• by Ray Schultz , December 17, 2020

The COVID-19 crisis had a positive effect on at least some B2B marketers in 2020, judging by The State of B2B Digital Commerce, a global study by the former 2Checkout (now known as Verifone) finds.

For one thing, 21% of B2B firms worldwide increased their revenue by 25% or more. And 26% scaled up by up to 25%.

For 61%, the increase was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for 33% it was due to a transition to online. 

Another 29% built up their online presence, and 26% simply focused their investment on growth. 

However, 11% experienced decreases of up to 25% and 9% had cutbacks of 25% or more. 

For 79%, reductions were caused by the pandemic, and 25% exited some markets or closed regional shops. 

U.S. firms seemed to do worse than the global averages — 30% suffered a decrease in business, whereas 33% saw no change. And 37% experienced an increase.  

Moving forward, 55% plan to invest in their marketing activities in 2021.  

Another 43% will spend on sales processes, 37% on product development,23% on partner management and 22% on compliance and security. 

Among their biggest challenges were:

• Finding new leads — 46%
• Longer sales cycles/slow funnel — 33%
• Difficulty in expanding to new markets/regions — 21%
• Less time available for sales reps — 20% 
• Difficulty upselling to next product/package tier — 18%

Each of the companies polled utilizes at least three sales channels, ranked here in order by usage: 

Online direct/self-service via website — 55% 

• Phone — 48%
• Email — 44%
• Assisted Sales — 35%
• Online marketplace — 22% 
• Offline/Physical store or branch location — 18%
• Resellers/Distributors — 16% 
• Within the app — 11% 

The ranking is a little different in the U.S., where firms “also employ a disjointed mix of channel to reach their buyers,” the study notes: 

• Phone — 62%
• Assisted Sales — 57%
• Email — 57%
• Online direct/Self Service via website — 54% 
• Online marketplace — 22% 
• Offline/Physical store or branch location — 16%
• Reseller’s Distributors — 11% 
• Within the app — 11% 

2Checkout surveyed 840 respondents globally between October and November 2020. The firm was acquired by Verafone in August of this year, and is now known as Verafone.