B2B | Digital Commerce 360

A Danish B2B AI and ecommerce vendor eyes the U.S. for expansion

Mark Brohan — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:00:13 +0000

A Danish ecommerce platform developer hit the jackpot, raising big money from a group of investors. And part of how Go Autonomous will use the money is to launch operations for an expansion into the U.S.

All systems go for Go Autonomous expansion

Go Autonomous has secured $10.3 million in funding from Octopus Ventures and Ridge Ventures, with participation from existing investors EIFO and 42Cap, the company says.

“We’re excited to accelerate our product adoption in Europe and the U.K. and begin laying the groundwork for our expansion into the USA, thereby further reinforcing our commitment to revolutionizing the landscape of B2B commerce software,” says Go Autonomous founder and CEO Bjarke Ruse Sejersen.

Go Autonomous has developed artificial intelligence (AI) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications that it says identifies the intent of emails arriving in an inbox, extracts and structures the necessary information, and connects it into enterprise systems in real time, enabling end-to-end automation of quotes and orders.

“We saw the opportunity to simplify transactional communication without changing customer behavior,” says Ruse Sejersen. “Our platform not only streamlines B2B transactions but also significantly improves response times, resulting in a more efficient, profitable, and more sustainable growth — we call it Autonomous Commerce.”

Go Autonomous has established customers such as Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos, and Saint-Gobain Distribution Denmark.

The company did not release a U.S. market launch date.

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Many sellers still struggle executing on B2B digital commerce and transformation

Mark Brohan — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:38:17 +0000

B2B buyers, especially the growing numbers of digitally first buyers, have big expectations regarding the ecommerce experience from B2B sellers.

Those B2B buyers are delivering the message loud and clear: “We want an excellent digital user experience.”

And while sellers hear what buyers want, many organizations are having big problems with a range of ecommerce issues delivering a better web experience, says a new study of 400 companies by Zoovu, an artificial intelligence and ecommerce applications developer, and Forrester Research.

Aligning the B2B ecommerce experience

The study finds that B2B buyers now expect B2B experiences to align with the consumer experiences of their personal lives: quick, convenient, and personalized. Sellers know this, but they have, in large part, yet to digitally transform their selling motions. Their ecommerce operations are stuck without a meaningful way forward in a status quo that is hurting business, the survey says.

65% of surveyed organizations report that B2B ecommerce is “broken at their organization.” They cite a lack of an effective product data strategy for making products available and discoverable online as the primary factor behind this sentiment, including:

83% of respondents said their product data was incomplete, inconsistent, inaccurate, unstructured, or outdated.
81% said that an insufficient ecommerce platform amplified the problem of poor-quality data. The most common shortcomings were a lack of tools, an inability to manage product complexity, scale, and/or collect customer data from online buyers.

The research also shows that because of these challenges, B2B companies are forced to limit the amount of product discovery their buyers can engage with online. Not even half (44%) of respondents said their buyers have access to some form of self-discovery to evaluate products online.

The survey also revealed a significant opportunity to accelerate digital transformation within direct and indirect sales environments.

83% of surveyed companies say their corporate revenue required some degree of human interaction, whether it was traditional customer service/sales, assisted ecommerce where buyers turn to the sales team towards the end of their process, or digitally enabled selling, which uses digital tools to enhance traditional analog sales channels.

Other findings from Zoovu, Forrester

Aside from an inability to easily add more products into their ecommerce environments, B2B executives ranked additional challenges with their existing platforms as:

Customer frustration (35%)
Lower conversion rates (29%)
Increased cost of sales (28%)
Lost revenue (27%)
Increased customer churn (25%)

Meanwhile, 73% of B2B buyers expect the same convenient online experience they get from buying consumer products. And B2B businesses ranked their ecommerce priorities for 2024. The top initiatives include:

Providing more automated and personalized guidance to online buyers (80%)
Improving demand generation (75%)
Improving the ability to collect and use zero-party data (73%)

Incorporating AI into the B2B experience

More than three-quarters (79%) of respondents said they are looking to AI to improve the customer experience. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of those surveyed said they’re counting on AI to reduce the cost of sales and services. 71% of executives say they’re expecting AI to increase revenue.

