Comfortable with large purchases

The McKinsey report found that over two-thirds of B2B customers intentionally opt for digital solutions when they are available. No wonder the sellers surveyed by the consultancy said that e-commerce is now their most effective channel, outpacing in-person sales, phone calls, emails and other means.

And buyers aren’t just using e-commerce platforms for small, repeat purchases. More than three-fourths (77 percent) of US-based business buyers told McKinsey in 2022 that they are comfortable spending $50,000 or more in a single digital transaction.

Thirty-five percent that said they’d have no problem making purchases that exceed $500,000, while 15 percent said they’d even make single purchases for more than $1 million.

Huge acceleration in growth

Research from the e-commerce company Mirakl, whose industry-leading software powers the Satair Marketplace for new and used aircraft parts, found similar proof of the ongoing B2B e-commerce revolution in its 2021 and 2022 reports.

According to Mirakl’s 2021 B2B Online Report, digital marketplace sales grew 8.5 times faster in 2021 than total manufacturer and distributor sales. The report concluded that digital marketplaces are now the most-used B2B sales channel, used by a full 87 percent of sellers.

And according to Mirakl’s 2022 B2B Online Report, B2B marketplace sales are growing 7.3 times faster than total B2B eCommerce sales

Can't work in aviation? Think again!

The notion that digital marketplaces couldn’t possibly work in aviation was one of the five myths addressed by the 2022 McKinsey report.

And it’s not just our industry that can be sceptical. A number of B2B companies told McKinsey that “customers aren’t ready” for digital solutions and “e-commerce is an immature space for businesses like ours”.

Allan Uldahl Riis, the Director of Commercial Strategic Programmes at Satair, said that digital marketplaces aren't just a future solution for the industry. They're already here and helping to address some of the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Many buyers and sellers of aircraft parts have had to really change their traditional ways of doing business. The entire supply chain is more responsive than it used to be and digital marketplaces can connect buyers and sellers in a way that clearly benefits both,” he said.

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B2B digital marketplaces are taking off. Why isn’t aviation along for the ride?