[B2B Tech Startups] How Tech Revolution Has Affected The B2B Market
The evolution of technology has changed the way B2B Market in India used to function. And after realising every other individual is becoming tech-savvy these days, companies are investing more in technologies.
Companies now understand that customers’ behaviour is changing fast. And without understanding their behaviour, they cannot go too far.
But the sales and marketing world is sensitive and evolving.
Therefore, companies are using technologies like AI, VR, Big Data, etc., to provide a personalized experience to their customers. These game-changing technologies recognise user preferences through their search patterns and provide a personalised experience to them.
With increasing internet access and smartphones becoming a common thing, businesses across industries are willing to invest in these technologies and tech-based B2B opportunities.
In this article, we will talk about how technology is changing the B2B market and how the market players are preparing themselves for the future.
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B2B Tech Startups And Their Rise In India
The Indian startup ecosystem was previously largely dominated by consumer-facing companies. However, now times have changed.
Now, the number of business to business (B2B) tech startups are increasing. As per a report by NetApp and Zinnov, there are around 4,200+ B2B tech startups in India.
Statistics Showing The Growth Of B2B Tech Startups In India
- About 24% of B2B startups operate in sectors like advanced technology like AI, blockchain and IoT
- 44% of all startups are B2B tech companies.
- 43% of Indian unicorns are B2B tech startups.
- 63% of which are working on enterprise technology in the BFSI, healthcare, retail and automotive verticals.
Some B2B Tech Startups in India
Bijnis
Started by Siddharth Vij, Siddharth Rastogi, Chaitanya Rathi, and Shubham Agarwal, Bijnis is revolutionising the unorganized manufacturing industries by digitising factories.
Bijnis provides a digital transaction layer between manufacturers and retailers in the unorganized categories of footwear, fashion, and accessories.
Chargebee
Chargebee is a recurring billing and subscription management tool that helps SaaS and SaaS-like businesses streamline Revenue Operations.
Started by Rajaraman, KP Saravanan, Krish Subramanian, and Thiyagarajan T, Chargebee is presently serving 15000+ customers in 50+ countries.
Ninjacart
Started by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Vasudevan Chinnathambi, Kartheeswaran KK, Sharath Babu Loganathan, and Ashutosh Vikram, Ninjacart is revolutionizing the fresh produce supply chain.
The startup connects farmers directly with retailers, restaurants, and service providers using in-house applications that drive end to end operations.
Culturro
Culturro belongs to the list of those HR Tech Startups in India that are working with a vision to create the right workplace experiences for companies.
Started in 2017 by Riti V. Srivastava and Ashish Manchanda, Culturro enables companies to achieve their strategic objectives.
The startup has a tech platform, Agnya, that provides actionable insights by identifying workplace experience and its driver and helps to increase employee productivity.
Impact of Technology On B2B Market
The possibilities that the internet opened has made businesses realise the potential of moving their processes online.
And with COVID-19 pandemic, every industry globally has seen a paradigm shift in its working.
All have been made possible because of the technology. Be it work from home, or communication with your peers and clients through the internet, technology is making things possible.
Technology made work from home (wfh) possible. It is because of the technology wfh became a trend.
Importantly, it is because of tech that big corporations have been able to operate rightly, even without having their employees working from a conventional office.
Selling is the most important part of any business. And with changing consumer behaviour, sellers and marketers now have to stay on top of the changing demands.
These demands can only be met by using advanced solutions that help in understanding data.
Customers now demand more. If you don’t understand their demands and are not able to fulfil them, they will buy from someone who does.
Businesses get it that tech is the future. But the question is, are their employees familiar with the tech?
Do they have the skills that will rule the future?
As it is the employees that have to do the work, and with less technical knowledge among employees, businesses can fail.
Awareness With Technology Among The Employees
To keep up with any uncertainty that may arise in future, corporations are training and upskilling their sales and marketing teams internally. Making their employees familiar with the tech will make them more agile and get familiarised with tech advancements.
Employees should be familiar with technologies like Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, etc., that are considered to be the future of tech. As going beyond the conventional mode of operations will make these companies survive the competition that only technical sound companies can withstand.
[Read: Delhi-Based Consumer Electronics Startup ‘boAt’ Raises Rs 440 crore In Series B Funding]Impact of Technology In B2B Marketing
A company’s adaptability to changes determines its success. With technology being a driver of change nowadays, it is transforming every industry and job function.
Talking about B2B marketing, automation, big data, and cloud-based solutions have impacted the B2B space the most.
Social media also has gained the interest of many B2B marketers and is a very popular marketing medium among B2B companies. Around 76% of B2B tech companies are using social media to get clients.
However, not every social media platform generates the same desired result for B2B marketers.
Marketers prefer LinkedIn and consider it to be the most effective social media platform for B2B marketing.
Around 66 % of markers believed it to be effective, with only 30% finding Facebook to be effective.
Talking about India, smartphone users spent an average of 3.5 hours per day in 2019 on several social media platforms.
B2B marketers also prefer other digital tools for growth, like e-mail and SEO.
Impact of Technology In B2B Ecommerce
Technological advancements make life easier. Importantly, in the B2B eCommerce space, technology is still developing its roots.
As per a report from Statista, the global B2B eCommerce market is over six times more than that of the B2C market. And to cater to this growing market, technology is needed.
The best part is businesses also acknowledge the power of technology, and they know technology can help them grow.
Therefore, more businesses are now opting for online platforms to deal with vendors.
Takeaway:
Technology has disrupted the B2B segment, and many businesses are using the available technology to take their working to the next level. However, still, a large portion of this segment is less tech-savvy and not taking advantage of the technology.
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