AI, Talent, and Scaling B2B eCommerce Platforms with Alexander Graf | Spryker

Complexity Isn’t the Problem in B2B eCommerce – It’s the Advantage

Complexity isn’t killing B2B eCommerce. Complexity  is fueling the most meaningful innovations in our industry.

That’s one of the key takeaways from a recent conversation I had with Alexander Graf, co-founder of Spryker and a long-time digital commerce operator. And while Spryker’s evolution is an interesting story, this isn’t just about Spryker – or Alex.

Although, he gets it at a different level than most.

It’s about a broader shift that too many still haven’t fully recognized: B2B is where digital strategy actually gets interesting.

B2C Was Supposed to Lead. It Didn’t.

For years, B2C captured the headlines and hype. Personalization. One-click buying. Flashy UX. The retail darlings shaped how we thought eCommerce was supposed to look.

But what B2C called innovation was often just uniformity at scale. The same discounts, same product recs, same checkout flow – regardless of whether the user was a casual shopper or a procurement manager trying to get a job done.

As Alex pointed out, the promise of personalization never fully showed up in B2C. In contrast, B2B didn’t have that luxury. And that’s what makes it worth paying attention to.

In B2B, Complexity Is Not a Bug – It’s the Blueprint

If you’ve worked in this space, you already know: there is no “standard” B2B transaction.

You’re dealing with multi-stakeholder purchasing. Products that need configuration. Pricing that shifts based on contract terms, location, and timing. Buyers who don’t care about browsing – they care about accuracy, accountability, and integration with their ERP.

Where B2C prizes simplicity, B2B demands specificity.

And that demand creates opportunity.

This is why Spryker – and companies like it – ended up focusing on B2B. It’s not because B2C is irrelevant, but because B2B needs real solutions to real problems. And the companies that get that – those who embrace the mess instead of trying to simplify it away – are the ones pushing digital forward.

Why “Just Make It Like Amazon” Doesn’t Work

One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make is trying to bring a B2C mindset into B2B. Copy-pasting consumer logic onto industrial buying doesn’t just miss the mark – it creates friction.

In B2B, the buyer isn’t looking for entertainment. They’re not looking to be wowed by your marketing funnel. They’re trying to meet procurement compliance, ensure availability, and fulfill operational requirements – all before 3pm on a Thursday.

A VP of digital pulled from retail might know how to build a slick front end. But if they don’t understand punchout catalogs, cost centers, and EDI confirmation, they’ll struggle.

B2B is operationally grounded. You win by understanding how people actually buy – and then designing around that reality.

Sophistication > Simplicity

B2B isn’t just more complex – it’s more sophisticated. The best digital strategies in this space don’t start with UI design. They start with a deep dive into the buyer’s journey:

• What roles are involved in each type of order?
  
• How does this customer want to pay, confirm, and track?
  
• What does the handoff between field sales and eCommerce look like?
  

That sophistication isn’t overhead. It’s value. When your platform flexes to the way your customers actually work, you’re not just enabling transactions – you’re integrating into operations.

And that, by the way, is what digital transformation really looks like in B2B.

Final Thought: Complexity Is Your Edge

Here’s my take: B2B companies shouldn’t be trying to eliminate complexity. They should be investing in understanding it, mapping it, and building systems around it.

That’s not easy – but it’s exactly where the competitive advantage lives. The companies that succeed in B2B eCommerce won’t be the ones that create beautiful front-ends. They’ll be the ones who understand that every messy layer of their business is a signal, not a problem.

B2B doesn’t need to catch up to B2C. It needs to stay focused on what makes it powerful: real buying, in real businesses, driving real outcomes.

And that means treating complexity not as a burden – but as the opportunity it really is.

Watch this insightful video with Alex from Spryker.

Contact Alex | Spryker

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Alex Graf

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