“This research shows how essential it is for B2B businesses to invest in structuring and enriching product data to make their solutions more discoverable, wherever their buyers are,” says Zoovu CEO. James Novak.

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Glencoco’s B2B marketplace for sales development opens for business

Mark Brohan — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 19:48:16 +0000

A B2B marketplace for linking together sales professionals with companies in need of sales help is now live. The marketplace, operated by Glencoco, is backed by $3 million in new funding from investors.

Glencoco provides the tools, software and interface for companies to list campaigns on its marketplace. It also allows business development consultants to source sales-qualified meetings. They can then submit those meetings to companies on a flexible, gig-remote basis.

This includes embedding elements of sales productivity tools into the platform, such as a phone dialer, calendar scheduling and sales training modules. The intent is to then enable outbound freelance prospectors with campaigns uploaded by enterprise companies on the platform.

What Glecoco’s B2B marketplace for sales resources includes

Glencoco has focused on developing infrastructure in its B2B marketplace. Sales-related resources will be accompanied by these features. Examples include same-day payments for qualified meetings, call analytics and recordings for quality assurance and training, and scheduling, the company says.

The funding round was led by Felicis and Crossbeam. Participants included Liquid 2 Ventures, Browder Capital, SOMA Capital and Gold House Ventures.

“Their platform is a game-changer in the world of sales and marketing,” says Felicis general partner Niki Pezeshki. “By providing a marketplace connecting outbound callers with innovative companies looking to scale, Glencoco is empowering businesses to grow their pipelines and revenue streams.”

Glencoco’s business plan

For revenue, Glencoco takes a 30% take rate of every qualified meeting that is passed through the platform, the company says. Glencoco says it currently has 40 B2B customers and over 7,000 sign-ups for individual salespeople.

“I also saw how challenging staffing these teams can be for both small companies due to lack of budget or resources to provide infrastructure and large companies,” says Glencoco CEO Ingwon Chae. “The average tenure of said hires is 6-9 months, which means that if you have a team of 100 outbound sales reps, in about a year’s time, they’ll all be gone.”

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Shopify jockeys for big growth in B2B

Paul Demery — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:25:35 +0000

While Shopify Inc. reported robust 2023 financial results, with total gross merchandise volume on its clients’ ecommerce sites up 23% to $75.1 billion, it noted even strong growth in its B2B business.

Harley Finkelstein, president, Shopify Inc.

Harley Finkelstein, Shopify’s president, said on a Q4 and year-end earnings call this week that the vendor’s B2B gross merchandise volume doubled last year. He added that, in the fourth quarter, Shopify’s business with B2B companies “was up nearly 150% year over year.”

Shopify did not immediately reply to a request for specific figures on B2B-related revenue and GMV, but executives said on the earnings call that that they see the B2B market playing an increasingly vital role in Shopify’s growth plans.

An ‘exciting’ B2B growth opportunity

Finkelstein — referring to B2B as a “big and exciting growth opportunity” — said Shopify is experiencing B2B market growth with two types of companies: existing Shopify retail merchants adding a B2B channel, such as The Home Depot, home furnishings retailer Lulu and Georgia, and jewelry retailer BaubleBar; and newcomers to Shopify like Carrier, a global manufacturer of heating and cooling and other building-management systems.

He added that getting a client company like Carrier, which signed on as a client in Q4, was “opening the door to a whole new opportunity of industries we previously didn’t serve.”

Jeff Hoffmeister, Shopify’s chief financial officer, added that Shopify is seeing more demand from large enterprise B2B companies for the vendor’s multiple technology offerings, including Shopify Plus, international B2B sales, online payments, and physical store point-of-sale systems that integrate with Shopify’s ecommerce platform.

