B2B Online Orlando Nov 14-15, 2022 – Event Recap

Here’s The Lowdown On The World’s Leading eCommerce & Digital Marketing Conference For Manufacturers & Distributors.

Introduction

B2B Online began its journey in the year 2013, and nine years later, it is the only event for digital executives in manufacturing and distribution. Spending nearly a decade to hone their programs, with over 800+ speakers and 7000+ attendees, B2B Online has become an event that provides attendees with inspiration, digital marketing insights, and action-ready strategies to succeed in an increasingly digitized B2B landscape.

The B2B Online Orlando edition allowed the participants to get their hands on the most disruptive digital strategies driving businesses forward. You’ll make memories that last a lifetime and become part of a true B2B community.

B2B Online provides real value to its participants.

• An agenda that is 100% focused on the most significant challenges and opportunities of the B2B community of manufacturers and distributors.
• A well-optimized buyer-to-seller ratio ensures that participants meet and interact with the right people, hence getting an opportunity to develop peer-to-peer relationships, make valuable new contacts and experience an event unlike any other.
• Interactive sessions with over 15 hours of discussion groups, campfire-style chats, panels, roundtables, and structured (and unstructured) networking activities every day. 

This year’s edition was held over two days on Nov 14th and 15th at JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort, Florida. McFadyen Digital participated and presented at the show and was represented by Tom McFadyen, Author & CEO, Adam Thibodeaux, SVP of Sales, and Barrett Powell, Sales Director. Tom presented on the topic “Prioritizing Digital Technology & Strategies Despite Supply Chain Challenges.”

Key Themes & Tracks at the Event

Data and customer experience were part of the critical themes of the show; some of the sessions looked at where data and customer experience meet and helped the participants understand how one can feed the other. There were four key tracks for the event.

1. Executive Innovation Forum for Mature Digital Organizations – An invitation-only forum designed for V.P. and C-level manufacturing and distribution executives who are leading more mature digital organizations and looking for the next leg up. It allowed the participants to connect with peers leading digital innovation in their organizations to strategize around how to deliver value to customers.

2. Women in B2B – A fun breakfast event celebrating successful women in B2B. This session included a variety of topics, including DEI, which allowed for an opportunity to share ideas offline and make new meaningful connections.

3. Ecommerce Fundamentals Workshop – This one-hour workshop focused on building an eCommerce site from the ground up, improving workflows & processes within the organization, and go- to- market strategies.

4. Beer Bucket Roundtables – This session was aimed at helping participants relax at the end of the day and chat with their peers on pain points while also seeking advice and technology recommendations. 

Key Note Sessions

Mark A. Pickett, VP Cross Channel Growth at MSC Industrial Supply Co. presented the keynote Understanding The Customer & Creating Memorable Customer Experience. Mark explained how MSC hit $3.2 billion in revenue targets with a consistent 7% CAGR for the past 20 years. He provided specific examples like the abandoned cart campaign that added additional revenue of $722K by using only three automated emails at particular times.

The keynote panel Benchmarking Talent Strategy: – Working Through Obstacles To Create A Stronger Team, included Sophia Drivalas, VP, eCommerce Interline Brands, Jerry Bernhart, Principal, Bernhart Executive Search, and Brooke Logan, Director, B2B Digital, NAPA Auto Parts. Then there was the Keynote Debate that featured Brian Beck and Andy Hoar Co-Founders at Master B2B, discussing Remote Vs. Return to Office – How will B2B E-commerce Work in 2023? An interesting debate that gave great insights for B2B organizations trying to retain talent at the time of economic downturn. 

Day 1 Sessions

Day One began with welcome remarks from Ryan Kulp, Program Director, B2B Online. This was followed by a presentation by Brian Walker, Chief Product Office at Grainger. He mentioned that Grainger is in the information business despite people looking it up as an industrial supplies company. Founded in 1927, it is now a $13 billion business. 

Keynote panel Prioritizing Digital Technology & Strategies Despite Supply Chain Challenges included Eric Rehl – Head of Digital Transformation, Avnet, Gireesh Sahukar – V.P., Digital, Dawn Foods Global, Brooke Logan – Director, B2B Digital, NAPA AUTO PARTS and Tom McFadyen, CEO McFadyen Digital.

Spryker’s Presentation by its Founder & Co-CEO Boris Lokschin stressed the increasing dominance of marketplaces in B2B. Apparently, over 70% of B2B eCommerce happening through marketplaces in 2023. The keynote also covered areas like how B2B organizations can grow despite crises at the macroeconomic level. Spryker has 650 employees across 50 countries.

Another insightful session was a presentation titled Leadership Lessons: CX Digital Transformation by Nick Ostergaard – Head of Digital Advanced Services, Program Lead, Digital Experience Group at Toyota Material Handling. This session covered topics such as Building & launching CPQ capability. The key mantra is – Control what you can. Lead when you should. Roll the dice when you must.

