Business-to-business e-commerce to reach $20.9T by 2027, up from $12.2T in 2019, says courier giant DHL
The global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce market size will increase more than 70% to reach $20.9 trillion by 2027, international courier firm DHL said on Tuesday.
The figure for B2B e-commerce was $12.2 trillion in 2019, according to a DHL whitepaper titled The Ultimate B2B E-commerce Guide: Tradition is out. Digital is in.
By 2025, 80% of all B2B sales interactions between suppliers and professional buyers will take place in digital channels, it estimates.
COVID-19 drives digital transformation and significantly accelerates Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and B2B e‑commerce growth, it said, adding the technology-savvy millennials, who are now of an age to be the professional B2B decision-makers, are the main drivers of this global E-commerce growth.
The millennials account for 73% of all professional B2B purchasing decisions, DHL said.
Additionally, The B2C e‑commerce volumes within the DHL Express network increased in 2020 by approximately 40%, compared to 2019.
Speaking at the online meeting, John Pearson, the CEO of DHL Express, said that even in the times of worldwide shutdowns, globalization has shown its resilience, fueled by digitalization and the power of global trade.
“The pandemic has accelerated this development like never before, with a sharp rise in businesses selling their goods in the global marketplace. E-commerce and global logistics thus provided the key to unlock local shutdowns,” Pearson added.
DHL said it closed 2020 fiscal year with “best result in its history” reaching a total revenue of €19.1 billion ($22.42 billion), up 11.9% year-on-year.
It delivered 484 million shipments in total to its customers around the world, almost up 9% more per day than in 2019.