidly changing customer expectations, Canadian merchants and manufacturers should address these four areas to ensure their offline and online payment processes deliver the best possible customer experience. 1. Offer more payment options: This gives buyers the freedom and choice to pay in their preferred method. According to the same Forrester Consulting research noted above, more than 90 percent of merchants expect that improving payment options for B2B customers will improve customer
satisfaction, speed up transactions, free up internal resources, and increase business success — showing an inherent need for B2B sellers to adapt payments processes. A recent industry example includes TreviPay’s one-click mobile app solution for B2B commerce which allows buyers to access their trade financing in-store via an intuitive mobile app, eliminating the need to issue multiple credit cards to numerous purchasers within the organization, which also helps reduce the risk of fraud. Our first partner to enable the TreviPay mobile app solution for B2B buyers is Staples Canada, which has been leveraging the new offering in all 305 stores across Canada with an average $6.5K CAD credit line per user since the program launched in August 2021. Without any need for POS hardware upgrades, this has allowed Staples’ authorized purchasers to shop seconds after credit approval rather than waiting on a physical card to arrive in the mail. 2. Extend buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) to B2B: The BNPL trend has gained traction amongst B2C consumers, especially for those who are interested in stretching their buying power and/or personal budgets. B2B buyers have long required BNPL-like solutions — such as trade credit and payment terms — for their large enterprise purchases. Now, B2B retailers and manufacturers must modernize those BNPL transaction experiences with digital and mobile purchasing options for B2B shoppers, or risk losing them. We can also expect growth opportunities in sales,
SPRING 2022
