B2B ecommerce expert Chris Gee from Rixxo explains why phone and email are still the ‘go-to’ for many trade buyers, and what it takes for manufacturers and distributors to change those habits.
A retailer is placing a repeat order with a supplier. Most of the products are in the online basket, but one line needs to go to a different branch and the buyer wants to know whether it will arrive before the weekend. A call to the rep settles both questions and gets the whole order placed. The next time, the buyer calls first.
That decision helps explain why manufacturers and distributors can spend six figures on an ecommerce platform and still have an order desk full of people taking calls and rekeying emails.
Research by Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Sana Commerce, found that seven in ten B2B organisations say their buyers bypass digital channels at critical points in the purchasing process, such as confirming prices or checking stock.
As Chris Gee, founder of digital consultancy Rixxo, puts it, “you can build a perfectly good path and still find everyone walking across the grass. These are called desire paths.” For a retail buyer juggling deliveries, replenishment and stock across several sites, the shortcut is often the person who already knows how the account works.
What the order desk does that the portal cannot
Placing an order can be the easy part. A buyer might need to hold dispatch until month-end, split a shipment between two sites, or pay partly by card when they are close to their credit limit. On the phone, those details can be settled in the same conversation. If the website handles the basket but the buyer still has to call to sort out delivery or payment, it adds a step to a job the rep could have completed in one go.
The problem can start before a platform is even bought. “The decisions were made before the problem was understood,” says Gee. “A supplier can sit through an impressive demo and come away sold on features without having worked out which jobs buyers still rely on the order desk to do. That’s how a portal can look good at launch and still send buyers back to the phone when they need to split a delivery or use their agreed payment terms.”
That’s the thinking behind Rixxo’s SPIN APE® framework for platform selection. A morning with the order desk can reveal which orders regularly end with someone saying ‘leave it with me’. Those are the orders to take into a demo. Ask vendors to show how their platform would handle them using your own pricing, credit and delivery rules. You’ll see which jobs the software can take on and where your team would still need to step in.
There is also a case for starting with orders the portal already handles well. A retailer who can reorder last month’s stock in a few clicks, build a basket over several days or order after the office closes has a reason to give it a go. More complicated orders can still go through the team while the supplier learns what keeps them there.
Why both sides keep coming back to the phone
Moving an order online saves the supplier from keying it in, but the buyer may see little benefit in doing that work themselves. One European distributor operating across six markets gave buyers a delivery advantage for ordering online. When a customer called, the rep could explain the benefit and send a basket ready to complete.
A UK parts distributor Rixxo works with took a different approach, setting a £200 minimum for phone and email orders and a £75 minimum online. For a retailer topping up a few lines, the lower threshold can make the portal the more practical option.
Those incentives carry more weight when the buyer can complete a real order without having to chase anyone. A rep who knows the account can help the buyer through that first purchase, using a live basket or a quote that links directly to checkout. The next order shows whether the buyer can do it independently, and where they still need help.
The rep’s own incentives matter just as much. If an order placed through the portal earns them less commission than one taken over the phone, it makes sense for them to keep taking calls. Giving reps credit for orders across their accounts, whichever channel the buyer uses, makes it easier for them to introduce customers to the portal. It also gives them a reason to help resolve pricing or account issues that might otherwise send the buyer straight back to email.
Where the return on investment shows up
A distributor with a £16 million turnover aimed to increase online orders from around 6% to 20% so it could grow without a matching rise in overheads. The test was how much staff time each order still took.
At another business, 1,000 six-minute phone orders took 100 hours a month. If staff still have to correct prices or confirm dispatch dates after orders move online, some of that work simply shifts. When the portal handles those details, staff can spend more time advising customers and growing accounts.
The return also depends on which orders move. A regular replenishment order and a split delivery with special terms take different amounts of effort to handle, so an average across all accounts can hide where the gains are coming from. Comparing similar orders before and after the switch gives a clearer picture of the time recovered and whether it justifies the cost of running the portal and getting buyers onto it.
“When businesses come to us for help choosing an ecommerce platform, we start by looking at how they take orders today, what their customers need and what will have to change for the people who support them,” says Gee. “That gives us a brief to take to vendors and helps us see where the business itself needs to change, whether that’s how orders are handled or how sales teams are rewarded. The test comes after launch, when a buyer has another order to place and going online is the easiest way to get the whole job done.”
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