Sweden’s reputation for digital adoption is reshaping how companies buy and sell from one another. The focus now is on real-time pricing rather than static catalogs, as well as on invoices that reconcile automatically and platforms that offer procurement teams the same clarity that individual customers expect. This shift to digital B2B commerce in Sweden is a new baseline for growth. Below, we’ll explain how this sector is developing, what opportunities Swedish companies are seizing, and what challenges remain.

What’s in this article?

• Why is digital B2B commerce growing in Sweden?
  
• How is digital B2B commerce different from B2C ecommerce?
  
• What payment methods are most common in Swedish B2B commerce?
  
• How can businesses create a better B2B customer experience online?
  
• What are examples of Swedish companies succeeding with digital B2B commerce?
  
• How are platforms driving B2B commerce growth in Sweden?
  
• What challenges come with international B2B commerce?
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

Why is digital B2B commerce growing in Sweden?

Sweden has all the right conditions for digital business to flourish, including nearly universal internet access and a national digital ID system (BankID) that’s used by more than 8.6 million people for everything from banking to healthcare. This digital infrastructure has already made Sweden one of Europe’s leaders in consumer ecommerce, and it’s reshaping B2B trade.

For decades, B2B sales in Sweden ran on in-person relationships, printed catalogs, and negotiated contracts. That model is transforming into one focused on the speed, clarity, and self-service options that customers have come to expect online. In 2025, 28% of Nordic B2B sales were made through digital channels, a number that’s expected to keep rising as digital business grows.

The economic factors are strong: digital sales shorten purchasing cycles, minimize manual errors, and open up new markets without the overhead of traditional distribution. On the customer side, they give buyers 24/7 access to updated pricing and inventory.

How is digital B2B commerce different from B2C ecommerce?

At first glance, B2B and B2C commerce look similar. Both rely on digital storefronts, fast payments, and easy checkout. However, the mechanics of B2B transactions are far more challenging than those of B2C transactions.

B2C purchases usually involve a single buyer who makes a quick decision. B2B orders, by contrast, often involve multiple stakeholders and longer approval cycles. The average purchase value is dramatically higher, with contracts that stretch into recurring or bulk orders that might run for years. Pricing isn’t always fixed, and volume discounts, negotiated terms, and customized quotes are common.

B2C customers typically pay immediately, while B2B customers often pay later, with terms of net 30 or net 60. Checkout design reflects that: B2B sites are built for account-based logins, reorders, and credit checks, not impulse buys.

B2B commerce borrows the user-friendly features of consumer platforms while operating on a design built to handle complexity, scale, and long-term business relationships.

What payment methods are most common in Swedish B2B commerce?

Swedish businesses have a large tool kit of payment options. The mix includes traditional favorites and newer, digital options:

• Bank transfers: Bank transfers remain an important part of B2B transactions. They’re trusted, predictable, and often the default. Bankgirot is commonly used for one-off payments, and Autogiro (Sweden’s direct debit system) is used for recurring payments such as subscription services and ongoing supplier agreements.

• Card payments: B2B card payments are particularly useful for small, low-risk purchases and cross-border transactions.

• Swish: Originally designed for customers, this mobile payment app is an option for small and midsize B2B transactions, especially when speed is important.

• Buy now, pay later (BNPL): Fintech companies have started offering BNPL services for B2B payments to give companies a flexible installment option.

What stands out is the way these methods integrate with digital identity systems in Sweden. BankID underpins verification for Swish and online banking, enhancing security for multiple payment methods.

How can businesses create a better B2B customer experience online?

B2B commerce in Sweden is shifting away from static catalogs and email-driven workflows toward the same high level of service that customers enjoy, but with the depth and flexibility that business transactions require.

Here are a few ways to create a better experience for B2B buyers:

• Self-service: Portals can save time by allowing procurement teams to see negotiated pricing, place repeat orders, manage delivery schedules, and track invoices, without waiting on a sales rep to respond.

