How B2B can turn complexity into profit with AI personalization

This content was created in collaboration with EMERCE.

Despite the subject experiencing a slow awakening, many still think of the importance of B2B personalization as a “nice to have”...or ”something only relevant to B2C.”

Meanwhile, buyers are logging in, navigating nearly useless search tools, scrolling through irrelevant product listings, and silently wondering, How hard can it be to make it easy for me to find products in this webshop?

The assumption that B2B personalization is too difficult or costly to achieve is holding many businesses back. But the ones who are investing in relevance and experience are already seeing the payoff. When done right, AI-powered personalization doesn’t just improve user experience but lifts conversion rates, increases order sizes, and builds long-term buyer loyalty.

Watch the video below to see Bart Omlo, Regional Manager Benelux, give an interview about how personalization in B2B is not only possible but crucial, and how to roll it out without setting your tech team on fire.

Why B2B personalization needs to work differently

Indeed, personalization in B2C is often focused on emotion, inspiration, or impulse. It’s almost the opposite that presents itself in B2B, where the buyer journey is more functional and layered.

True B2B personalization comes down to:

• Knowing the user behind the login
• Using structured data (contracts, roles, order history)
• Serving relevant search and product logic in real-time

The same login might need very different recommendations, depending on who's behind the screen. For example, a B2B customer buying adhesives every 3 weeks shouldn't have to scroll 5 pages to find it again. The system should auto-promote it.

For instance, we both work at a restaurant. You’re the chef, I’m the wine buyer. We enter the same store, but you look at flavor profiles, and I look at price or stock. So the same shop should give different recommendations.

—Bart Omlo, Regional Manager, Benelux

In other words, personalization in B2B isn’t about giving users what they might want. It’s about giving them what they already expect: relevance, clarity, and speed. And that means your system needs to understand not just the company, but the individual behind the login.

More data, more structure = more opportunity

B2B has something B2C often doesn’t:

• Account hierarchies.
• Contract-specific pricing.
• Defined roles.
• Deep order history.

This complexity may seem like a challenge at first, but it’s actually a big opportunity. The complexity comes with rich data. And the more structured it is, the better sophisticated AI models can turn it into precise, personalized experiences. Purchase behavior, product preferences, pricing tiers, and order frequency all become inputs that can inform recommendations, shape search results, and guide merchandising logic.

For example, if someone’s buying ten sinks, they shouldn’t have to go digging for the right fixtures. That logic can, and should, be built into your system.

The technology is ready, but the approach is different.

Plenty of tools promise personalization. However, in B2B, the real differentiator is whether your technology can handle the complexity of your business processes and the way your shoppers make purchases. Platforms like Relewise focus on real-time, behavior-based personalization that adapts as users interact. Unlike generic tools that require heavy rule-setting or guesswork, Relewise plugs into your data and adapts in real-time. No need to tag every SKU or build if/then logic trees from scratch.

It works across product discovery, search, and content, making it easier for teams to create relevant, role-aware experiences without overengineering the backend.

This is all good and well, but it’s still important to avoid implementing everything at once. Focusing on personalized search is one of the low-hanging fruits that creates the most impact right off the bat. This is one of the most important features, as it allows people to quickly find what they need and go on with their day.

Even just personalizing your search results can have a major impact on how easily people find what they need. Then build from there with recommendations, category logic, or email.

—Bart Omlo, Regional Manager, Benelux

What’s the actual return on getting this right?

Across the board, Relewise customers across B2B and B2C see measurable lifts in average order values of 10-30%, including lifts in conversion rates and engagement. Not because of a shiny new UI or over-the-top journeys, but because buyers can find what they need faster, trust that it’s relevant, and spend less time sorting through irrelevant noise. This makes it not only a better experience but also a better business case.

In conclusion...

B2B personalization isn’t a trend. It’s a strategy for efficiency and revenue growth. To get it right, you need deep insight into how your buyers navigate and what they need at every step, and that starts with structuring your data.

The good thing is you don’t need to rebuild your tech stack or reinvent your catalog to meet these needs. Start with smarter search, and as time goes on, layer in behavioral recommendations. For B2B, remember to personalize at different levels, like the user and company level, and let relevance do the heavy lifting.