“All those things are the growth engines for the future,” he said.

Shopify says its store point-of-sale terminal is designed to integrate with the Shopify ecommerce platform and support “over 1,000 physical stores.” Referring the POS systems as new “on-ramps or entry points into Shopify,” Finkelstein said they “substantiate our role as the unified commerce operating system for merchants, whether they come to us to sell online, off-line, or anywhere in-between.”

He added, “We are building on our commitment to help merchants sell to all of their customers from a single, unified commerce platform, with upgrades to our B2B offering, including headless B2B storefronts and support for sales reps.”

Among other new features, the ecommerce technology company has also launched for merchants on the Shopify platform:

Shopify Bill Pay, an expense management tool that lets merchants pay their vendors directly from their Shopify administrative application.
Shopify Credit, a “pay-in-full” business credit card designed to help manage monthly cashflow and earn cashback savings without paying interest or fees.
Shopify Collective, an application that enables merchants to source products from other companies on Shopify and have them shipped directly to customers.

Perks of unified commerce and integrated POS

A unified commerce environment, including integrated POS systems, can play a vital role for B2B companies trying to keep up with omnichannel commerce that extends to their physical branches and other outlets, B2B industry experts say.

“Key aspects such as ERP integration, branch-selling, and tools that aid the end customer in their job are crucial for a successful B2B platform,” says Justin King, managing partner of advisory firm B2X Partners. “Shopify’s acknowledgment and incorporation of these elements, along with their significant growth in B2B GMV and the acquisition of B2B-only merchants, position them as a potentially formidable player in the B2B e-commerce technology sector. Their commitment to providing a unified commerce platform for both online and offline B2B transactions further solidifies their intent to capture and expand their market share in this domain.”

Jay Schneider, the founder of digital advisory firm B2BSquared, adds that the Shopify platform still needs to show that it can handle complex online B2B interactions, such as those involving displays, configurations and quoting of products with extensive lists of attributes and complex pricing.

Finkelstein said that Shopify generated $441 million last year from its offline offerings, including POS hardware, “more than five times what our offline revenue was just four years ago.” Shopify estimates its total addressable market for offline and B2B business at “over $450 billion,” he said, adding, “We have barely scratched the surface of this opportunity and expect it to be a key growth driver in 2024.”

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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Indian aluminum manufacturer Vedanta hits the global market with a new ecommerce site

Mark Brohan — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:06:54 +0000

An Indian aluminum manufacturer is opening what it says is the world’s largest B2B ecommerce site for non-ferrous metals.

Vedanta Aluminum, India’s largest producer of aluminum, has launched Vedanta Metal Bazaar, which offers more than 750 products, the company says.

The new B2B site features artificial intelligence (AI)-based price discovery and other advanced features.

Additionally, the site will include:

Product availability
Online price discovery
Long-term contracts
Live shipment tracking
Product documentation such as test certificates, bank guarantees, and letters of credit
A selection of finance and logistics providers
Mobile access
Agreement Tool for streamlining complex negotiations.
Unique QR-based product authenticity verification
Quick access to India’s first-ever low carbon “green’” aluminum range, Restora
Interaction with Vedanta’s quality, technical support, product application, engineering, and innovation departments through a dedicated module

Vedanta Aluminum manufacturer

“As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, aluminum is essential to India’s continued rise,” says Vedanta CEO John Slaven. “Vedanta Metal Bazaar offers a world-class experience to a rapidly progressing nation, democratizing access to top-quality aluminum by making it readily available to all sections,” he also added.

Vedanta Aluminum, a business of Vedanta Ltd, manufactures more than half of India’s aluminum with 2.29 million tons in fiscal 2023, the company says.

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At pipe distributor MRC Global, U.S. orders are 65% digital

Paul Demery — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:00:37 +0000

MRC Global Inc., a global industrial pipe distributor, is relying more on digital commerce to connect with customers, grow sales and increase operational efficiency, the century-old company says.

