Main channels for B2B companies' digital sales in the Nordics 2024

In 2024, e-commerce was the favorite channel for business-to-business (B2B) sales in the Nordic countries. Around 24 percent of the Nordic B2B companies generated their digital sales through e-commerce accessible through login, while the same share of professionals from the surveyed wholesalers and manufacturers sold their products or services on e-commerce platforms open to any user. Only 15 percent of respondents reported having used electronic data interchange (EDI), following the general trend reported by B2B buyers worldwide.

Customized B2B experience

By logging into the e-commerce platforms, B2B buyers share their data with vendors. This is a prerequisite to a more personalized shopping experience, still only offered by a minority of Scandinavian B2B companies. According to a survey carried out in 2021, professionals from B2B companies tailoring the digital customer experience mostly relied on targeted outbound marketing (e.g. email campaigns) and customized product recommendations.

More efforts in marketing in the future

Further surveys show the relevance of marketing channels in the B2B sphere. A 2021 survey revealed that over 41 percent of U.S. B2B sellers expected digital marketing to receive significant investments by 2022. Digital marketing would outdo other investment areas such as order fulfillment logistics and payment services.