The B2B community has been slower than B2C in adopting online buying and selling. The industry has historically been an "offline business." Buyers like to flip through a catalog, discuss options over the phone, and meet their sales rep in person.

According to the 5,000 US B2B SMBs we polled in the Alibaba.com US Small and Medium Business (SMB) Confidence Survey, 56% just started doing business online in the past five years. Multinational B2C ecommerce corporations were being founded in the early 90’s. That means B2B trails the B2C market by more than 20 years!

With the ever-evolving world of tech, it is to the advantage of both buyers and sellers to digitize. You can reach new customers online that you never would have met otherwise. New markets are accessible from across the world.

Since B2B companies are slowly accepting these changes, this is the chance for you company to beat the rush. It’s the chance to create an online presence before the rest of the industry catches up.

We’re here to help you get ahead. And that’s why we’ve joined forces with ShipStation, the shipping software company that’s leading the ecommerce world. We share a mission of making global B2B trade easier for businesses. Alibaba.com is one of the world’s largest B2B ecommerce marketplaces and ShipStation is the fastest, easiest way to get products to your customers.

We recently hosted a webinar together and outlined ways to sell and succeed online. Ecommerce marketplaces are how buyers find suppliers with the products and goods they need. Check out this clip to hear some of the benefits of using multichannel distribution:

Another key point highlighted in the webinar is buyer demand. Many people think our 10 million active business buyers are all international. That couldn’t be further from the case. In fact, the US has the highest number of active buyers on Alibaba.com!

Digitizing is the number one way to grow your global and domestic sales.

Are you ready to start mastering your online B2B sales? Schedule a consultation with our customer success team to help you get started.

Try to stay one step ahead of your competition and advertise the unique aspects that set you apart.