Rob Saltiel, president and CEO, MRC Global Inc.

“Our revenue grew for a third straight year in 2023 to $3.4 billion, and we generated $181 million of operating cash flow, resulting in our lowest net debt level ever as a public company,” president and CEO Rob Saltiel said in a statement on the company’s fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31.

MRC Global, which launched in 1921, emphasizes its global supply chain expertise and its “robust digital platform” for its ability to offer over 300,000 SKUs from over 8,500 suppliers for approximately 10,000 customers worldwide. Its ecommerce site, MRCGO, processes orders for products ranging from steel and polyethylene pipe to related valves and fittings.

In the fourth quarter, MRC reported a 12% year-over-year drop in total sales to $768 million. MRC said ecommerce accounted for 65.5% of U.S. orders and 53% worldwide. That’s up from 50.2% of worldwide orders in the year-earlier quarter.

Ecommerce drives a big share of sales

MRC didn’t break out the percentages of Q4 2023 U.S. of sales transacted online. Based on its reported figures for 2023 and 2022, Digital Commerce 360 estimates ecommerce accounted for about $340 million in Q4 2023 sales.

In its 2022 annual report, MRC said ecommerce accounted for 41% of total Q4 2022 revenue, or $356.3 million out of total sales of $869 million, while accounting for half of customer orders.

For the full year 2023, MRC said total sales grew 1% year over year to $3.41 billion. Saltiel noted on an earnings call today that, despite the drop in Q4 sales, “we maintain strong profit margins and cash generation that exceeded our expectations.”

He added, “We have seen a meaningful improvement in our backlog of new orders over the first few weeks of 2024. This gives us optimism that our business is stabilizing, and we expect to return to growth in the coming quarters.”

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, MRC reported:

Gross profit of $153 million, down 3.2% from a year earlier. But a sharp drop in the cost of sales led to a gross profit margin of 20.0%. That’s up from 18.2% a year earlier.
Net income of $21 million, unchanged.

For the full year, MRC reported:

Gross profit of $690 million, up 13.1%.
Net income of $114 million, up 52%.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s MRC Global report.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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Marketplaces grow faster than other B2B digital sales channels

Mark Brohan — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 22:03:34 +0000

B2B marketplaces tell the story of where B2B ecommerce finished in 2023 and where it’s headed in 2024.

The moral of the story: B2B marketplaces remain the fastest growing B2B digital sales channel and a key driver in how business organizations of all sizes are undergoing digital transformation, according to the newly published 2024 B2B Market and Customer Experience Report.

Consider these metrics about B2B marketplaces

B2B marketplaces grew year over year nearly 100% in 2023. That’s up to $224.0 billion from $113 billion in 2022.
B2B marketplaces last year accounted for 1.3% of all B2B sales.
There are now 750 vertical industry marketplaces (and counting).
Six in 10 B2B buyers are doing 26% or more of their B2B buying on Amazon Business.
More than half of B2B buyers, or 59%, are conducting more than a quarter of their purchases on online marketplaces, according to a new survey of 103 B2B buyers.
Amazon Business is the dominant marketplace, the industry’s most influential marketplace, and by far the biggest, accounting for about one transaction of every four, Digital Commerce 360 projects.
Marketplace service provider Mirakl says the gross merchandise volume on the Mirakl Marketplace Platform, which client companies use for first-party and third-party ecommerce sales and drop-shipping, grew 50% year over year in 2023 to $8.6 billion.
The rollout of these new marketplaces will continue in 2024, and the total number of B2B marketplaces could exceed 1,000 in as soon as two years, Digital Commerce 360 projects.

More Charts & Data Stories

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

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Watsco’s 2023 ecommerce sales grow 5% to $2.4 billion

Paul Demery — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 15:30:49 +0000

Watsco Inc.’s slack total 2023 sales of $7.28 billion hardly moved from $7.27 billion in 2022, but chairman and CEO Albert H. Nahmad nonetheless described last year as “exceptional” — and in a positive way bolstered by ecommerce technology and a robust acquisition strategy.

