chemical suppliers apply digital methods to marketing and sales

Direct business interfaces - or digital platforms - are becoming more and more popular with B2B buyers. Chemical suppliers who want to win in this field must act quickly.

More and more chemical suppliers apply digital methods to marketing and sales. One form of expression is the creation of direct business interface or digital platform. These platforms offer chemicals, plastics and synthetic materials on two customer bases: manufacturer to manufacturer (B2B) and manufacturer to consumer (B2C).

Among them, B2B buyers are more and more willing to buy through the digital platform. In fact, our research shows that 85% of B2B buyers prefer to buy known products from digital platforms rather than by phone or email. One reason for this preference is that consumers pay more and more attention to digital shopping experience.

From the perspective of customers, the digital platform in the field of chemicals can be divided into two dimensions: 1) single manufacturer and "open platform" including multiple manufacturers; 2) standard trading platform and platform for industry expertise. In general, standard products with a dispersed customer base, such as polyethylene, have the greatest potential to be sold through digital channels. Products with large price fluctuation can be sold by electronic auction. Moreover, predefined products can provide more flexibility, thus providing more choices for consumers.

To be successful, such a platform must meet three criteria (chemicals meet these three criteria). First, the transparency of product price (the existing product specifications are not transparent); second, the increase of low efficiency (the platform can simplify sales and make use of scale efficiency); third, the decoupling of production and market matching (the manufacturer is not necessarily the person who sells products). For these reasons, no player can win the digital platform game. On the contrary, joint ventures formed by several chemical suppliers working with e-commerce start-ups (helping to improve speed and flexibility) are likely to succeed (bringing products and data on a large scale and sharing market technology).

Chemical suppliers who want to launch a successful digital platform must act quickly. They have to understand the customer's needs, pain points and the investment needed. Once success factors have been identified, priorities can be identified. For example, is it important to connect with other manufacturers or have a broad customer base? In this regard, partnerships (inside and outside the value chain) are key, including those with logistics companies (transporting goods), insurance companies (protecting goods), banks (financing goods) and packaging companies (repackaging or labeling goods).

How to win? First of all, building an ecosystem should be seen as a means of matching supply and demand. A key success factor will be to change the way the organization operates to reflect these new priorities. Advanced analysis can also utilize recommended product algorithms. Omni channel configuration can help identify customers and enter the platform search function keywords and phrases. This information will enable the sales account manager to further explore any potential sales opportunities.