Poor product imagery and weak customer service are major barriers to online B2B purchases, according to a report.

Although the majority of B2B customers (78%) actually prefer to shop online, 22% have to travel to purchase goods in-store because online retailers

do not offer clear product imagery or effective customer service

, according to PushON’s survey of 500 business decision-makers.

Product visualisation was the biggest barrier to online purchasing (81%), with over half of those surveyed (51%) preferring to speak to a member of staff for advice.

More than half (55%) of those surveyed expressed a strong desire for online B2B retailers to invest in the same innovative technologies B2C ecommerce businesses are investing in, including augmented reality to help them visualise products (29%), and

an increase in AI tools such as chatbots (26%).

Sam Rutley, managing director at PushON, said: “Although B2B retail is suffering a similar fate to B2C, in that customers are increasingly preferring to shop online, B2B ecommerce undoubtedly has a long way to go if it’s ever going to achieve the same results and levels of customer experience as B2C ecommerce.”