Albert H. Nahmad, chairman and CEO, Watsco Inc.

“In many respects, we consider 2023 an exceptional year given the extraordinary performance during the two preceding years and considering the softer comparative market conditions that have followed,” he said today in a Q4 and full-year financial statement. “We achieved market share gains during a down market, scaled the adoption of Watsco’s technology-leading technology platforms, drove productivity gains, expanded our network.”

Nahmad added during an earnings call that he sees Watsco — which he noted has grown from $1 billion in annual revenue 20 years ago to over $7 billion today — doubling its current annual revenue over the long term.

‘We’re very ambitious; we always want to grow’

“We’re never satisfied — that’s part of our culture,” he said. “We’re very ambitious; we always want to grow.”

He added that changes in the HVAC industry, including more efficient HVAC systems and greater customer participation in improved digital commerce and fulfillment technology, is making for a prime growth opportunity.

“Markets are creating innovation for the first time in a long time — it’s exciting,” he said on the earnings call.

The company noted several 2023 performance metrics resulting from its customer-facing technology systems.

Watsco ecommerce sales grew 5% year-over-year to $2.4 billion, to about 34% of total sales.
Active ecommerce customers produced 50% less attrition than non-ecommerce users.
The gross merchandise value of products sold on Watsco’s OnCallAir digital sales platform for contractors increased 28% to $1.2 billion, as quote volume expanded 14% to about 256,000 households.
Watsco’s authenticated user community for HVAC Pro+ Mobile Apps expanded to approximately 55,000 users.

Nahmad also pointed to several digital technology investments Watsco has made in the past year.

Pricing optimization software, providing analytics and insights on more than 200,000 SKUs that help Watsco “enhance competitiveness and improve margins.”
Warehouse management and order fulfillment systems for accelerated order fulfillment and “faster and more reliable customer service.”
Demand planning and inventory optimization tools to improve fulfillment rates and inventory turns.
Logistics and operations software and expertise to facilitate more efficient product movement.

Watsco is ‘well-positioned’ to invest in growth

Going forward, executives said acquisitions will remain a key part of growth.

“Watsco remains well-positioned to invest in most any-sized opportunity to build further scale in the estimated $60 billion highly fragmented North American HVAC/R distribution market,” the company said.

Since 1989, Watsco has acquired 69 companies. Its three most recent acquisitions are:

Capitol District Supply, acquired in March 2023. It generated 2023 revenue of about $13 million.
Gateway Supply Co., acquired in September 2023, which generated 2023 revenue of $180 million.
Commercial Specialists, acquired this month, generated 2023 revenue of about $13 million.

As Watsco grows through acquisition, it will seek to gain market share by brands in each market it enters, Nahmad said.

Watsco operates a distribution network with 692 North American locations serving over 125,000 contractors across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other markets in Latin America.

Watsco reported for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31:

Total sales grew 1% year over year to a record $1.60 billion.
Gross profit declined 4.4% to $414.16 million for a gross profit margin of 25.8%.
Net income declined 37.8% to $97.74 million.

For the full year, Watsco reported:

Watsco ecommerce sales grew 5% year-over-year to $2.4 billion.
Watsco ecommerce represented about 34% of total sales.
Total sales were slack at $7.28 billion, compared to $7.27 billion.
Net income declined 9.9% to $634.14 million.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s Watsco report.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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Marketplace technology firm Mirakl reports surging sales

Paul Demery — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:55:57 +0000

Mirakl, the B2B and retail e-marketplace technology provider, says its Marketplace Platform reached profitability last year for the first time since the company’s launch in 2012.

Adrien Nussenbaum, co-CEO, Mirakl

2023 marked a “year of maturity for Mirakl,” says Adrien Nussenbaum, co-founder and co-CEO. “Not only did we significantly increase our annual recurring revenue … but we are now financially self-sustaining.”

