As B2B digital sales grow and become a more significant part of the business, the responsibility for the digital initiative must also evolve. Companies that see digital commerce as essential to their future must ensure that the leadership overseeing their digital operations aligns with their goals.
Manufacturing companies that take a holistic approach to digitalization will find that it is not just about sales – it affects every part of the business. These companies can scale up their digital journey, develop new business opportunities, and strengthen their competitiveness.
From IT projects to strategic management
The digital journey for manufacturing companies often starts with an IT project, where the IT department ensures the technical aspects function correctly. However, as more projects are added and the digital presence grows, responsibilities and leadership must evolve.
Digitization is no longer just about maintaining a product catalog and an order form on the website. Instead, it becomes a matter of work processes, customer relationships, and cross-departmental collaboration, aimed at increasing competitiveness and generating growth.
Strategic management is the key to achieving the synergies necessary for successful digital transformation. In this context, the sales manager, marketing manager, CEO, and CFO all have pivotal roles to play.
Broader perspective leads to better customer experiences
Shifting responsibility from a limited part of the business to management level changes the focus of further investments. New digitalization projects can have a broader perspective and not just be about sales or technical solutions.
Instead, the focus is streamlining processes, simplifying the buyer's journey and improving the customer experience across all touchpoints. With managers having more influence over decisions, digital initiatives can be allocated a larger budget, more resources, and training. As a result, companies benefit more from digitalization which creates new business opportunities and increases competitiveness.
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Integration and cross-functional efforts are key
When digital initiatives become part of a company's strategic focus, more parts of the organization become involved. For these efforts to have the greatest impact, coordination and integration between different business functions is required. It's crucial to create a shared vision of how e-commerce will become part of the overall strategy, as this fosters a common understanding and enables cross-functional collaboration.
This may initially involve the marketing and sales departments coordinating systems and processes for more effective campaigns. Eventually, customer service, finance, warehousing, distribution, and production may also be involved. When all parts work together, new synergies emerge, and companies that take a holistic approach to digitalization often discover previously hidden opportunities.
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Keep digital initiatives in line with the company's goals and vision
One of the most important tasks of management is to set the company's vision, goals and direction. For manufacturing companies embarking on digital commerce, digital initiatives must align with this vision and objective.
It is imperative for management to proactively review existing policies and ensure that digitalization drives growth, increases profitability and market share, or improves efficiency.
The key to success is to place the customer at the center and focus on improving the customer experience. Often, a review of KPIs is needed to monitor the results of new initiatives. Moreover, the data collected from digital channels creates new opportunities to understand the customer journey and adapt faster to customer expectations.
For many companies, the digital journey is evolving from separate IT projects to a continuous, interactive process where each step becomes a natural part of the company's digital maturity. This is when you strengthen your competitiveness and create the best conditions for a successful future.
Want to know more?
Read our new white paper where we dive into digital commerce in manufacturing: ”From Efficiency to Expansion: The Evolution of E-Commerce in Manufacturing” .
