Globalization has become a trendsetter in several businesses and B-2-B commerce. For those in the industry, commerce is no longer just commerce. It has been translated to E-commerce with the recent creation of a ‘global village by the internet. But what does this mean for the industry? There is huge anticipation and expectations, then there is reality.

Expanding reach vs uncertainty

The internet has provided a wider reach for B2B commerce as businesses can transact with other establishments across the world. Boundaries are no longer restricted. The use of the Internet to support business transactions promises numerous advantages, including drastically decreased costs, more access to buyers and sellers, improved marketplace liquidity, and a plethora of new efficient and flexible transaction techniques.

This is also translated in the marketing field where acquisitions are favored by the wide reach of the marketing strategies employed. However, the reality of globalized B2B transactions is the growing uncertainty posed by the Internet.  The high amount of uncertainty is producing widespread anxiety among executives, and for good reason.

All businesses have significant holdings in the business-to-business marketplace, whether as buyers, sellers, or both. These stakes are constantly under threat of being degraded with the shifts occurring in technology. Seeing as how technology is the main driver of B2B transactions, then companies need to be consistently in the know. In marketing, the obsoleteness of strategies comes faster than their formulation. The reality is that the internet itself poses a risk to B2B companies that fail to adapt to the shifts.

Information wealth vs Information Overload

B2B information is any information that is useful to B2B businesses, particularly its sales, marketing, and revenue operations departments and other sources. Most marketing managers expect that globalization will foster the creation of information wealth from the different sources all databases on the internet. The abundance of wealth on the internet provides business intelligence which is a major boost for the attainment of business objectives.

The reality, however, is that there is an information overload with the phrase ‘big data’ being a major player in the industry. The state of being overwhelmed by the amount of material offered for processing is known as information overload. The term is used to define circumstances in which there is too much data for a given decision.

The increase in data sources over the internet plays a major role in information overload in business. This reality has forced many companies to invest heavily in data analytics and data science technologies to deal with information overload. The trends in the b2b industry have relied on globalization, which has proven to be a double-edged sword. The future promise great befits and returns for B2B commerce.

For several businesses, adaptation to the threats in the future posed by the trends is crucial for their survival, however, by lowering their expectations and focusing on reality, they will be able to thrive in the world of B2B commerce.