Self-Service Features B2B Buyers Actually Want: A Checklist Based on Insights from 900 Buyers

For years, B2B commerce has been shifting online. Recently, that gradual migration has become a sprint. A functional digital experience has moved from a secondary consideration to become the primary factor in decision-making for most buyers.

But just how critical is it? We partnered with Contentful to find out, surveying 900 C-suite executives and procurement leaders. The results were unequivocal: 83% of B2B buyers confirm that a high-quality self-service experience is a crucial factor when they choose a new vendor.

This finding means that an intuitive self-service digital experience is no longer a “value-add.” Your customers expect to manage accounts, place orders, and find information with an ease that mirrors their personal lives. A solution that creates friction in their buying journey suggests that you are difficult to do business with.

But what separates a merely functional B2B buying experience from an exceptional one? We’ve distilled our research into a practical checklist of the features that B2B buyers value most:

1. Price optimisation and transparency (67% and 47%)
2. Automated and effortless reordering (56%)
3. Integration with procurement systems (43%)
4. Real-time inventory visibility (42%)

1. Price Optimization and Transparency (Valued by 67% and 47% of buyers)

Hiding costs behind a “Contact Us” button is an outdated practice. Our research shows that transparent pricing is one of the fastest ways for suppliers to build trust, with nearly half of all buyers calling it a critical feature. They need to see costs upfront to budget effectively and compare options without a drawn-out sales conversation.

The most common objection is that B2B pricing is too complex for a self-service experience. This is a genuine challenge, involving customer-specific contracts, tiered discounts, and complex product configurations. But this complexity is a technology problem, not a business barrier. A modern B2B buying experience must be built on a pricing engine capable of showing accurate, personalized pricing in real time. Ultimately, the solution should deliver a clear, contextual view of what a specific product will cost a specific customer, rather than just a static price list.

This is where a modern, composable stack excels. It allows you to integrate the best tools for each task. To solve this for our customers, we often use a microservice-based middleware to connect different systems. This approach allows us to, for example, pull complex calculations from a powerful pricing engine like SAP Commerce Cloud and combine that data with rich, structured product information from a platform like Contentful. This approach solves the technical challenge and also empowers your business teams to control how that pricing information is presented, ensuring it is always clear.

2. Automated and Effortless Reordering (Valued by 56%)

Many B2B purchases are routine. The same list of supplies or components is needed week after week. No one wants to waste time manually rebuilding a 50-item cart for every recurring purchase.

Here, automation is essential. Features like one-click reordering, saved templates, and subscription-based purchasing are fundamental efficiency tools. For firms managing hundreds of SKUs, automating these tasks frees up their teams for more valuable activities.

While platforms like SAP Commerce Cloud provide these capabilities, unlocking their full value requires tailoring them to your business. Our work often involves adapting these tools to fit the unique ordering cycles of our clients, turning a standard feature into a significant competitive advantage.

3. Integration with Procurement Systems (Valued by 43%)

For any large enterprise, a vendor portal is a small piece of a much larger operational puzzle. These organizations run on sophisticated ERP and procurement platforms like SAP. Manually transcribing order data from your portal into their system creates a lot of inefficiency and room for error.

This is why direct integration is so important. Our study found that 43% of buyers from large companies need your customer portal to communicate directly with their internal systems. This automates the flow of purchase orders and invoices.

What does this mean for their business? It means an end to the costly manual data entry errors that cause shipping and billing delays. It means their procurement teams can stop chasing paperwork and focus on more strategic work.

We create this frictionless process by connecting customer-facing platforms with back-end systems like SAP S/4HANA. When these systems are in sync, they create a single source of truth – the foundation of an efficient and trusting B2B relationship.

4. Real-Time Inventory Visibility (Valued by 42%)

The words “In Stock” are rarely sufficient for a B2B buyer. They need to know how many are in stock and when they can ship. Our data shows that 42% of buyers demand real-time inventory visibility to make confident purchasing decisions.

Imagine a procurement manager at a manufacturing plant. A critical component is running low, and a production halt could cost thousands per hour. They must know with certainty that a supplier can deliver 5,000 units by next Tuesday. A B2B digital commerce platform that provides live stock levels gives them the confidence to place the order. This visibility allows buyers to right-size their orders, prevent project delays, and manage their own supply chains with greater precision.

The Human Element: When Self-Service Isn’t Enough

Technology can solve many problems, but it’s not an answer to all of them. It is a mistake to assume a customer portal eliminates the need for a skilled sales team. Our research shows that for complex or expensive purchases, 43% of buyers still want to speak with a sales representative.

The logic is simple. You might reorder nuts and bolts without a second thought. But would you buy a €250,000 piece of industrial machinery without consulting an expert? Unlikely. For high-stakes decisions, the right technology stack transforms a potential dead-end into an intentional handoff to your experts.

For example, features within the SAP Customer Experience ecosystem, like a ‘Request a Quote’ function, allow a buyer to send their complex, configured order directly to a sales representative. Furthermore, tools like the Assisted Service Mode (ASM) empower your team to provide real-time support by logging into the platform on a customer’s behalf to help them navigate complex configurations.

The purpose of the self-service experience, then, is not to replace your sales team. It is to equip them with tools that provide context and efficiency, allowing them to focus on high-value consultation. By automating simple, repetitive tasks, you free up your experts to focus on what they do best: building relationships and solving complex customer problems.

How to Build a Self-Service Portal That Delivers

Understanding what buyers want is the first step. Building it is the next. Here is our advice.

1. Embrace a Composable Approach

For years, businesses were confined to monolithic e-commerce platforms that were difficult to change. A composable architecture is different. Think of it as building with LEGOs instead of a solid block of concrete. It uses a set of independent, best-of-breed systems that are “composed” together. This decoupled, microservices-based approach makes it far easier to add new features and integrate with back-end systems. At the heart of this is a composable content platform, like Contentful’s, which centrally manages content for multiple touchpoints and presents it consistently on any front-end.

2. Invest in the Right APIs

An API (Application Programming Interface) is the digital messenger that lets different software systems communicate. A robust, API-first strategy is the technical backbone of any modern portal. Without it, real-time inventory and deep ERP integration are impossible. Building this API layer is a key part of our work. We use tools like the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to create scalable integrations that solve today’s challenges and adapt as your business grows.

3. Create a Hybrid Sales Model

The best B2B experience combines efficient self-service with accessible human expertise. This requires designing a user journey where buyers can handle routine tasks alone, but can instantly connect with an expert when needed. This is where our Digital Strategy and Solution Consulting services are critical. We work with clients to map these journeys and implement the right technology. For example, by connecting SAP Commerce Cloud with SAP Sales Cloud, we create a system where a sales specialist has a 360-degree view of a customer’s activity. If a buyer needs help, your expert can step in with full context and provide immediate, valuable support.

Let your Customers Choose

The most effective B2B experience gives your buyers control. It empowers them with self-service tools for routine needs while providing a clear path to human expertise for complex challenges.

Look at your current B2B portal. How does it measure up against this checklist? Are you making it easier for your customers to do business with you, or are you creating friction?

To dive deeper into these findings, we invite you to download the full 2025 Buyer Benchmark Report.

DOWNLOAD NOW