Why Retailers Lose Known Customers at Checkout—and How to Stop the Bleed
Q&A with Brandon Spear, CEO at TreviPay
RH-Hub: Retailers obsess over consumer checkout friction but often make business customers jump through hoops—credit apps, net terms paperwork, separate portals. Why has B2B buying within retail lagged so far behind the consumer experience, and what finally broke the inertia?
Brandon: Retailers optimize consumer commerce around card transactions. On the B2B side, transactions are more complex, so naturally, it differs from the consumer experience. B2B purchasing revolves around an entire account relationship to include credit decisions, negotiated pricing, purchase approvals, and invoicing requirements. Those responsibilities sit across multiple departments, which adds to the level of complexity. The difference is that buyers stopped accepting the friction as the cost of doing business. Acceptable onboarding time has fallen from 6.7 days to 5.1 days. Buyers are now in a position to evaluate suppliers on the entire buying experience, making the payment process more important and delays less tolerable. The cost of complexity isn’t abstract. Retailers see what’s at stake and are using technology to improve conversion, repeat purchasing, and customer retention.
RH-Hub: As AI takes on more of the research, comparison, and analysis behind purchasing decisions, what should suppliers prioritize to remain competitive?
Brandon: Our research found that 73% of buyers now use AI in purchasing workflows, including supplier management, fraud detection, spend analysis, and invoice processing. AI isn’t replacing the buyer or making the final decision. It is changing how information is gathered, compared, and assessed before a person steps in.
For suppliers, this raises the importance of being easy to evaluate and easy to work with. Pricing, inventory, payment terms, onboarding requirements, and invoicing capabilities need to be current and consistent across channels. When information conflicts or basic details are buried in PDFs and manual processes, buyers' confidence and valuable time.
Operational fit matters just as much. Buyers want suppliers that can connect with their ERP and procurement systems, support digital onboarding, and provide invoices that their finance teams can process without unnecessary intervention. Those capabilities make the relationship more predictable from the start.
AI may help buyers narrow the field, but trust still determines who earns the business. Suppliers that pair reliable data and connected systems with flexible payment options and a straightforward buying experience will be better positioned to win the first order and keep the relationship growing.
For suppliers, this raises the importance of being easy to evaluate and easy to work with. Pricing, inventory, payment terms, onboarding requirements, and invoicing capabilities need to be current and consistent across channels. When information conflicts or basic details are buried in PDFs and manual processes, buyers' confidence and valuable time.
Operational fit matters just as much. Buyers want suppliers that can connect with their ERP and procurement systems, support digital onboarding, and provide invoices that their finance teams can process without unnecessary intervention. Those capabilities make the relationship more predictable from the start.
AI may help buyers narrow the field, but trust still determines who earns the business. Suppliers that pair reliable data and connected systems with flexible payment options and a straightforward buying experience will be better positioned to win the first order and keep the relationship growing.
RH-Hub: Preference for suppliers offering invoice terms jumped from 51% to 68% in two years. Is that a rate-environment blip or a permanent shift in how business customers expect to pay—and what does it mean for retailers still requiring cards upfront?
Brandon: Interest rates likely accelerated the trend, but they didn’t create it. The likelihood of buyers choosing a supplier offering invoice terms rose from 51% to 68% in two years, and trade credit has moved into the top tier of supplier selection criteria. That points to a structural change in expectations around working capital and payment flexibility.
Invoice terms align payment with how businesses budget, approve purchases, and manage cash flow. Those operational benefits remain even when rates decline. Once buyers have experienced a purchasing process built around their financial workflow, they are more likely to expect payment options that support their financial workflow, rather than relying solely on card payments.
Retailers requiring cards upfront are asking the buyer to absorb the financing burden, use available card capacity, and manage a transaction that may not fit procurement policy. Those retailers may still win an occasional order, but it is much harder to become the preferred supplier or grow share of wallet.
Invoice terms align payment with how businesses budget, approve purchases, and manage cash flow. Those operational benefits remain even when rates decline. Once buyers have experienced a purchasing process built around their financial workflow, they are more likely to expect payment options that support their financial workflow, rather than relying solely on card payments.
Retailers requiring cards upfront are asking the buyer to absorb the financing burden, use available card capacity, and manage a transaction that may not fit procurement policy. Those retailers may still win an occasional order, but it is much harder to become the preferred supplier or grow share of wallet.
RH-Hub: A business customer might buy from the same retailer online, through a sales rep, via a procurement system, and in-store, and hit a different payment experience each time. Which of those seams costs retailers the most business, in your experience?
Brandon: The most expensive seam is where a known business customer becomes a stranger when they move to another channel. A buyer may have approved credit, negotiated terms, and established purchasing controls online, then find none of those benefits available when ordering through a sales representative or visiting a store. They are asked to apply again, use a card, or accept a different invoice process. The retailer has already earned the customer and still loses the transaction at the point where it should close.
Roughly 86% of buyers rate having similar payment methods across channels as very or extremely important. The research also found 49% would purchase more from suppliers offering greater variety across payment methods. The goal should be account continuity. Credit, terms, pricing, permissions, and invoice preferences should follow the buyer wherever the order begins.
Roughly 86% of buyers rate having similar payment methods across channels as very or extremely important. The research also found 49% would purchase more from suppliers offering greater variety across payment methods. The goal should be account continuity. Credit, terms, pricing, permissions, and invoice preferences should follow the buyer wherever the order begins.
RH-Hub: For a retail executive who knows their B2B buying experience lags but can't rebuild everything at once, where's the first place to look—and what's the metric that tells them it's working?
Brandon: Start with the path from business-account recognition to the first completed order. Look closely at the credit application, required documentation, decisioning process, available terms, and what happens when the customer changes channels. That is usually where a retailer can remove meaningful friction without rebuilding the entire commerce stack.
One metric I look at is the percentage of qualified business applicants that complete a first purchase within the acceptable onboarding window. Our research puts that window at roughly five days, down from 6.7 days in 2023. That measure is more useful than approval speed alone. A retailer can approve an account quickly and still lose the order because terms were unavailable at checkout, the customer could not use the account in-store, or the invoice requirements did not match its procurement system. The first win is not a better-looking portal; it’s when you catch on to fewer qualified buyers placing orders. That’s the clue to what’s not working.
One metric I look at is the percentage of qualified business applicants that complete a first purchase within the acceptable onboarding window. Our research puts that window at roughly five days, down from 6.7 days in 2023. That measure is more useful than approval speed alone. A retailer can approve an account quickly and still lose the order because terms were unavailable at checkout, the customer could not use the account in-store, or the invoice requirements did not match its procurement system. The first win is not a better-looking portal; it’s when you catch on to fewer qualified buyers placing orders. That’s the clue to what’s not working.
