The coronavirus pandemic changed how the world did business in 2020. In 2021, we saw a number of trends take off and make their way into B2B ecommerce: mobile-first sites, personalization, and adopting omnichannel selling being just some. If you didn’t take advantage of these trends in 2021, you have another chance to improve your marketing and sales strategy. 2022 is expected to push the envelope further in terms of B2B ecommerce. This article will walk you through the best of the best. What happened in 2021? As we entered Year 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic, many consumers were still working from home and preferring to make purchases online rather than in-store. This set the scene for unprecedented growth in ecommerce sales and businesses across the board. However, even before the pandemic, online sales were steadily increasing, meaning ecommerce businesses have had to keep up with new trends and customer expectations each year. In 2021, this meant a shift to a mobile-first focus, personalizing the customer experience, and more. Let’s dig into some of the themes that characterized the industry over the last year. Mobile-first websites In 2021, nearly 73% of ecommerce sales are expected to come from purchases on mobile devices The mobile customer experience needs to be top notch. Especially considering statistics have shown that people are 62% less likely to purchase from a brand after a negative mobile experience. Whether companies chose to create a responsive mobile website or a downloadable mobile app, having a focus on mobile-first was an exciting trend in 2021—and if you’re behind on this, it’s time to catch up before heading into 2022. Personalized experiences Personalization is key for creating a buying experience that makes your customers feel special. This involves tactics like: Personalizing product recommendations based on pages customers have already viewed Using retargeting initiatives to push hesitant customers toward making a purchase Creating campaigns around abandoned carts to remind customers of forgotten items Showing customers that you’re paying attention to what they’re shopping for helps improve the user experience and increase B2B sales all in one fell swoop. Omnichannel selling 2021 cemented omnichannel selling as the standard for B2B businesses. Omnichannel selling allows customers to make purchases or shop around from a variety of different channels, whether via traditional methods, remote interactions, or self-serve options. A recent McKinsey report shows that two-thirds of customers prefer a remote human or digital self-serve option, so having an omnichannel experience ensures you’re able to reach each customer where they prefer to find you. Supply chain resilience Avoiding any kind of disruption in the supply chain is essential to customer satisfaction, which is why supply chain resilience has been a major trend. There are a number of supply chain resilience strategies that companies have taken throughout 2021. A couple include: Nearshoring: using distributors that are nearby or within the same region to have more control over the supply chain Multisourcing: having a wide range of distributors as a backup plan in case some are unable to deliver Having suppliers close by as well as a number of options in case a disruptive event were to occur helps to build resilience and ensure your company always has access to new inventory. What are the predictions for 2022? Your first step is to catch up with any trends you may have missed from last year. Then you need to get a head start on the trends we’re predicting for 2022. We’ve got a list of six trends we predict B2B ecommerce will see in the coming year. Brand strategy in the metaverse You may have heard about Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious goal to pioneer the metaverse, and his company’s rebranding itself as “Meta.” This is because the metaverse is something that businesses are going to have to start paying attention to. In just a few words, the metaverse i...