LogiCommerce is trusted by global enterprise brands and wholesalers, across industries
Business-to-business (B2B), as a lot of people know, is on the way to change with the goal that purchases and user experiences become more similar to B2C experiences. In general, B2B online shops can and should look and act very similar to B2C since users are able to search products, add them to their shopping cart, and choose the delivery and payment method they prefer to finalize the order. The main difference between both is that in a B2B, a business sells to other businesses (for example, manufacturers sell to distributors) and in a B2C, a business sells directly to the final consumer. This means that they both need different characteristics and features to successfully satisfy their own customer needs.
B2B companies have experienced their own path and evolution over the years in a gradual and accelerated way. Because of COVID, most of the barriers between the physical and digital environment are being diluted, giving way to digital interaction. All these trends, not only indicate a significant growth in the B2C but especially in the B2B. It is forecasted that the B2B eCommerce market value in Europe will grow steadily from 2022 to 2025. By 2025, the B2B eCommerce market value in Europe is estimated to reach over 1.8 trillion U.S. dollars.
In order to achieve success with your B2B online sales, you should take multiple factors into account such as catalog visibility, categories, product information, rate configuration, sales representatives, marketing automation, among others to deliver outstanding shopping experiences anywhere and save time while selling 24/7 thanks to the online channel.
If you haven’t decided yet, whether or not you want to build your B2B eCommerce, take a look below and convince yourself.
Although the essence of B2B business is to offer solutions, services or products to other companies, you shouldn’t forget that purchasing decisions are made by people and what they value the most, are products that are easy to find, intuitive designs, and simple purchasing processes, all of which can only be offered by an eCommerce.
B2B eCommerce is the ideal channel to save on operational costs and to reduce time management thanks to multiple features. Your customers will be able to view prices according to previously negotiated agreements, view orders placed in the past and even repeat or modify them, set-up different shipping addresses, view the entire catalog, search and compare products. Moreover, offer B2B access to Sales Representatives, set commissions, and let them carry out orders on behalf of their portfolio customers.
The eCommerce can also apply certain rules and allow a wider range of payment methods depending on the order amount to provide greater flexibility and remove purchase barriers, as well as configure minimum amounts per order, modify prices according to the quantity of products, offer special discounts per volume, and many more. It’s a great opportunity to configure multiple carriers, multi-expeditions, multiple warehouses, as well as rates by user and/or user groups.
Longer reach: through the online channel, you will be able to reach more customers, with a virtually unlimited geographical scope and the ability to sell 24/7.
Greater transparency and service: through an eCommerce platform, your B2B customers will be able to access certain information such as their order history, invoices, and delivery status in their ‘User Area’, making it more efficient for both parties. They will be able to modify their data such as warehouse address or bank details at any time, view product stock in real-time, check order status, and a lot more.
Higher analytical capabilities: customer interactions with the platform can be measured so that you will know their behavior in greater depth; which products they visit most, how often they buy, how much time they spend on your online store, among others. This is a point that we usually associate with B2C, however, gathering all this information about your customers can be equally useful for the B2B sector.
Better customer experience: Nowadays, everybody is used to buying products online, therefore, the B2B customer experience should be as similar to the one of a B2C eCommerce; short learning curve, responsive web, easy-to-use, friendly interface, and rich content. eCommerce facilitates the opportunity for B2B businesses to sell and buy from anywhere through multiple channels, offering highly personalized support and guiding the customer through the entire buying process.
Further standardization and automation: an online sales channel is much more efficient as it significantly reduces errors in stock availability, standardizes data, and automates daily processes. It also allows to integrate with ERPs and other applications to optimize the eCommerce management time by centralizing data while achieving a smoother communication and providing the customer with as much information as possible.
Broader scalability: an eCommerce will allow your B2B to grow and scale easier to meet consumer demands and needs by opening new sales channels and reaching new market segments.
More business opportunities: besides reaching new customers, your eCommerce B2B can easily cross borders and sell through marketplaces while also implementing automated techniques such as cross-selling and up-selling with the aim of motivating customers to buy related products or articles with greater benefits and capabilities.
Definitively, it’s the solution to create unique shopping experiences by offering direct, updated and personalized information. In the end, productivity is the basis of profitability, and B2B eCommerce tools reduce management time and increase efficiency.
B2B eCommerce platforms provide quick, simple and real-time access to data and inventory updates, product catalogs and much more so that daily workflows improve and become more accurate as all the information is centralized in one place thanks to the online channel while making it easier to track results and measure KPIs to improve outcomes.
LogiCommerce is the integrated solution for suppliers, wholesalers and distributors. A complete B2B & B2C Unified eCommerce platform that will help you to execute the digital transformation while reducing operating costs, improving transparency being integrated with your ERP, CRM or any other application in real-time. If you are thinking of digitizing your B2B, contact us!