Then there were the tabletop discussions around the lunch which covered some exciting topics like Metaverse In B2B Marketing, Agile Methodology, Predictive CX, How Customers Engage In Omnichannel, and Pricing Environment, amongst others.

Riccardo Caruso, VP, W.W. Digital Platforms & eCommerce Cepheid, presented a case study on Leveraging Automation to Cater to the Customer While Driving Efficiency.

Ray Gabaldon, Senior Digital CX Manager, Motion Industries, presented the topic CX In Motion: Developing A CX First Approach To Improve End User Results.

Panel Discussion – Optimizing Your Customer’s Website Experience saw Anu Gupta, Parker Hannifin Corp. Regional Vice President Ecommerce TESSCO Technologies, Inc, Matt Wingham, Director of eCommerce, Cardinal Health, and Gregg Walker, VP of E-Commerce at Bulbs.com discuss strategies and tactics that helped their businesses increase conversion rates and achieve better top-line growth.

Panel Discussion – Finding The Right Technology To Support Your Digital Goal featured Steven Nghe, Head of Marketing & Communications, Kloeckner Metals Corporation, Udit Mehta – Chief Digital & Information Officer, Fire & Security at Carrier and Fauzia (Foz) Saeed – Director Analytics, & Competitive & Market Insight, Thermo Fisher Scientific. The panel looked at various factors driving the technology stack selection and helped participants understand some underlying principles when making technological choices in B2B.

Mike Connors, CEO of Bulbs.com, presented Keeping Them Coming Back: Retaining Customers Long Term. James Clark, US eCommerce Manager Schneider Electric introduced “Using Automation To Enhance Your Digital Marketing Strategies.”

Day 2 Sessions

Some of the key sessions from the second day were Leveraging Critical Data to Create Value for the Customer by Mark Pickett, VP, Cross-Channel Growth, MSC Industrial Supply Co. Keynote presentation by Diane Hund – SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, U.S. Foods looked at Tackling Brand Identity With B2B Digital Marketing.

The keynote panel discussion – Balancing High Tech With High Touch: Determining The Future Of B2B Ecommerce, was moderated by Jon Reily – SVP Commerce Center of Excellence, Bounteous, and had participation from Kevin Stone – V.P. Corporate Account Support / eCommerce, Motion Industries, Brandon Snyder Head of Digital Customer Experience, City Electric Supply, Marta Dalton – V.P. Data Analytics & Customer Insights, Amyris.

Gino Capuano, Digital Customer Experience Project Leader at Parker Hannifin Corp., covered the topic “Listening to Metrics That Matter: The Framework That Your Teams Need To Elevate User Experiences.” The track on Conversion Optimization saw the case study by Becky Wittrig, VP of Sales Restek Corporation, titled “It Takes A Village: Engaging The Whole Organization In Delivering A Great Customer Experience.” Ryan Lee, Founder & CEO of Nautical Commerce, and Royce Neubauer, Founder & CEO of SFL Companies, presented their success story in a case study titled “How Logistics Firm, SFL Companies, Digitized their Business with Marketplace Technology.” Rudy Abitbol, VP of eCommerce & Digital Marketing, AMG Medical, made a presentation on how “How Can Distributors Increase User Adoption & Penetration Of Their Digital Platform.”

In the afternoon deep dive session, Paul Wlodarczyk, Director of Business Transformation at R.P. Fedder Industrial, conducted the eCommerce Fundamentals; Laying The Groundwork For a Strong Foundation workshop.

The second day’s post-lunch session had two key panels – CX Or COST? What Your Data Is Telling You, & Why You Need to REALLY Listen moderated by Jon Reily, SVP Commerce Center of Excellence, Bounteous, the panel saw participation from Anu Gupta, Regional Vice President Ecommerce, TESSCO Technologies, Inc, Ken Clinchy, VP Digital – Ecommerce, FleetPride, and Rob Richardson Senior Digital Product Manager, Digital Products, MillerKnoll, Inc.

The next one was – Taking Change Management to the Next Level: Getting Internal Alignment and Securing Budget To Grow Your Digital Business. Jon Reily, SVP Commerce Center of Excellence, Bounteous moderated this session which saw participation from Ricky Hernandez, Senior Director of Sales & Merchandising, eCommerce Channel, Avery Products Fauzia (Foz) Saeed, Director Analytics & Competitive & Market Insight, Thermo Fisher Scientific Jenny Strange, Senior Director Transformation Design, Koch Industries as panel members.

Summary

Overall, it was another great edition of B2B Online; it had something for everyone while still being focussed on the manufacturers and distributors. So, whether you were looking to upgrade your eCommerce platform, implement personalization or scout out the tech of the future, everyone walked away with great learning and insights. It brought together the best in B2B and helped us become part of a true B2B community. We cannot wait for the 2023 edition.

Want to know how McFadyen Digital helps its Manufacturing & Wholesaler clients across strategy, technology, and operations? Check out our industry solutions offerings.