As COVID-19 pushes more B2B buyers to place orders online, U.S. B2B ecommerce is on course to grow 10% this year despite the pandemic’s hit on the economy, according to an analysis in the 2020 B2B Ecommerce Market Report.

Manufacturers and distributors involved in B2B ecommerce ended 2019 anticipating that, 2020 would be another year of steady growth in ecommerce, even while trade wars and other economic factors might slow manufacturing productivity and sales in some vertical markets, according to data and analysis in the newly published 2020 B2B Ecommerce Market Report from Digital Commerce 360 B2B.

But then came the coronavirus, a full-blown global pandemic that caused a virtual shutdown of big parts of the $21.43 trillion U.S. economy, including key manufacturing sectors. COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has permanently altered the direction of U.S. B2B ecommerce, say ecommerce analysts.

“The big news for 2020 and beyond is the impact of coronavirus on how commerce is conducted in B2B channels,” says Brian Beck, a managing partner of Enceiba, an agency that helps manufacturers and brands sell through Amazon.com and Amazon Business. “Homebound B2B buyers are being forced to utilize web channels to purchase, as they can no longer go to a branch or interact face-to-face with a salesperson, and digitally-enabled sales teams and customer service departments working from home are using web tools, rather than outmoded manual processes, to place orders.

”Digital sales outpacing total salesIn 2020, total electronic sales will continue to grow. And a Digital Commerce 360 B2B analysis of ecommerce data—including first-quarter economic figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, and historical and year-to-date ecommerce numbers from big public U.S. distribution companies such as W.W. Grainger Inc., MSC Industrial Supply Co. and Watsco Inc.—shows that B2B ecommerce will also continue to grow.

Source: A pandemic-generated sea change alters the course of B2B ecommerce