Post Link: 6 B2B eCommerce Best Practices to Implement in 2016

6 B2B eCommerce Best Practices to Implement in 2016

Research and advisory firm Frost & Sullivan projected in a recent survey that B2B and retail e-commerce would hit $12 trillion worldwide by 2020, up from $5.5 trillion in 2012, for a compoundannual growth rate of 8.11%. According to the survey, customers are placing increasingpressure on retail and wholesale businesses to move buying and selling processes online.

B2B eCommerce is indeed growing rapidly and offers a huge area of growth potential formanufacturers and distributors. However, simply deciding to implement B2B eCommerce doesnot guarantee that a company will meet its goals. Following best practices specific to the B2Bspace, however, will help to ensure that your eCommerce efforts pay off.

Although the need to respond to B2B eCommerce demand is clear, there are some unique B2Bchallenges (when compared to B2C) that can impact the success of your B2B eCommerceefforts. According to Forrester Research, some of the critical differences include:

More Complexity: B2C eCommerce is more complex across the board, from buyer-sellerrelationships and workflows to complicated pricing models and contractual obligations. A singlecustomer may have multiple users or customers within one overall “customer” or client, andproducts themselves may be sold in several configurations. All of these areas of complexity willimpact your B2B eCommerce efforts.

More Channels: B2B buyers may use multiple channels to place orders, and the list of options

available continues to grow. These channels might include an online B2B eCommerce portal,telephone, email, fax, or mobile, as well as in-person sales. In today’s omnichannelenvironment, it’s likely that each customer will use several different channels for different typesof transactions. They may even switch channels midstream. Ideally, a B2B commerce platformshould allow customers to start an order on desktop and pick up where they left off on a mobiledevice, or allow a sales rep to start an order that the buyer can then complete online, and viceversa.

Consistency is Key: It’s important to make sure that the content available on B2B eCommercesites is not only as up-to-date as possible, but also consistent across platforms. This provides aseamless experience to customers across all channels. Attaining this is not a simple task; itrequires integration across back-end systems, field sales systems, and eCommerce platforms.

With these factors in mind, here are our top B2B eCommerce best practices to implement in2016.

6 B2B E-Commerce Best Practices to Implement in 2016

1. Integrate, Integrate, Integrate

A successful B2B eCommerce implementation requires access to current inventory levels andstock, and a strong understanding of buying history and behavior. To accomplish this, youreCommerce platform needs to be tied to your back-end systems such as ERP and InventoryManagement systems, so that buyers can access real-time insight into inventory levels to avoidbackordering and delays in shipment.

They should also be able to see their past purchases and payment history, review shippingrates, and see purchasing contracts. Your B2B eCommerce system must not just function wellon its own. It must be connected to the orders your sales reps are placing in the field as well.

2. Be Smart with Offers

With integrated systems, you’ll be able to segment your customers and target your offers morecarefully at the right buyers at the right times. Perhaps you have a customer that onlypurchases certain items in the Spring or Fall, or perhaps buyers in a certain geographical areahave seasonal purchases that you can predict by studying past patterns.

Take advantage of this kind of information when crafting offers for your buyers, and leverageemail marketing to drive more traffic to your B2B online store.

3. Provide Mobile Tools

eCommerce is growing fast, and mobile eCommerce is growing even faster. According to arecent survey by Usablenet, 78% of B2B companies believe mobile is the future of onlinecommerce, half of B2B companies already had the capability to support mobile commerce, and75% planned to offer it in the near future.

Giving your customers the ability to place orders not just from a laptop or desktop computer, butalso a smartphone and tablet, is critical.

4. Keep Content Consistent

As mentioned, honoring the contractual relationships that govern B2B must always beconsidered as one of the most important best practices of your B2B eCommerce efforts.

Not only must your eCommerce content be tailored directly to each customer’s pricing anddiscounting rules and relevant product lines, it should also be consistent across platforms tominimize confusion.

5. Make Buying Easy

Bulk, repeat, and scheduled ordering are all very common in B2B, and should be supported byyour B2B eCommerce sites. In addition, single step / same page checkout is also a bestpractice your eCommerce site should offer, but be aware that in the B2B space this meansmore than having credit card and shipping information available on the checkout screen. It alsomeans providing access to payment terms, shipping methods and ship dates, cancel dates andmore.

6. Let Your Customers DIY

DIY means Do-It-Yourself, and in an age where so many customers have grown accustomedusing B2C eCommerce sites where they can update their own customer information anytime,anywhere, allowing B2B customers the same convenience is a B2B eCommerce best practicethat can not only help to increase the accuracy of your customer data, but also helps toincrease customer satisfaction. However, this convenience must also be weighed againstrelationship management requirements; it may be necessary to limit this only to certain usersand fields.

This is a short list of the B2B eCommerce best practices that manufacturers and distributorsshould include in their B2B eCommerce efforts in 2016. eCommerce is a highly complex anddynamic field, so there are many best practices that companies can adopt from B2C, as well asothers that are specific to B2B. What best practices is your company planning to add in 2016?Let us know in the comments.Post originally located at: https://www.handshake.com/blog/b2b-ecommerce-best-practices/

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