Automotive organisations are having to adapt to changing customer expectations due to the increase in trends such as smartphone apps, social media, and the consumerisation of IT, according to Intershop’s 2013 E-commerce Report.
The company questioned 400 B2B businesses, 75 per cent of which were from the automotive, high-tech manufacturing, retail, pharmaceutical, and telecoms sectors.
77 per cent of professionals in the automotive industry said that customer demand and expectations, developing technologies, and logistics and demand chain, are the reasons behind changes in B2B e-commerce.
97 per cent said that mobile commerce will be important in the next 12 months, 55 per cent of which are planning to create a mobile app, to allow business buyers to see products, negotiate prices, to click and buy, and to track orders.
Two thirds of organisations within the automotive sector agreed that today’s biggest challenge is delivering responsive and flexible customer service, to respond as quick as possible to customer requests.
53 per cent of them said it is difficult to manage complex organisational structures, including multiple business models and multiple data domains, and 47 per cent admitted they find it difficult to offer user-friendly interfaces for multiple touch points, such as B2B online stores and mobile apps.
Exactly half of these companies believe that switching buyers from offline to online will result in more return customers, and higher brand loyalty.
