6. Business to Business

Back to contents of State of the Net issue 7

Business to business. Source: Enquiro, Business to Business, May 2007

Wake up call to Irish exporters – the Web is hugely important in the B2B buying cycle. Word of mouth has always been considered to be the most valued part in influencing a buying decision, but a new US study shows that online influencers can be as important.

In particular, B2B buyers say that vendor websites, search engines and distributor sites are influencing factors. Also, a complementary offline/online approach is important to buyers when conducting B2B purchase research.

The study also shows that B2B buyers have simple needs. They want company and product information in a text format that is easily downloadable. They seem less than enamoured with podcasts, RSS, online video and other relatively new forms of online promotion.

Back to contents of State of the Net issue 7