Some distributors feel a sense of urgency to adopt an e-commerce strategy while many remain slow to move more sales online, and those that don't transform their digital sales approach will be left behind, say Brian Strojny, co-founder of Insite, and Eric Raarup, director of digital experience and marketing of RBA.

Strojny and Raarup were featured in the recent MDM Webcast, The What, Why and How of Digital Transformation for Distributors.

Citing Forrester Research's e-commerce sales data, Strojny and Raarup pointed out that the forecasted revenue for B2B more than doubles B2C, with B2B online sales projected to soon reach $1 trillion.

"Not selling to the consumer but selling to the business user and the wholesale user, that marketplace is significantly larger (than B2C)," Strojny says. "And there's no doubt that the suppliers of the world are going to need to move more of their business online."

Though retailers were the first to move online because of consumer demand, Strojny notes, that trend is shifting to the B2B space as business buyers now expect the same ease of searching and ordering for their company needs as they do for their personal needs.

"That's the buyer in the B2B world, and we're going to have to satisfy them, as well," Strojny says.

Access the Webcast to learn more about how distributors can transform their digital presence at https://www.mdm.com/events/83-the-what-why-and-how-of-digital-transformation-for-distributors.