Your business to business (B2B) ecommerce platform must be fast, reliable, secure, and scalable. With buyer expectations growing all the time, you must be able to innovate, test and deploy efficiently and effectively to stay ahead of your competition.
With the fast pace of change in B2B ecommerce you can’t afford to be held back poor functionality or the constraints of old technology. Many successful B2B businesses have already renewed their ecommerce platform several times and you can’t afford to be left behind.
When is the right time to replace my B2B ecommerce platform?
One certain sign that you need to change is when the challenges of maintaining your current platform outweigh any concerns you might have about finding the right alternative.
If any of the following are familiar situations or concerns for you, it’s time to change:
- uptime or site speed is affected at your busiest times
- frequent security breaches or risk alerts
- spending a lot of time maintaining patches and workarounds
- taking months rather than weeks to launch new products or innovations
- time and cost concerns regularly delay the launch of new features or apps
- online conversion rates are static or falling.
These are all clear signs that it’s time to modernize your online business. The next step is to make the right choice. There are always reasons to postpone or avoid the decision to change. Here is how Cloudfy can help to overcome some of the most common concerns.
Concern 1: We will lose our investment
Many businesses have made significant investments in their ecommerce platform, so the argument for replacing it must be compelling.
First, it’s important to look at areas where you know improvements are needed, like conversion rates, product management or site speed on mobile devices. Even a very cautious estimate of how much these shortcomings in your existing site could be costing your business will undermine the argument that you should continue to invest in your existing platform.
Even if patches and fixes are available for your existing solution, you and your developers and marketers will have to continually manage updates and upgrades. This will all take time and require more investment.
What’s the alternative? Many businesses are discovering that a software as a service (SaaS) ecommerce solution like Cloudfy, with dedicated developers constantly building and deploying leading-edge enhancements in the Cloud, is a more cost-effective option.
Your site will continually keep pace with change, leaving you free to re-imagine your business, and launch and test new approaches with the confidence that your technology won’t let you down.
Concern 2: We need to manage our costs
When you are seeing significant growth in your business, the potential costs of meeting increased demand can be daunting. It might seem like a risky time to invest in a new platform.
However, it is the worst possible time for your business to be held back by outdated technology. With a tried and tested platform like Cloudfy, that has been designed from the outset for B2B ecommerce, you will have all the functionality to meet your needs straight out of the box and at least four major updates every year to keep you at the forefront of innovation.
You won’t need to make major capital investment in on-premises equipment, because everything is available in the Cloud. It’s fast, reliable and can scale with your business as it grows. You won’t have to pay for surplus capacity, but you will know that it’s available when you need it.
Concern 3: We don’t have the time to make a major change
Your ecommerce platform might have grown organically with your business so far. You might have been adding new functionality as you needed it for several years. It will be difficult to place an accurate figure on the time and money you have already spent.
The idea of changing it all could seem overwhelming and some businesses might take as long as 18 months to launch a new ecommerce site. However, there’s a better way.
With SaaS solutions like Cloudfy your site can be ready to go in weeks, rather than months, even if it’s the first time you have sold online. With so many specially designed B2B features pre-built and ready to go, you have market leading solutions at your fingertips. With an easy-to-use dashboard your team won’t need expert knowledge to start harnessing the power of the latest technology.
Whether your business is in manufacturing, wholesale or distribution, you can control and improve functionality such as:
- responsive design for all devices
- personalized buying experiences
- self-service
- quick-buy and repeat purchases
- predictive search
- filtering for searches and products.
Concern 4: We don’t have the skills to make the right choice
When choosing a new ecommerce platform, the important thing is to understand how it will contribute to your business growth plans.
Once you have identified your objectives you can choose a partner with a proven track record, like Cloudfy, to deliver the technical solution that will allow you to achieve your goals and continue to grow.
If you have specific requirements for customization then look for a solution with a powerful and flexible application programing interface (API).
Integration with your other enterprise (ERP) systems, customer relationship management (CRM), product information management and logistics can add value for your customers and achieve a complete end-to-end solution. You will improve customer service and have more control of your overall performance.
Modernizing your buyers’ B2B experience
While ecommerce might have been seen as an ‘add-on’ for many traditional B2B companies, putting customers at the heart of the B2B buying experience is becoming recognized as a key strategic decision.
By improving the core areas of your operations and processes to deliver exceptional customer experiences you will increase sales and transform your business to align it with your greatest opportunities for growth and success.
You will be able to prioritize areas that might previously have been under-developed such as payment processes, catalog management, search engine optimization (SEO) or easy shipping arrangements. You can build a reputation for customer service and enhance your brand.
Find out how Cloudfy can help to modernize your B2B business. Book a free Cloudfy demonstration today.
