(MENAFN- MENAFN.COM)
B2B eCommerce is growing faster than anticipated. According to Forrester, B2B eCommerce takes up as much as 13% of US B2B sales by 2021.
Businesses are moving online because that’s where their customers are. And with more than 74% of their research already performed online or on mobile devices, B2B buyers expect to purchase them. As the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is proving, B2B eCommerce is shielding B2B buyers from safety and travel issues. It’s also advantageous for B2B sellers who want to reduce overhead, such as high rent payments in the absence of foot traffic.
It’s time to digitize your selling or be cast into the shadows.
Even without the pandemic, manufacturers, wholesalers, and other B2B sellers have been moving online. Now, home-bound shoppers are looking at everything from FMCG eCommerce to hydraulic pump bearings. While B2B firms are slow to adapt to such rapid changes, the growing popularity of eCommerce is forcing them to take their digital sales channels seriously. This trend is also developing the niche B2B software solutions market, such as B2B eCommerce software. So why should businesses consider purpose-built B2B eCommerce solutions?
It makes it easy to sell to businesses
Business purchases are usually larger and occur over the long-term. They involve multiple decision-makers, all requiring different access roles, ordering, invoicing, and payment options. This is in stark contrast to consumers, who usually make individual, one-time purchases, and are influenced by promotions and low prices.
It automates business processes
While consumers look for online experiences that are not too different from physical stores, businesses require more complex ordering workflows, payments, invoicing, and shipping options. Furthermore, these processes must be automated to reduce human error, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business sellers.
5 Key Features of B2B eCommerce Platform
Just like selecting any other tool your business relies on, you should start with going over your current needs and the desired list of capabilities you’d like to see in your software. Don’t forget to account for things you may want a few years down the road. Your platform’s ability to scale as you grow is essential and will likely be a deciding factor in your selection. Here are the most popular features for B2B sellers when choosing their B2B eCommerce platform.
B2B-specific features
If you’re selling to other businesses, you should understand that B2B selling is not the same as B2C. As appealing as they are, many B2C features will rarely work for your B2B sales and business model. As an example, a purpose-built B2B solution will integrate with your ERP, PIM, WHM, EDI, punchout catalogs, and other systems you might be using. B2B platforms are also built with complex organizational structures in mind and can support millions of SKUs, thousands of back-office staff, and multiple websites under a single platform. Because B2B deals vary greatly from B2C, you’ll also need personalized portals with catalogs, prices, quotes, contracts, and order approval features.
Personalization options
Business customers require personalization that goes above and beyond what many B2C customers crave. Since consumers typically spend less and purchase sporadically, they are more price-sensitive. B2Bs can sign thousand-dollar contracts and sell one product to brands in various verticals. Every one can have unique order approval processes, payment preferences, and shipping options. Thus, your eCommerce platform must include more than personalized catalogs, products, and prices. It must give customers their desired ordering, checkout, and invoicing preferences.
Easy, time-saving ordering
Businesses are just like any customer. They want hassle-free purchasing and the product in their hands quickly. Since B2B buyers frequently place recurring orders with their suppliers, they look for suppliers that give them this option. When selecting your eCommerce platform, understand what your customer wants and what obstacles they face. Look for a platform that lets you customize reordering, checkout, and approval processes for every customer.
Business access roles
While businesses share commonalities, they are all different in how they are structured and how they operate. Any given company has different types of employees that answer for different things, and the purchasing process is no exception. Look for a platform that accommodates different roles within one business account and looks at ways to modify these roles. This can include access permissions, approval permissions, and payment permissions that vary from user to user.
Built for growth
Your B2B eCommerce platform is your brand, product library, point of sale, lead generation, and marketing tool. It doesn’t make sense to change platforms every few years. Instead, you should look at how easy it is for your software to grow with your business. How easy is it to add new product libraries, modify the pricing structure, or add a new website? How difficult is it to implement, integrate with other systems, and generally scale your platform with your business? Many open-source platforms tend to have rich developer and partner communities offering peace of mind for fast-growing B2B companies.
Start your search here: The definitive B2B eCommerce platforms list
OroCommerce
When Oro released OroCommerce, it was the only eCommerce platform made from the ground up with B2B needs in mind. It gives you a wide range of implementation options, such as on-premise, in the cloud, or on the web, built with open-source architecture. It comes with B2B-specific features already included out of the box and supports B2C, B2B, and B2B2C selling models running in parallel. A diverse developer community, a library of integrations, and a built-in CRM helps businesses connect existing systems.
NetSuite Suite Commerce
NetSuite ERP users will appreciate a well-integrated commerce system from the same company. NetSuite is great for businesses with an omnichannel presence and supports numerous types of sales and marketing tools. This offers firms full visibility into customer orders, inventory, and business data. It comes with a user interface that takes some time getting used to, and you’ll have to invest in add-ons and developers to fine-tune your system.
Salesforce Cloud Commerce
Salesforce is perfect for eCommerce businesses that live out of their Salesforce CRM. Salesforce Cloud Commerce is known for its sales, marketing, and promotions features. It’s a good choice for businesses who want to keep tabs on their social media marketing and sales/marketing reporting in one place. High implementation and consultation costs may deter smaller companies, however.
SAP Commerce Cloud
This solution is perfect for those within SAP’s ecosystem of enterprise products such as their ERP, CRM, CLM, financial, and others. SAP Commerce Cloud adds powerful content management, marketing, and sales functionality to their eCommerce solutions. One drawback is that it’s not very user-friendly and requires a steep learning curve to make the most of its highly capable features.
HCL Commerce
Formerly an IBM product, HCL Commerce is a powerful contender in the B2B eCommerce sphere. It comes with several B2B crucial features, such as omnichannel capabilities, workflow engines, and a truly API-focused architecture. HCL Commerce supports many different business models such as B2C, B2B, and marketplace stores out of a single unified platform.
Magento
A good quarter of all online stores are designed on Magneto. While it powers a large chunk of enterprise businesses, adding on B2B-specific features can get cost-prohibitive for smaller businesses. Brands that can swallow high development costs to build a store to their needs will appreciate the robustness of the platform, the large selection of add-ons, and a great community and customer service.
What is the best B2B eCommerce solution for your business?
Since every business is unique and requires different things from its eCommerce solution, this is not an easy one to answer.
Start your B2B eCommerce selection process by examining what features come standard and what needs to be added on or customized. Determine how easy it is to make your system work as one with existing business processes, systems, and customers. Lastly, consider your needs five to ten years from now and predict how your system could cope. If you keep these considerations in mind, you’ll be able to select an ideal B2B eCommerce solution for your business.
MENAFN482020000484511177ID1100583927
--MENAFN482020000484511177ID1100583927-->