David Williams brings a perspective shaped by years of working at the sharp end of B2B customer experience and commercial decision-making. Having held senior ecommerce roles including time at brands such as Deckers Brands, his early work focused on large-scale consumer retail, digital growth and customer experience at volume. That background gave him deep exposure to mature ecommerce operations and high customer expectations before he later moved into B2B, bringing with him a clear point of comparison that strongly informs how he views complexity, experience and maturity behind the login.

This background gives David a rare and valuable perspective to B2B ecommerce: more than two decades spent at the sharp end of global B2C and D2C digital commerce before deliberately choosing to move into B2B. Having led ecommerce and retail transformation for major international brands his transition into B2B was not driven by dissatisfaction with consumer commerce but by a clear sense that B2B represented the next major opportunity for meaningful digital change.

What he quickly discovered however was that many of the assumptions people carry about B2B that it is simpler less sophisticated or merely a stripped-down version of B2C do not survive first contact with reality. In fact the complexity does not disappear in B2B; it simply moves behind the login.

This conversation with Steve Borges, Co-founder of Biglight, Europe’s leading independent B2B experience design agency, on The B2B Experience explores what that hidden complexity looks like, why B2B customer experience often lags behind technological capability and where organisations are missing opportunities to understand and serve their customers more effectively.

From B2C to B2B: a shift in complexity not ambition

Coming from a background where success depended on inspiring large numbers of consumers to discover desire and purchase products often infrequently and emotionally David initially questioned whether B2B could offer the same level of challenge. On the surface B2B ecommerce can appear dry: smaller audiences repeat purchasing and less emphasis on brand-led storytelling.

But once he began working inside B2B organisations a different picture emerged. While the total number of customers may be limited each customer account often contains multiple users roles and needs. A single login might be shared by procurement managers operational buyers assistants or finance teams all interacting with the same platform for very different reasons.

This is where B2B ecommerce experience becomes more complex than many B2C environments. Instead of designing for a broad but relatively homogeneous audience B2B teams must design behind the login for multiple personas operating within the same account. The challenge is no longer driving traffic but supporting very different intents and workflows without friction.

Multiple personas one platform: the reality of B2B buying journeys

One of the most striking insights from David’s experience is how often B2B organisations underestimate the diversity of user needs within a single customer relationship. The same account might be used by someone making strategic purchasing decisions someone simply re-ordering known products and someone checking order history or delivery documentation.

All of these users encounter the same interface pricing logic navigation and workflows yet their expectations and priorities differ significantly. Designing a B2B customer journey that works for all of them is fundamentally harder than optimising a typical consumer funnel.

This is why many B2B ecommerce platforms feel functional but frustrating. The underlying systems are often capable sometimes highly sophisticated but the experience layer has not been designed with real user behaviour in mind. Instead it reflects organisational structures internal processes or historical compromises.

Where B2B customer experience falls behind - and where it does not

A common narrative suggests that B2B is behind B2C in digital maturity. David’s experience challenges that oversimplification. In some respects B2B ecommerce platforms can be more advanced than their B2C equivalents particularly when it comes to pricing logic account management and operational complexity.

Where B2B tends to lag is not technology but experience. Too often the focus is on getting products online and transactions flowing rather than on how customers actually use the platform day to day. The result is an experience that technically works but fails to reduce friction save time or support different user roles effectively.

This gap is compounded by organisational dynamics. In many B2B businesses digital initiatives are still perceived as a threat rather than an enabler raising concerns about job displacement or loss of customer ownership. That resistance slows progress and limits how far teams are willing to rethink established ways of working.

David draws a parallel with earlier phases of digital adoption in retail where similar fears existed. Over time successful organisations learned that digital tools enhance roles rather than replace them but B2B is still working through that transition.

The blind spot behind the login: lack of customer insight

Perhaps the most consistent missed opportunity David identifies is the lack of systematic customer feedback and insight once users are logged in. While many B2B organisations invest in sales relationships and account management they often lack visibility into how customers actually experience their digital platforms.

Different personas encounter different pain points but those experiences rarely surface unless something goes badly wrong. As a result design decisions are often made based on assumptions rather than evidence.

This is where voice of the customer in B2B becomes critical. Simple mechanisms - customer surveys behavioural analysis qualitative feedback - can reveal friction points that would otherwise remain invisible. Without that insight organisations risk optimising for internal convenience rather than customer value.

David emphasises that understanding customer needs in B2B is not about copying consumer-grade features for their own sake. It is about recognising that efficiency clarity and confidence matter deeply to professional buyers and that digital experiences play a central role in delivering those outcomes.

Making change happen through experience not just technology

A recurring theme in the conversation is the difference between launching ecommerce and achieving real digital change. Many B2B organisations reach a point where the technology is in place but adoption and impact fall short of expectations.

David argues that this gap often exists because experience design has been treated as a secondary concern. Without a clear focus on how different users interact with the platform and how it supports their roles digital initiatives struggle to gain traction.

Change happens when experience becomes the connective tissue between systems teams and customers. When platforms make people’s jobs easier rather than harder resistance diminishes and adoption follows.

This experience-led approach reframes digital transformation in B2B as an ongoing evolution rather than a one-off project. It shifts the focus from implementation to learning insight and continuous improvement grounded in how customers actually behave.

What B2B leaders can take from this conversation:

Several practical lessons emerge from David Williams’ journey into B2B ecommerce.

Treat customer accounts as collections of users not single personas.

Design behind the login for real roles and workflows not organisational charts.

Recognise that technical sophistication does not guarantee good customer experience.

Invest in customer feedback and insight to uncover hidden friction.

View experience design as a lever for change not a cosmetic layer.

Together these points underline a broader truth: B2B customer experience is not a nice to have but a critical driver of efficiency adoption and long-term value.

How this episode connects to key B2B transformation themes

This conversation strongly aligns with several core themes explored throughout The B2B Experience podcast.

It sits primarily within customer-centred B2B customer experience with a secondary emphasis on making change happen in B2B through practical experience-led approaches rather than abstract change models.

From a services perspective the episode highlights the importance of customer feedback and experience insight in B2B alongside experience design and UX excellence in B2B particularly in complex logged-in environments where multiple personas coexist.

Topics connected to this episode

B2B customer experience behind the login

Designing ecommerce platforms for multiple B2B personas

Complexity versus usability in B2B ecommerce

Voice of the customer in B2B organisations

Experience-led change and digital adoption

B2B ecommerce UX

Logged-in B2B experiences

B2B buyer journey complexity

Customer insight in B2B ecommerce

Digital adoption in B2B organisations

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