According to Showpad’s State of Selling Survey, 86 per cent of buyers prefer digital interactions without face-to-face meetings. 92 per cent of millennial and Gen Z buyers prefer virtual selling.
Social media continues to be a major driver of B2B sales. 70 per cent of respondents said they bought a product from their company after seeing it on social media. Top-selling social media channels include Facebook (69 per cent), Instagram (57 per cent), YouTube (48 per cent), and LinkedIn (26 per cent).
Showpad’s report finds that while more than half of all buyers want to see the physical products before buying, only 34 per cent prefer a face-to-face demonstration. Top industries that need to see the product before buying include technology (64 per cent), manufacturing and engineering (60 per cent), construction (57 per cent), and insurance (50 per cent).
New channels are now replacing traditional sales channels.
“Even amongst those who are responsible for more than C$12 million in purchases a year for their business, 69 per cent say there is now no need for the traditional ‘face-to-face’ meeting with a sales representative,” Showpad said in its report.
To utilize the new way of selling products, several channels are now introducing new forms of payment. However, social media, augmented reality and metaverse experiences, online channels and others must be interconnected if they are to make full use of the new structure of buying.
According to Hendrik Isebaert, CEO of Showpad, cutting-edge technology is also crucial to this change. 59 per cent of respondents bought after a demonstration in the metaverse or via augmented reality.
Isebaert explained that the seller will not be eliminated from the sales experience and that the future of the customer experience will be about improvement to extend reality tools that will help enhance the human aspect of the buying journey.
The sources for this piece include an article in TechRepublic.