Choosing the most suitable B2B ecommerce solution to help your business keep up with the B2B ecommerce boom is very daunting for beginners.
To make things even more difficult, customers increasingly expect the best experience when transacting online. So it’s a juggling between internal needs and customer requirements.
There are innumerable solutions. To know which one to choose, you need to carefully weigh your needs and those of your customers, and then find a platform that will meet those needs.
This article describes the features that we think are essential when investing in a B2B-specific ecommerce solution.
Ability to manage different company accounts
B2B relationships are often complex and each customer can be very different, so the ability to personalize the user experience is essential. B2B accounts typically have multiple users, each with unique roles and buying rights. This is particularly the case with companies that have different sub-areas or business areas.
Internally, corporate account managers should be able to handle complicated corporate accounts. Externally, B2B customers may want to adapt the user interface of their system to their own internal structures and systems, e.g. B. by adding authorized users or creating your own purchasing rules.
Ability to create multiple stores, websites, and organizations
B2B companies that operate internationally are faced with challenges with, among other things, different languages, currencies and tax regulations. If you do business in multiple countries, you need a platform that can meet these challenges.
Look for features like the ability to build multiple websites in different languages, multiple price lists in foreign currencies, flexible tax rules, etc. Fortunately, many platforms have built-in features to cover the most common scenarios. For example, suppose you are building a platform from scratch instead of using a ready-made solution. In this case, you should be sure that you have enough additional capacity to scale up to overseas markets later.
User access control
Every B2B customer is different. For each, you may be dealing with different people, each with different roles and responsibilities. This presents challenges as you need to grant different levels of access depending on the information each person needs to see.
Typically, an administrator sets up permissions for each user who needs access to the platform. In general, buyers are the most common customer users who need access. Even then, different levels of authorization may be required depending on the seniority of these buyers. For example, the senior buyer might have access to detailed financial information, such as orders and invoices, but a junior buyer likely not. Therefore, the platform you choose must be able to offer custom access levels.
Integrated content management system (CMS)
One of the most basic requirements of B2B customers when buying online is easy access to relevant detailed product information.
In contrast to B2C customers who buy spontaneously because of clever branding, B2B buyers are much more adept; They carefully review all purchases and expect to have access to sufficient information to be sure that the product they are purchasing meets their needs.
In addition to brochures, you may need to provide detailed product specification sheets, certifications, video clips – anything that enables your customers to make the most informed decisions from their computer.
Making sure your platform has robust CMS functionality streamlines the process of adding or updating product-related content.
Catalogs personalized for different customers
Being able to offer customized catalogs is one of the functions most welcomed by B2B customers. With such a skill, you can focus on their needs without diluting the information you provide them with irrelevant products. Catalogs can be personalized for every level of your customer’s hierarchy, from companies to individuals.
Ability to create multiple price lists
B2B pricing is often very complicated due to factors like discounts, order size, credit terms, etc. Dynamic pricing with specific business rules can further complicate matters.
Therefore, when choosing a B2B e-commerce platform, look for one that can create custom price lists and synchronize them with your ERP system.
Allow customers to create multiple shopping lists
Just as B2C customers can create wish lists in their Amazon accounts, B2B customers would like to store multiple shopping lists for their various projects or business areas. This allows them to control their projects and make the purchases quickly when needed.
Optimized interactions between you and your customers
Despite tremendous advances in technology and software, it is still difficult to automate some activities like sales. However, features are available in many B2B ecommerce platform solutions that can simplify and streamline specific interactions with customers, and sales negotiations are one of them. This can be achieved, for example, by streamlining the ordering process through the electronic transmission of sales inquiries, orders and requests for quotations (RFQs). Your customers can shop and purchase directly from your platform, and your sales reps can handle all customer inquiries through the same platform.
Flexible workflow
Well-structured work processes are indispensable in every company. Without it, confusion arises, systems break down, and customers become angry. It’s all right to have good workflows, however, but the burning question is, will they still be adequate as your business expands?
Take this into account when choosing a B2B eCommerce solution and note that the needs of your customers (and thus their demands) can also change. Make sure the solution you choose can create and manage unlimited custom workflows.
Data collection and reporting
The great thing about the massive shift to online transactions that we are currently seeing means that data collection is easier – and more important – than ever. A good B2B ecommerce solution collects analytical data on so many metrics related to your customers and how you do business. For example, you can track KPIs, see how various marketing tactics affect them, and much more.
Hence, you should look for a platform that will allow you (a) to collect and analyze such data and (b) to produce reports that are useful to you. This way, for example, you can better understand how your customer is buying and thus create targeted marketing campaigns.
Finally think about the future
The functions of your B2B e-commerce platform ultimately depend on your current requirements. However, it is advisable to think ahead and decide what your business will look like in the future. In this way you can ensure that your chosen platform can be expanded accordingly. For example, you may not need a particular feature right now, but you may need it in the future. So make sure it can be added in due course without too much trouble.
