Many businesses sell to other businesses (B2B) on a small or large scale, but not all take advantage of the benefits or B2B ecommerce.
Your business might meet the needs of a very small and specific sector or sell in high volumes all around the world. Whatever your type of business, B2B ecommerce can improve your performance. Here are four key things we believe you should factor in to your business strategy.
- Competitiveness
Of course, your reputation and the quality of your products or services are important, but your B2B buyers will expect to find you online. If they don’t, they are likely to buy elsewhere.
Your buyers are busy people, so they will want you to make the buying process fast and efficient. They are unlikely to pick up the telephone or e-mail you find out if you have what they want.
Fast and relevant search results, online product descriptions, data sheets, quote options and easy checkout processes will be important to them. Although you will want to retain the flexibility to provide manual quotes and handle paper purchase orders and invoices when needed, you can improve your customer’s experience and your own efficiency with automation.
- Personalization
Your long-standing clients will certainly value the personal relationship that they have with you and your team and you won’t want to change this. However, modern B2B ecommerce solutions have sophisticated tools that allow you to reflect your in-depth knowledge of your customer’s needs and preferences in their online, self-service experience.
Both you and your registered customers can benefit from access to their previous buying histories when you integrate your ecommerce platform with your other business systems. You will be able to anticipate their next orders and contact them with timely reminders and offers. They will be able to make fast and efficient repeat orders or quickly create new orders from their list of favorites. You can also give them a personalized catalogue when the log in and an easy payment process with their prices and special offers already included
- Added value
With an integrated end-to-end process, you can give your customers a complete view from placing their order to delivery. If they need to send consignments to multiple locations, you can easily give them these options.
If they want to ask advice, they can call you directly from your website to speak with their own sales representative or your customer services team, who can see the same account information at the same time.
Queries can be quickly resolved and then your customer can continue to place their order online or hand it over to one of your team members. Your sales team can give them expert advice rather than spending time on administrative processes.
- Efficiency
The B2B market doesn’t stand still. If your competitors are improving their efficiency and profitability with integrated solutions from order to fulfillment, you risk falling behind without an ecommerce solution of your own.
In contrast, a strategic commitment to B2B ecommerce over time will not only give you an advantage, it will also improve your performance. Significant efficiency savings can be made when systems, processes and people work together within a strategic framework.
When you make it your long-term goal to evolve in line with your customers’ needs and expectations, you are planning for success. Choosing a Cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) B2B ecommerce solution like Cloudfy means you will always be up-to-date with the latest innovations. You won’t need to invest large amounts of capital in equipment, now or in the future.
Book a free demonstration of Cloudfy to discover how you can revolutionize your business.
