Digital opportunities for industry and wholesale: a channel that few are yet fully exploring.

How much is the digital channel worth to an industry that still processes orders via email and spreadsheets? More than most managers imagine. And less than it could be worth if it were treated with the seriousness it deserves.

Brazil has over 300 active industrial companies, according to IBGE data . Of these, only a relatively small percentage (estimated at less than 15%) operate with any structured digital channel for B2B sales, according to ABComm/Sectoral Areas estimates for 2024. This number reveals not a problem, but a considerable opportunity for those who decide to take action now.

DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES: WHAT REALLY MATTERS FOR INDUSTRY AND WHOLESALE

• Digitizing the order is not just about putting a website online.It's about connecting catalogs, price lists, sales terms, and inventory in real time. Without this, the digital channel creates more friction than it solves.
• The B2B buyer changedIn recent studies, the McKinsey indicates that more than half of B2B buyers They prefer to use digital channels and self-service at the beginning of the buying journey, without direct interaction with a salesperson.
• Wholesale and distribution have specific challenges.Multiple pricing, CNPJ (Brazilian company tax ID) rules, minimum order quantity, ERP integration – these needs require platforms and configurations that go beyond a standard retail e-commerce site.
• AI is already changing operations, not just marketing.Product mix recommendations per customer, demand forecasting, and automated quotation generation.
• Migrating or evolving the platform may be more urgent than it seems.Legacy platforms are hindering operations, making integrations difficult, and limiting growth, and the window to act before direct competitors is closing.

Why have industry and wholesale fallen behind in the digital world?

The most honest answer is that the traditional sales model worked for a long time. Sales representative, client portfolio, printed price list. It was predictable, controlled, and, from a management perspective, comfortable.

The problem is that this model has begun to fracture, not because of digital technology, but because of changing buyer behavior. According to Gartner , today a significant part of the B2B buying cycle unfolds through multiple digital interactions. This includes online research, content, and platforms, before the first contact with a salesperson.

Companies that don't have a structured presence in this area don't appear in these surveys. And a company that doesn't appear simply doesn't exist for that buyer.

THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE: TREATING B2B DIGITAL AS IF IT WERE B2C

This is the point where many projects stall or fail in the first few months.

An industry that implements an online store by copying the model of a retail e-commerce platform will face immediate problems: a single price for all CNPJs (Brazilian company tax IDs), without distinction by sales channel, without shipping rules for large volumes, and without real integration with the ERP system . The result is a channel that creates manual work instead of eliminating it.

Platforms like VTEX and Shopify Plus have robust B2B functionalities, but require configuration and strategy tailored to this specific context. The difference between a project that works and one that generates rework lies, to a large extent, in this specification phase.

Where are the most relevant opportunities today?

Self-service portals for resellers and distributors

Instead of relying on a sales representative or call center to take orders, the portal allows the buyer to access their personalized price list, view real-time inventory, and complete orders independently. The direct impact is a reduction in the cost per order and an increase in purchase frequency.

Companies that have implemented such portals have recorded, on average, a 30% reduction in order cycle time, according to data compiled by Forrester in 2023.

Digital catalog with technical specifications.

Industries sell products with dozens of technical variations (voltage, composition, application). A well-structured digital catalog, with intelligent filters and accessible technical content, reduces the buyer's decision time and decreases consultations with the sales team.

Furthermore, this well-structured content is what fuels both SEO and visibility in generative AI tools , which are increasingly used by buyers during the research phase.

Artificial intelligence applied to business operations

The conversation here has changed in the last 18 months. AI has gone from being a topic for events to becoming a tool with direct application.

In the context of industry and wholesale, the most mature applications include:

• Mix recommendation: Identify which products a customer buys less than expected based on the segment's history, and alert the sales team or the portal itself with automated suggestions;
• Demand forecast: To cross-reference order history, seasonality, and external data to support production scheduling and inventory management;
• Quotation automation: For products with many pricing variables, models trained with business rules can generate quotes in seconds, without human intervention for standard cases.

These are not large-scale implementations reserved for companies with robust technology departments. Today, there are affordable solutions that integrate with ERPs such as SAP and TOTVS, and implementation time has decreased significantly.

Digital marketing focused on B2B.

Paid and organic traffic for the industrial and wholesale sectors have different dynamics than retail. The decision cycle is longer, the search terms are more technical, and the audience is smaller and more qualified.

This means that content strategies, SEO, and campaigns on Google and LinkedIn have high return potential, provided they are calibrated for this audience. A poorly targeted campaign for industrial purchasing managers is wasted money. A well-constructed campaign, with relevant technical content and landing pages that answer the buyer's real questions, can generate leads with a much more efficient CAC than the traditional representation model.

Metrics within this context

When discussing digital channel performance for the manufacturing and wholesale sectors, the relevant metrics go beyond gross revenue:

• Order rate on the portal vs. orders via representative: It measures the extent to which the digital channel is, in fact, replacing or complementing the traditional model;
• Average order value for digital orders: Self-service channels tend to generate smaller, more frequent orders, which can be positive or indicate a need to adjust the repurchase journey;
• Churn from resellers: The absence of a functional portal is, today, one of the factors that accelerates the migration of resellers to competitors with a more mature digital operation;
• Order cycle time: From order generation to invoicing, well-integrated portals with ERP systems reduce this number of days to hours.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

Finally, the window of competitive advantage for industries and distributors that have not yet structured their digital channel is closing , not dramatically, but consistently. Every month without a functional portal, without a technical content strategy, and without AI applied to commercial operations is a month in which more agile competitors advance.

If your project needs to move forward now, the e-Plus team can map out the most relevant opportunities for your ecosystem , whether it's a B2B channel deployment, a platform migration, the evolution of an existing store, or the implementation of AI and digital marketing solutions focused on your segment.

FAQ – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS