B2B buyers across the board are spending more online through electronic commerce channels.

In fact, based on results from a new survey of 150 buyers from Digital Commerce 360 and Forrester Research, just over 50% of B2B buyers make a digital purchase of a good or service for their organization daily. That includes nearly one-third, 32%, that make a business purchase at least several times per day. In comparison, 23% of survey respondents make weekly purchases. Meanwhile, 17% do so every 30 days.

B2B buyer preferences

The survey research also shows that B2B buyers are also consistent in where they like to place their initial and ongoing purchase orders. For example, 57% of B2B buyers list a manufacturer’s ecommerce site as their first choice. Other B2B buyer preferences include:

• Consumer site (45%)
• Amazon Business (43%)
• Search engine (40%)
• Distributor ecommerce site (33%)

In general, brand manufacturer and industry distributor websites rank highest in terms of purchase frequency for B2B purchases for many reasons, not the least of which are brand trust and depth of content including product detail such as specifications, descriptions, detailed pricing and related products and recommendations above others. B2B buyers believe that brand manufacturers have the best information on their products and that going direct to these sites to buy B2B products is preferred.

But marketplaces are gaining in popularity as well — 6 in 10 B2B buyers are doing 26% or more of their B2B buying on Amazon Business.

Buying B2B products on a marketplace

When it comes to buying B2B products on a marketplace where multiple sellers are featured, 15% of B2B buyers said they would definitely do so, 48% said they would probably do so, 31% had not really considered it and 6% said probably not.

Buying B2B products from a distributor vs. the brand manufactures

When it comes to buying B2B products from the distributor vs. buying from the brand that manufactures the product, 18% of B2B buyers said they would definitely do so, 44% said they would probably do so, 24% had not really considered it, 12% said probably not, and 2% said they absolutely wouldn’t.

Would you pay more to buy from the B2B brand?

When asked if they would pay slightly more to buy a B2B product directly from the brand that manufactures the product vs. the distributor, 19% of B2B buyers said they would definitely do so, 49% said they would probably do so, 24% had not really considered it, 7% said probably not, and 1% said they absolutely wouldn’t.

Do B2B marketplaces have the best information?

When asked if marketplaces that sells products from multiple sellers has the greatest information in a convenient format, 21% of B2B buyers said they definitely do, 50% somewhat agree with this, 25% said they neither agree nor disagree, 3% said they somewhat disagree, and 1% said they strongly disagree.

Do B2B distributors have better information than manufacturers?

When asked if distributors that sells a product has better information on its own website about that product than the brand that manufactures the product, 22% of B2B buyers said they definitely do, 50% somewhat agree with this, 22% said they neither agree nor disagree, and 8% said they somewhat disagree.

Buying B2B products directly from the manufacturer

When asked if they prefer to buy a B2B product directly from the brand that manufactures the product vs.the distributor that sells it, 29% of B2B buyers said they would definitely do, 42% said they mostly do, 23% had not really considered it, and 6% said probably not.

Does a brand manufacturer have the best information on their website?

When asked if the manufacture of a product has the best information about that product on its own website, 41% of B2B buyers said they definitely do, 44% somewhat agree with this, 12% said they neither agree nor disagree, and 3% said they somewhat disagree.

More Charts & Data Stories

Check back soon for more Charts & Data Stories, like our weekly B2B infographics. We add new content regularly. 

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan.

Follow us on LinkedIn and be the first to know when we publish Digital Commerce 360 B2B News content.