B2B brands shift to digital to reach millennial buyers, study shows

As the demographics of industrial buyers shift, businesses must adapt to accommodate evolving customer demands and preferences by offering faster, more customer-focused services.

The third edition of the UPS Europe Industrial Buying Dynamics study revealed how a new wave of buyers is shaping the industrial buying landscape today.

“The rise of Millennials in the workplace ushers in a new era that challenges long-standing industry norms,” said Abhijit Saha, Vice President of Europe Marketing and Strategy at UPS. “Not only do these young, tech-savvy customers want orders delivered quickly, they are also influenced by additional services and post-sales support. Changes which have been underway since we first conducted the study in Europe in 2015 have reached an inflection point: the person-to-person salesforce-based mode of doing business is giving way to online interactions.”

The UPS study revealed four ways these new buyers are shaking up the industry.

 Shifting Demographics. Thirty-eight percent of this year’s survey respondents were Millennials, an increase of 10 percentage points from 2017. This growing generation of buyers is less loyal to tradition, often preferring to conduct research via social media rather than contacting a sales representative. Millennials also tend to consider factors including sustainability and after-sales support over more traditional factors like quality and price. However, despite their growing influence, Millennial buyers are still more restricted in what and how much they can buy versus the more experienced Baby Boomer generation.
Shifting Procurement Patterns. Buyers continue to shift spending, purchasing directly from manufacturers or online marketplaces. Millennials show a growing preference for buying directly from manufacturers —and buying through e-marketplaces was up even more. During the past two years, European distributors saw a 17 percent decrease in purchase share to 29 percent, while manufacturers and online marketplaces have grown 5 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Shifting International Sourcing. Robust international sourcing is on the rise. Millennial buyers say they order nearly half their products internationally – far more than Baby Boomers or Generation X buyers. Survey respondents are also willing to pay more for faster service across borders — 26 percent expect orders to arrive in two days, while 81 percent say their orders sometimes require same-day delivery.

Shifting Post-Sales Support. Assistance after a sale continues to be an important component of business deals. While this trend is growing across all buyer generations and product groups, Millennials’ need for improved customer experience leads 87 percent of Millennials to indicate that they are likely to shift their business to attain better post-sales support in the next three to five years.

For manufacturers, online markets and distributors, the message is clear: Industrial buying in 2019 requires greater analysis and customization than in the past. Knowing the buyer — age, background, online preferences, etc. — now matters more and the trend is likely to get stronger as younger people join the buying process.