Digital Receipt in B2B Context

Digital receipts are the new convenient way of recording and proving the purchase of products and/or services. While digital receipts have become highly relevant in the B2C (business-to-consumer) context, certain gaps need to be filled before they start making sense in the B2B (business-to-business) context.

Designed Primarily for Private Customers

Most financial accounting documents like digital receipts were designed primarily for private consumers. Advancing through the list of businesses that support the use of digital receipt, it is indicated that there is some form of inconsistency towards the usual behaviour of the professional consumers. 

Take the case of business travellers. The examination and breaking down of the costs of these employees display transportation, food, and accommodation as the major categories. Although it would undoubtedly be great if these employees could avail digital receipts every time they used their company cards, the solutions lack the dimension to make sense in this space.

The majority of B2B consumers already use fast and intuitive digital software for managing their expenses. Setting up a system for receiving limited receipts 100% digitally would only make the process inconvenient. It would force users to use numerous routes for solving particular sub-tasks. 

Certain businesses within the expense category offer an ineffective lead-time of 24 hours before the delivery of digital receipts to the customer’s travel expense system, obstructing the workflow and making the customer wait with a justification for the coding of expenses. However, businesses in the expense category can share a PDF receipt via mobile apps that a travel expense app can directly access.

Lack of a Global Network

Another significant gap is the geographic purchase behaviour of B2B consumers. Unlike private consumers, a considerable share of professional or B2B consumers has a wider geographic spread associated with their expenditure. This is most likely to be the result of businesses travelling across borders. Unless a solution operating across a global network is developed, the delivery of fully digital receipts for all transactions seems improbable.

Vague Understanding of Professional Consumer’s Buying Behaviour

The buying behaviour of private consumers is very different from that of professional consumers. The current businesses delivering digital receipt solutions lack a complete understanding of B2B consumers’ buying behaviour.