How to build a profitable B2B business digitally – insights from Nordic Digital Commerce 2025
Blog
3 min
B2B e-commerce is no longer a question of "if" but "how". In Lithium's report Nordic Digital Commerce in B2B 2025, it is clearly stated that digital channels are not just a way to streamline internal processes, but above all a way to improve customer relationships and create growth. Here, Oscar Salomonsson, business area manager E-commerce at Toxic, shares concrete advice for creating a profitable digital B2B business in 2025.
🚀 1. Put the customer at the centre of the digital experience
According to the report, the three most important outcomes of digital sales are:
- Improved customer service (43%)
- Upselling to existing customers (36%)
- Higher customer satisfaction (34%)
My interpretation is that digitalisation in B2B is far more about relationship than transaction. Invest in an e-commerce platform that offers personalised product recommendations, integrated support and smooth onboarding flows (becoming a customer, creating quotes and orders).
Features I think deserve focus include a sales and customer portal. For many companies, it's about more than just an e-commerce purchase — it's an entire procurement process that needs to be taken into account. Everything from internal approval flows, purchasing routines and procurement systems, to being able to get quotes, guidance and follow-up all in one portal. Sales staff and back office should of course be able to meet the customer in their portal, respond to quotes, create orders on their behalf and more. With a clearer focus on bringing internal staff into the customer portal, you can reduce administrative costs and cut the number of licences needed in, for example, an ERP system.
Another important feature is product configurators and smart product filtering. Improved customer service is something the report clearly points to. Creating simple, intuitive filtering or configuration for the customer increases their sense of self-service and reduces incorrect orders. As a B2B player, you can more easily offer sales and guidance around the clock to whichever markets you choose. This is perhaps the clearest profitability factor to capitalise on. Litium PIM is a major enabler for achieving exactly this.
🚀 2. Measure what matters
Only 26% of B2B companies measure actual revenue from digital sales channels. At the same time, pressure to demonstrate ROI is growing.
My recommendation is to start by establishing relevant metrics across the entire customer journey: from traffic and conversion to order value and customer loyalty. Invest in tools for marketing automation and funnel analysis.
Some tools I think work really well in this context:
- Looker Studio (GA4) for visualising traffic and conversion
- Litium Insights for built-in analytics within the platform
- Hotjar for measuring visitor behaviour and optimising UX through heat maps
🚀 3. Bring sales and leadership on board
One challenge highlighted in the report is internal resistance and the cultural shift that needs to happen, particularly within traditional sales organisations. When digital channels are seen as a threat, engagement drops.
My advice is to show clearly how e-commerce actually supports sales, generates leads and frees up time. Surface measurable results internally.
Increased use of a customer portal can mean growing sales (total revenue) without needing to hire, for example, order administrators — creating healthier margins in the process. That money can instead be used to sharpen both delivery and the sales and marketing organisation. Something salespeople will likely appreciate.
🚀 4. Choose the right platform
The report raises an important point about platform selection: avoiding overly complex system landscapes, minimising the number of platforms and ensuring data flows seamlessly across all channels.
B2B comes with complex requirements. Customer-specific assortments, contract pricing and ERP integrations are just a few examples. My tip is to choose a platform with support for B2B-specific flows, an API-first architecture and scalability for growth. Try not to create too many islands — only where the platform genuinely falls short.
To get the most out of your setup, I recommend combining your e-commerce platform with smart add-ons:
- EntityFlow for integration between ERP, CRM and e-commerce
- Briqpay for B2B credit purchasing and invoice solutions directly in checkout
🚀 5. Automate with AI
AI is already being used by 24% of companies to streamline sales, customer service and marketing. A further 32% are planning to introduce it.
My tip is to start with AI for product recommendations, customer support and content production.
Some tools worth looking at:
- EnlinkAI for content, analysis and automated flows
- Litium + AI add-ons for smart merchandising and personalisation
✨ Summary
A profitable digital B2B business in 2025 is built on:
- Customer-centric experiences
- Internal buy-in
- Data-driven decisions
- Technical simplicity
- Reuse of sales resources and relationships in digital form
Tools that help:
- Litium (platform)
- EntityFlow (integration)
- Briqpay (payments)
- EnlinkAI (AI & analytics)
- Looker Studio (GA4) (visualisation & KPIs)
- Litium Insights (operational follow-up)
- Hotjar (heat map tool for UX optimisation)
Start simple. Scale smart. And always keep the customer's needs in focus.
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