What B2B can learn from Rituals (Spoiler: It's not about scented candles)

What you'll learn

• How Rituals went from near-bankruptcy to €1 billion revenue mid-crisis
• The 2 moves every B2B company must steal from this retailer
• Why your success formula becomes your biggest bottleneck (and what to do about it)
  
  

The problem

You're stuck in your B2B bubble. Only looking at competitors in your own market. Copying what they do. And wondering why you're not growing faster.

Meanwhile, a soap shop transforms itself in the middle of a pandemic from near-bankruptcy to record revenue. Rituals CEO Raymond Cloosterman: "The question was whether we'd make it to Christmas." Spoiler: they not only made it to Christmas, but they also grew to €1 billion in revenue.

While you're looking for excuses, outperformers are finding solutions.

Why does this happen?

You only look at your own industry

B2B companies have a blind spot. They only benchmark against direct competitors. Salesforce looks at Microsoft. SAP at Oracle. You are whoever's in your Gartner Magic Quadrant.

But real innovations come from outside your industry. Amazon learned logistics from FedEx. Netflix learned personalization from Spotify. Tesla learned direct-to-consumer from Apple.

And Rituals? They can teach you how to turn a crisis into an opportunity.

You're holding onto what worked

Pre-2020, Rituals had a winning formula: luxury retail experience, personal service, and taking time for the customer. Then came corona. Suddenly, their biggest strength became their biggest weakness.

Sound familiar? Your face-to-face sales process. Your relationship-based approach. Your 9-month enterprise sales cycle. What made you big is now keeping you small.

The solution:

Dance these 2 Rituals moves

But what should you do yourself? We've broken down 2 moves from Rituals you can implement.

Move 1: Online must be BETTER than offline

Rituals did something radical. They made 600 new products available exclusively online. Not in stores. Online only. Customizable perfumes. Limited editions. Digital-first luxury.

The B2B vertaling:

Stop seeing online as an inferior channel. Make it superior.

Practical:

• • • Launch new features online first (pilot programs via video)
    • Give online buyers early access to updates
    • Make digital onboarding BETTER than on-site
    • Offer virtual executive briefings instead of physical meetings

An enterprise software company did this. Their "Digital First Package" - only available for full-remote implementations - became their best-selling tier. Why? Faster live (2 weeks vs 3 months), more support (24/7 chat vs business hours), better price (no travel costs).

"Customers who never wanted remote now demand it. Because we made it better than on-premise." - CRO

Move 2: Identify your new bottlenecks

Rituals introduced "fast shopping lanes." Customers who know what they want get help in 2 minutes. No browsing, no advice, just transaction.

They understood something crucial: their old USP (taking time, luxury experience) became their new bottleneck (people want to leave quickly, limited capacity).

Your B2B bottlenecks you're missing:

Old strength → New bottleneck:

• • • Consultative selling → Too slow for crisis decision-makers
    • Consensus building → Too complex for remote teams
    • Enterprise features → Too heavy for the new budget reality
    • Relationship focus → Too time-intensive for digital buyers

The fast-lane strategy for B2B:

Create parallel paths:

• • • Fast Lane: Self-service for standard cases (80% of deals)
    • Full Service: High-touch for complex enterprise (20% of deals)

Practice:

• • • Standard contracts: Download, sign, start (1 day)
    • Custom deals: Full sales cycle (still 6 months)
    • Basic implementation: Video tutorials + chat support
    • Enterprise rollout: On-site team + dedicated CSM

A B2B SaaS in Utrecht implemented this. Result: 60% of new deals go via the fast lane. The sales cycle ranges from 1 week to 6 months. CAC halved. Enterprise deals actually got bigger because sales had more time. 

The mindset shift: From B2B to H2H

Rituals understands that behind every transaction is a human. With fears, desires, frustrations. Their adjustments aren't about channel optimization. They're about human understanding.

Ask yourself:

• • • What does my customer REALLY want differently?
    • What new frustrations do they have?
    • What are they worried about?
    • How can I solve that, not with more features but with a different approach?

Key Takeaways

• Look outside your industry for real innovation
• Make online/digital superior, not inferior
• Your old USP is probably your new bottleneck
• Fast lanes and full service can coexist

Next step

List your top 3 competitive advantages from 2019. Now ask: which of these has become a bottleneck in 2025? That uncomfortable answer is your starting point.

About this article: At Stryfes, we look beyond your own industry. Because real innovation always comes from outside. Ready for fresh perspectives?

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