November 7, 2025 The Secret to Making B2B Buying Feel Like B2C

B2B buyers want the same seamless, personalized online experiences they enjoy as consumers, and integrated systems make it possible.

By Michael Netto

Dynamic, personalized, digital B2C experiences have forever changed shopping expectations, even for those purchasing in a professional capacity. Consumers have become accustomed to ordering from the comfort of their homes with a few clicks; B2B buyers now want the same experience.

Two out of three B2B buyers prefer to purchase online. The percentage spikes to 79% for reordering. And this preference doesn’t just apply to small orders. Forrester predicts more than half of B2B transactions of more than $1 million will be processed through self-service channels in 2025.

But it’s not enough for sellers to supply a visually appealing or easy-to-use web store. Thanks to B2C, three-quarters of B2B buyers expect tailored experiences, and about the same percentage will switch vendors for a better experience.

B2B buyers have options. If you don’t meet your customer’s expectations, someone else will. You must evolve your online experience to make it feel as seamless and personalized as a B2C transaction.

The value of delivering convenient, personalized shopping

B2B catalogs contain thousands of SKUs, multiple product variants and customer-specific pricing that complicate navigation, and each buyer has their own needs, preferences and goals.

A generic catalog forces every customer to sort through all the items and purchasing options. In legacy processes, buying requires interaction with a salesperson, but three-quarters of B2B buyers prefer to execute transactions without engaging with a salesperson.

Sellers must build their ecommerce system to reduce friction and accommodate self-service. Offering a personalized catalog streamlines purchasing by providing:

With this approach, customers can easily find products relevant to them. Enhanced search and filtering options help buyers narrow their choices or discover new products. Even if they don’t know the exact name, buyers can search based on product attributes and sort by their desired criteria. To optimize their experience, customers must receive accurate, consistent product information, pricing and inventory levels across all channels to avoid processing delays, fulfillment issues and purchasing mistakes.

Multiple parties are involved in making large B2B purchases, resulting in transactions that span multiple browsing sessions on different devices. Enabling multiple persistent carts gives customers the flexibility to work on several orders, save future lists and return later without losing progress. This feature reduces abandoned sales and accelerates repeat purchases.

Many consumer ecommerce sites turn ordering into a few clicks with form autofill and one-click reordering. That same ease is valuable in B2B, where buyers often place recurring bulk orders and have complex product or shipping details to enter. B2B platforms can improve checkout with features like reorder buttons, bulk order uploads, saved templates and a variety of payment options.

Executing this kind of personalization in a B2B environment presents more challenges than B2C sellers face. Unlike consumers buying a single item at a fixed price, B2B buyers receive customized pricing, volume discounts and invoicing options tailored to their unit preferences and payment terms. Sellers must also manage:

Achieving the convenience of consumer purchasing without bogging down internal operations requires automated processes and integrated systems.

Using automation and integration to improve experiences

The real work of personalizing B2B experiences happens behind the scenes. Integrating ecommerce platforms with ERP, CRM, inventory systems, payment processing and the rest of the tech stack delivers synchronized, updated product data, pricing, inventory levels, customer records and order statuses across every channel. The connectivity also enables automation to handle tedious tasks, like pricing updates or product changes.

Here’s how integration and automation support a B2C buying experience.

Accurate and consistent product data

Connected systems create a single source of truth, ensuring product specs, pricing and availability are consistent across all touchpoints. Buyers receive the same information whether they’re interacting with the online portal or a service rep. This reliability builds trust in the online experience and prevents frustrations like selecting out-of-stock items or seeing an unexpected price at checkout. Accurate data also reduces customers’ ordering mistakes and inquiries to seller support teams.

The data consistency also enables advanced search and filtering. When the ecommerce platform has instant access to all product information, users can find and sort products based on any detail, from size to availability. This capability makes ordering easier while also potentially facilitating new product discovery.

Customized product recommendations

With integrated ERP, CRM and ecommerce systems, you have the information necessary to make truly personalized product recommendations. Data from a customer’s past purchases, industry segment and contract history give insight into which products are most relevant to them.

Automation can dynamically populate the recommendations for each buyer with the right SKUs, customized configurations and individualized pricing terms so you can execute personalization at scale. With the continuous flow of new information, the catalog will evolve with the customer without requiring manual updates.

Personalized buying, checkout and order management

Integrated systems enable ecommerce platforms to present real-time, customer-specific pricing during the search process, without manual adjustments. Sellers can push price changes across channels immediately rather than waiting for a scheduled update, while also offering flexible pricing models such as volume discounts. Buyers immediately see the impact on their price as they adjust their order.

The connectivity supports cart continuity. Customers can pick up where they left off and receive any updates on price and inventory status. Autopopulate capabilities upload saved preferences like shipping addresses and payment methods at checkout, turning a multi-step reordering process into just a few clicks. Plus, buyers feel like they’re getting personal service.

You can achieve this robust experience without burdening employees. Automation makes tedious, time-consuming tasks, like collecting sensitive buyer data or inventory management, into smooth, intuitive processes that don’t require staff management. The increased operational efficiency means you can work faster and more cost-effectively with an added focus on building customer relationships.

While many people prefer to skip the salesperson, sometimes they need to talk to a human. B2B sellers must be conscious about overautomating processes. A good e-commerce experience gives customers the flexibility to complete purchases through full self-service while still offering quick access to human support.

A sleek website isn’t enough to wow today’s buyers. No matter what industry you sell to, your customers will expect a personalized, seamless purchasing experience. You must build your ecommerce strategy accordingly. Integration and automation give you the flexibility and capacity to meet their expectations.

About the Author
Michael Netto is Executive Vice President of Ecommerce Solutions at k-ecommerce by Harris Computers. He has a strong background in professional services and leadership, guiding teams to deliver innovative ecommerce solutions focused on growth, operational excellence, and driving lasting results. A lifelong learner, he holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Graduate Certificate in Teaching and teaches leadership at the university level.

More from the author:

Amazonifying B2B E-Commerce | Supply & Demand Chain Executive, July 8, 2025

The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerce, Episode 155 | July 9, 2025

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