Why Retailers Should Keep An Eye On Amazon And The Growing B2B Market

Andy Hoar doesn’t shy away from making provocative statements on where the business-to-business market is heading. A little over a year ago, Hoar—Forrester Research’s principal analyst for eBusiness and channel strategy—published a report titled “Death of a (B2B) Salesman,” in which he predicted that one million B2B salespeople would be put out of work by 2020, due mostly to evolving e-commerce buying practices affecting the B2B market. He also stated point blank that “B2B sellers are out of touch with B2B buyers.” Just last month, Hoar published another report on the state of B2B, “B2C Sets the Standard for B2B,” in which he looks at the ongoing “consumerization” of B2B buying practices. While B2B salespeople may be exiting stage left, the B2B e-commerce market is exploding. Hoar predicts the U.S. B2B e-commerce market alone will grow from $855 billion this year to more than $1.1 trillion in 2020, the same year he projects so many B2B sales offices will look like ghost towns. Read more at Retail Dive.