In 2018, Staples emerged as the successful buyer of mega distributor Essendant; U.S. B2B online sales reached $1 trillion, according to Forrester Research; software firms made major changes; and B2B Next debuted as a major annual conference.
And, of course, Amazon Business continued its phenomenal growth. It said this year it had reached more than $10 billion in annualized sales, and industry analysts project it will surpass $20 billion within two years.
But there’s plenty of enthusiasm for B2B e-commerce among manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers to win their share of the market. Meantime, e-commerce technology providers also made significant changes this year, providing more options for sellers and buyers to engage in online commerce.
Here’s a look back at stories we ran this year about what B2B companies and technology providers are up to with e-commerce, plus several blogs from industry experts. The articles offer a look into what companies like biotech industry manufacturer Illumina, chemicals distributor Univar and office supplies leader Staples are doing online.
The articles also include a Q&A with Amazon Business about how to builds sales through it; a blog from an industry expert advises how to compete against Amazon Business.
1 – Staples buys Essendant for $996 million
2 – B2B Next report: Disruption formulas—from steel mills to Amazon
3 – B2B Next report: How a manufacturer ‘weaponizes’ customer data to better arm sales reps
4 – Infographic: What manufacturers are doing in e‑commerce
5 – The $1 trillion B2B e‑commerce market arrives early
6 – Home Depot’s online sales grow 21.5% in fiscal 2017
7 – Amazon rolls out product pitches to woo new Amazon Business customers
8 – Chemicals distributor Univar increases sales with e‑commerce platform
9 – Staples buys HiTouch Business Services
10 – Q&A: Inside Amazon Business with Martin Rohde
11 – ‘JanSan’ distributors grasp at digital commerce
12 – Coca-Cola makes e-commerce work for sales reps
13 – The emerging battle for e‑commerce warehouse space
14 – A ‘whole new playing field’ for B2B e-commerce software
15 – SAP takes on Salesforce with new cloud CRM suite
16 – Cardinal Health prescribes a new e‑commerce site for growth
17 – Salesforce launches B2B Commerce software
18 – Q&A with Boeing: How it flies with B2B e‑commerce
19 – Georgia-Pacific eyes more commerce through a digital supply chain
20 – How did Salesforce achieve a 200% increase in return on ad spend?
21 – Xometry takes off as an on‑demand manufacturing marketplace
22 – Q&A: Inside MSC Industrial Supply with e‑commerce director Mike Roth
23 – More Amazon Business sales to public agencies alarms critics
24 – B2B buyers click with a new breed of online shopping carts
25 – Premier Farnell puts B2B e‑commerce on a fast track
26 – B2B e-commerce software suites finally ‘grow up’
27 – How robotics manufacturer KUKA is reworking digital commerce
28 – Pressing an IoT button to reorder supplies
29 – Honeywell Aerospace flies high with its redesigned B2B portal
30 – Grainger’s single‑channel online businesses grow 23% worldwide in Q3