Nussenbaum adds that Mirakl powers ecommerce operations for more than 450 enterprises. They include B2B companies Airbus Helicopters, pharmaceuticals distributor Cencora (formerly known as AmerisourceBergen), Mitsubishi Electric, restaurant supplier Parts Town and Toyota Material Handling. Among its retailer clients, Mirakl counts Macy’s, Best Buy, Kroger and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Mirakl-powered B2B marketplace sales

Mirakl says the gross merchandise volume on the Mirakl Marketplace Platform, which client companies use for first-party and third-party ecommerce sales and drop-shipping, grew 50% year over year in 2023 to $8.6 billion.

In addition, Mirakl generated a 20% increase in annual revenue to nearly $160 million.

Nussenbaum says Mirakl has been expanding and upgrading its digital commerce and marketing products and services in several areas to help online sellers meet rising expectations of personalized and helpful online buying journeys.

For example, Mirakl introduced last year a program for integrating AI technology across several Mirakl technology platforms:

Mirakl Marketplace.
Catalog platform for onboarding sellers’ product information.
Target2Sell content personalization.
Target2Sell content personalization.
Mirakl Ads online advertising program for promoting products on e-marketplace pages.

Mirakl says that, through a feature developed on generative AI, Mirakl customers “can enhance the data quality and completeness of product catalogs, boost search engine rankings, and increase conversions automatically by optimizing product titles, descriptions and attributes.”

It adds that Mirakl has also developed AI-powered language translations to help online sellers “expand their business into new territories.”

In addition, Mirakl launched in 2023 the Mirakl Payout for online payment transactions and a global arrangement with marketing and communications firm Havas Group.

In a sign of what it expects more robust growth to come, Mirakl said it achieved a record $1 billion in monthly GMV in November. And it noted that more than 30 Mirakl-powered marketplaces surpassed the $100 million GMV mark last year, including several that surpassed $500 million.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s MSC Industrial report.

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Used vehicle B2B marketplace Openlane finds a new use for AI

Mark Brohan — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 19:56:54 +0000

A B2B marketplace for dealers of used vehicles thinks selecting and purchasing vehicles needs more transparency. To make that happen, Openlane, Inc., a digital marketplace for wholesale used vehicles, is rolling out Visual Boost AI.

Visual Boost AI is an artificial intelligence application that supplements vehicle inspection data. It does so by prominently highlighting detected exterior damage directly on photos within condition reports.

AI for evaluating used vehicles in its marketplace

The goal, the marketplace says, is making experiences faster and easier for interested buyers. Use cases include accurately locating and assessing potential defects before making purchase decisions.

Visual Boost AI combines artificial intelligence and computer vision technology. As a result, Openland claims it can provide a virtual overlay of any exterior damage detected.

The overlays feature hot pink highlights that pinpoint detected damage, including hail, paint peel, detached panels, broken lights, rust, scratches, dents, and cracks.

“Buyers can toggle the overlays on or off within the condition report for each vehicle they review and interpret the data captured in the vehicle description and make smarter, more profitable bidding and buying decisions,” says Openlane executive vice president and president of North American marketplaces James Coyle. “With one click, dealers can toggle the overlays and effectively get a second set of eyes to help them see anything they might have missed — like seeing the car in-person, from the convenience of your screen.”

How Openlane says the AI application will be used

The AI tool was built using applications and services from Click-In. Visual Boost AI automatically generates AI-detected damage overlays for eight standard condition images showing the vehicle at successive 45-degree angles, which the vehicle inspector can validate and reconcile, the marketplace says.

Openlane is a public B2B marketplace company. For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the company reported total marketplace revenue increased 8% to $316.6 million from $293.9 million in the prior year.

The marketplace, based in Carmel, Indiana, says it sold approximately 1.3 million vehicles in 2022. That same year, it generated revenue of over $1.5 billion and a total gross profit of $685 million.

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