The home décor chain retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc. was one of the earliest chain retailers to really embrace business-to-consumer ecommerce.

Now, Willams-Sonoma is going all in on another ecommerce market: business-to-business.

Williams-Sonoma is No. 22 in the Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000. The database ranks the largest online retailers in North America by web sales.

Williams-Sonoma B2B sales

B2B is already a substantial omnichannel sales channel, CEO Laura Alber told analysts on a recent earnings call.

“We set the ambitious goal this year to reach $1 billion in demand in our B2B business. And we came close, driving 27% year-over-year growth and 166% on a two-year basis,” Albers told analysts. “And we continue to win B2B accounts due to our design capabilities and the wide range of products offered in our multi-brand portfolio.”

Last year, Williams-Sonoma generated total revenue of $8.7 billion. Of that total, about two-thirds of sales, or $5.742 billion, is generated through ecommerce, the company says.

For the 26 weeks ended July 30, sales declined to $3.618 billion from $4.028 billion in the prior year. But one bright spot so far this year is sales from B2B, which are primarily ecommerce.

“We won several proposals across industry segments, including with Sony in the entertainment space; the San Antonio Spurs’ training facility; and multiple properties with the Montage, the Four Seasons, Westin, Hilton, and Hyatt,” Albers told analysts on the retailer’s second-quarter earnings call. “The trade business has been more impacted by the slowed housing market. However, we see recent improvement in our trend, and we remain confident on this piece of the B2B business long term.”

Sales in the B2B markets Williams-Sonoma serves, including hospitality and office supplies, are an $80 billion annual business where no one company owns substantial market share, the retailer says.

“Capturing 3% of the market share will drive an additional $16B+ in revenues (or triple our business today),” Williams-Sonoma says in a recent investor presentation.

“There’s some really exciting things going on in B2B,” Albers told analysts.

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