Hokodo has released a report that explores the habits and e-commerce expectations of business buyers.
Out of the 500 surveyed B2B buyers, 83% said that they would abandon an e-commerce purchase if no payment terms were offered at checkout, meaning that B2B sellers failing to offer payment terms are missing out on capturing new business and revenue growth.
The majority of respondents to Hokodo’s survey (73%) said that payment challenges at checkout are causing them issues. These include unsuitable settlement methods, or a lack of payment terms on offer. With 79% of buyers agreeing that payment terms are critical for the success of their business in 2024, those that experience payment issues at checkout will be far more likely to abandon their cart. An overwhelming majority of respondents (82%) said that having access to payment terms is either important or very important when choosing a new B2B supplier. For B2B buyers, the verdict is clear: payment terms aren’t just ‘nice to have’, but essential for business survival.
However, a lack of payment terms is not the only issue that B2B buyers are facing at checkout. In fact, only 2% of respondents said that they face no issues at checkout whatsoever. This suggests that buyers generally have very low expectations of what their suppliers are able to deliver. In turn, low customer expectations can lead to a reduced sense of loyalty, meaning that many merchants risk losing customers to a more reliable supplier.
Respondents identified three top areas for improvement in B2B e-commerce checkouts. 44% said that more transparency is needed around shipping costs and other fees, 43% said that customer support needs improvement and 39% said that e-commerce checkouts need to be faster and simpler.
As well as highlighting the challenges facing B2B merchants and marketplaces, the new report also makes tangible recommendations that sellers can implement to improve their customer experience.
To tackle the dissatisfaction amongst B2B buyers, the report recommends that sellers request feedback from the people that use their checkout in order to find out where it can be improved. In doing so, sellers can pinpoint exactly where they’re going wrong and apply new measures to improve the experience – from bettering customer support, limiting checkout complexity or introducing transparency around additional fees, there are several measures suggested in the report that B2B sellers can use to impress and win customers.
Louis Carbonnier, Co-founder and President of Hokodo said:
“The findings of this survey reinforce what we at Hokodo have always known: payment terms are a must-have for B2B e-commerce transactions. We’ve spent the past six years developing and refining solutions that address this critical need, empowering merchants to offer flexible payment terms, instantly, at the point of need, even on a customer’s first purchase.”