• Multiple payment options: A wholesale supplier that accepts only Bankgirot risks losing customers to one that can also handle cards or Swish. Smart companies make payment effortless so buyers can move quickly from quote to order.

• Automation: Digital invoicing and automated payment flows reduce back-and-forth communication, which can help avoid errors and delays in B2B purchases. In Sweden, where e-invoicing is already standard in the public sector and increasingly popular in private markets, businesses that don’t automate their systems risk slowing down their customers.

• Integrated systems: The best online experiences are integrated. Buyers expect orders and payments to sync with enterprise resource planning and accounting systems so reconciliation isn’t a separate manual process.

What are examples of Swedish companies succeeding with digital B2B commerce?

Several Swedish companies are showing what digital-first B2B commerce can look like in practice. These businesses are using online platforms to increase their sales volumes and reshape how they work with customers:

• BAUHAUS Sweden built a B2B commerce platform that lets buyers browse detailed product data, check stock in real time, and place orders online. As a result, revenue increased by over 100% and new customer accounts increased by more than 50%.

• Hydroscand, a supplier of hoses and hydraulics, developed a digital platform to support customers in Sweden and plans to expand into more markets. Its easy-to-use ecommerce site made reordering simpler for clients who rely on quick turnarounds.

• Electrolux Professional created a cloud-based digital platform that functions as a self-service portal for distributors and partners. The platform allows customers to make purchases and track deliveries on any device.

How are platforms driving B2B commerce growth in Sweden?

Platforms and marketplaces are changing how Swedish businesses approach B2B commerce. Instead of building stand-alone online stores, many businesses are joining multivendor systems where buyers can compare suppliers, check availability, and place orders in a single interface. This increases efficiency for buyers and opens up access to a larger customer base for sellers.

The platform effect is especially strong in industries with fragmented supply chains. Construction, wholesale, and manufacturing firms in Sweden use marketplaces that aggregate suppliers, simplify procurement, and standardize everything from product data to payment flows.

Technology is also expanding what B2B platforms can handle. AI-driven search makes it easier to get through massive product catalogs, while embedded payment systems facilitate checkout. Consequently, Swedish businesses can compete in global markets and still give buyers a localized experience.

Platforms that integrate with BankID for verification and support local payment methods such as Swish and Autogiro offer buyers familiar layers of security. This combination of reach, usability, and reliability is pushing platforms from optional to necessary in Sweden’s B2B sphere.

What challenges come with international B2B commerce?

Cross-border B2B commerce presents Swedish companies with huge growth opportunities. But it also comes with certain challenges.

Here’s what to watch for:

• Currency and conversion costs: Businesses often face fluctuating exchange rates and hidden fees that make it difficult to predict margins. Sudden shifts in foreign exchange rates can erase profit on high-value B2B orders.

• Payment reliability: International transfers can take days to settle. This can strain cash flow and create uncertainty in supply chains where timing is everything.

• Compliance and regulation: Selling across the EU and beyond means complying with different tax regimes, VAT rules, and local reporting standards. Without automated systems, this quickly becomes a costly administrative burden.

• Fraud and risk management: Larger transaction values increase exposure. Businesses need verification tools that can distinguish known buyers from bad actors without slowing down legitimate trade.

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe helps turn the complexity of B2B payments into something manageable and flexible for Swedish businesses. Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payment solution that helps any business—from scaling startups to global enterprises—accept payments online, in person, and around the world.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimize your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs, access to 125+ payment methods, and Link, a wallet built by Stripe.

• Expand to new markets faster: Reach customers worldwide and reduce the complexity and cost of multicurrency management with cross-border payment options, available in 195 countries across 135+ currencies.

• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalize interactions, reward loyalty, and grow revenue.

• Improve payment performance: Increase revenue with a range of customizable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no-code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorization rates.

• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% uptime and industry-leading reliability.

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments, or get started today.