A quarter of business to business (B2B) customers consider the usability of a supplier’s website to be the most important factor when deciding where to purchase supplies online.

A survey of 500 business decision makers for e-commerce agency PushON found that the ease of navigation around a company’s website was a more important factor in whether they would choose to take their business elsewhere than user reviews (21 per cent) or product offering (18 per cent).

It also found that business customers are far more likely (80 per cent) to order office and workplace supplies and services online than they would in a physical store.

In addition to user experience, the study also flagged poor customer service (32 per cent), issues with images and visualisation of products (20 per cent) and problems with bulk orders (20 per cent) as key frustrations for B2B customers.

Sam Rutley, managing director at PushON, said that despite the overwhelming majority of customers expressing a preference for online ordering, a large number of e-retailers do not yet seem to have their online offering ready yet.

“In a world where online commerce is rapidly overtaking the physical store, business owners need to ensure their websites are up to scratch if they are to remain competitive,” he said.

“Websites need to offer a good online customer experience and our research shows that they need to be easy to use and navigate, offer strong customer service, as well as clear, concise product information.”

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