Selling and monetizing data in B2B markets: Four data-driven value propositions

Abstract

Data has become a powerful source of competitive advantage in contemporary business-to-business (B2B) markets, enabling vendors to create enhanced and completely new value propositions. However, while many firms can generate a lot of data from their businesses, they struggle to translate it into sellable offerings. To address this issue, this study examines how firms can sell and monetize data in B2B markets. Based on an extensive multiple case study, this study identifies four archetypical data-driven value propositions (data as a product, data-enhanced products, data-driven services, and data-enabled performance outcomes) and illuminates the key data-related capabilities and challenges related to each value proposition. The findings contribute to the digital servitization and data monetization literatures by illustrating how industrial firms can harness, package, and monetize data in B2B markets. For managers, this study offers important insights into the various strategies and capabilities needed to sell and monetize data in B2B markets.