More than four-fifths – 81% – of B2B businesses have lost profit due to errors with online orders, according to research.
The B2B Buying Process 2019 Report by Sana Commerce, which surveyed 560 global B2B buyers, also found online order mistakes didn’t only affect profitability. Some 84% said errors had a negative impact on efficiency, and a further 81% has experienced the same with productivity.
The poll found 44% reported their profitability, sales, productivity, or efficiency had declined by more than 11%, while some cited a decrease of as much as 25%.
There were several causes for online order errors. The most popular was user entry. However, incorrect product information, inventory display, shipping information and pricing were all noted as reasons for the negative impact on profit.
Michiel Schipperus, CEO and managing partner at Sana Commerce, said B2B businesses had embraced e-commerce as a route to market to remain competitive and reach new markets.
“Our research highlights the need for e-commerce platforms to deliver accuracy across all buying channels,” he said. “Ensuring the e-commerce system is intergrated into the organisation’s ERP platform to provide a single source of truth at the point of purchase goes a long way to ensuring that customers have the correct information needed to make an informed purchase decision and reduce order errors.”
