Expert group "Personalization in B2B" off to a flying start

Personalization in B2B: A Hot Topic

“It’s a mega hot topic,” says Jurjen Jongejan, chairman of the B2B expert group ‘increase conversion and customer loyalty with personalization.’ “But despite all that’s been said and written about it, many B2B organizations still find it challenging to put it into practice.” Merwin, host of the expert group, agrees: “Many B2B organizations recognize the relevance of using personalization to increase conversion and customer loyalty. The ShoppingTomorrow group is the perfect way for these experts to gain knowledge and turn relevance into practical solutions for their organization. We’ve already achieved some great results together in these first sessions!”

The Need for Catching up and the Importance of Diversity
There is not only a need for research and knowledge sharing, but also a certain necessity. While the B2C market has already made significant strides in digitization and personalization, the B2B market is still far behind. To kickstart the catch-up process, Jurjen and Merwin’s expert group is focusing on a number of research questions related to this theme.

The first session focused on defining personalization within B2B, which quickly led to interesting insights. Jurjen explains, “The experts in our group represent a wide variety of industries. We have experts from the food industry, such as Sligro and Prince Pets Food, as well as from the construction industry, such as Isero, and the graphic industry with Drukwerkdeal. Everyone has a different perspective on personalization.” According to Jurjen, this also emphasizes the importance of diversity within a research group and why this concept of ShoppingTomorrow is so successful. “When you bring people with different backgrounds and job levels together, you get the most valuable discussions. This is why we have made a flying start.”

The First Finding: Start Small for the Biggest Impact

During the session, not only was a good foundation laid for the research, but the first findings were also already put on paper. Merwin explains, “No matter how you define personalization, all experts agree on the key to success. If you want to make a big impact, start with small use cases.” But for more details on this, you’ll have to read the final product.

Step By Step Into the Depths

Regarding what we can expect from the upcoming sessions of the B2B expert group, Jurjen reveals the following: “In the next sessions, the focus will be on mapping out the do’s and don’ts of personalization. And from there, we will ultimately work on a practical step-by-step plan for developing a successful personalization strategy. We will share more about this soon.” Merwin adds, “It’s very exciting to work together with this group of experts on the personalization plan, taking into account the specific dynamics of their specific markets. This way, we capture all markets and can tailor the plan to make it relevant for every B2B organization.”

The Ideal Community for Knowledge Sharing

As every year, all expert groups publish their own blue paper prior to the event, in which the research findings are bundled. Jurjen explains, “The goal of the blue paper is to inspire as many B2B parties as possible and provide them with tools to successfully apply personalization.” Additionally, the blue paper is included in the ShoppingTomorrow book and presented at the event ShoppingToday. “Sharing knowledge with a large audience is the most wonderful thing, and ShoppingTomorrow is the ideal community for that.”