In 2022, manufacturers will invest up to 20% more in their digital transformation to meet the expectations of modern B2B customers and tap new business potential.
That’s one of the key findings of a new report “The Voice of Digital Leaders in Manufacturing 2022: E-Commerce and Digital Adoption”.
The study, commissioned by Intershop and Evident, saw Swedish market research company Copperberg surveyed more than 50 proven digital leaders from European manufacturers with annual sales of at least 250 million euros. In qualitative interviews, they reported on the progress of their digitalization and e-commerce initiatives and shared insights about their biggest challenges, most important goals and strategies.
Key findings include:
- European B2B manufacturers will invest up to 20% more in their digitalization initiatives.
- Up to 71% of the manufacturers surveyed are strongly ambitious and some (24%) are even aspiring to become market leaders through digitalization.
- 56% have established basic structures for a company-wide digital strategy and roadmap.
- Most of our survey respondents plan to deploy solutions geared towards simplifying the sales process both for the organization and its customers. 36% each want to implement CPQ (configure-price-quote) systems to sell complex products and digital customer portals with convenient self-service functions, while 37% want to invest in data platforms.
“The answers underscore the need for manufacturers to invest in appropriate technologies and ramp up human resources to further optimize the B2B customer experience and compete globally over the long term,” said Lisa Hellqvist, Managing Director of Copperberg.
Herbert Pesch, founder of the digital agency Evident, added: “We succeeded in making this report different from the others out there. We’ve made it personal! The digital leaders provided extensive responses to many open questions. These give great insights into how these leaders personally manage and sometimes struggle with the many challenges in the world of B2B digital commerce.”
The report contains recommendations and insights for the development and company-wide implementation of a customer-centric digitalization strategy, such as:
- “Secure C-level support. Set a strategy. Also, quantify internal values.”
- “Focus on how digitalization can enhance your specific business goals, create a clear, prioritized digital roadmap, and recognize that adoption will take time.”
- “Fix the foundation – don’t reinvent the wheel. And if you have something unique, have a focus on that!”
