Insights and inspiration to grow your eCommerce sales

The Power of an Integrated B2B eCommerce Platform

In the competitive world of wholesale B2B, inefficiencies in ordering and the supply chain can lead to costly delays, missed opportunities, and frustrated customers. Integration with a B2B eCommerce platform is a game-changer, allowing you to eliminate bottlenecks, save time and provide better customer experiences.

An integrated B2B eCommerce platform ensures that information flows seamlessly across your business providing better visibility, enabling more informed decision-making.

A large part of this growth is due to eCommerce website ‘Punch Out’ capabilities which allows you to integrate your eCommerce webstore with your customers eProcurement platforms.

This allows your buyer to shop on your ecommerce webstore from their eProcurement platform, with purchase order and invoice data automatically exchanged between you and customer.  Traditionally eProcurement was restricted to large organisations with big budgets, due to the technology required and the costs involved. However, Technology has now evolved to the point where these sophisticated systems are available to smaller companies at affordable prices. Source 2023 U.S. B2B Ecommerce Market Report

The future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in B2B e-commerce is promising and likely to bring significant advancements and benefits. Here are some key trends and potential developments to watch out for in this space:

• Customer Insights
• Personalization
• Predictive Analytics:
• Chatbots and Virtual Assistants
• Voice Commerce
• Enhanced Search and Filtering
• Supply Chain Optimization
• Price Optimization
• Enhanced Content Creation

An advanced B2B ecommerce platform will give you everything you need to streamline and accelerate your business. Read more about the top 4 key benefits to your business.

1. B2B ecommerce platforms help increase efficiency and reduced costs.
2. B2B ecommerce platforms help you gain new customers and increase sales.
3.  B2B ecommerce platforms improve customer experience which helps improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
4. B2B Platforms help provide scalability to accommodate growing businesses.

Are you a medium to large business owner that sells to other businesses and are looking for a new B2B e-commerce platform?

If so, it's important to understand that B2B e-commerce demands much more than B2C platforms can provide.

We see so many B2B companies getting sold generic and B2C platforms because they have selected a web company that does not understand the complex nature of the needs of B2B businesses. The outcome most usually ends in failed projects or at best meeting basic customer needs. The main reason is that there are very few web companies specialising in B2B platforms.

B2B e-commerce requires more advanced features than B2C because of the complex nature of a business-to-business relationship and the demands that imposes on technology.

In this blog post we'll explore why B2B requires a different set of features to meet customer demand and excell in a competitive market. We will also discuss the importance of extensibility in the B2B e-commerce platforms and how these platforms can help increase efficiency and streamline processes.

Part 3 - Categories of eCommerce Platform

Once you have your website goals and have taken to heart the common mistakes that are made, you can research platforms to find one that will let you achieve your goals.

Because eCommerce websites have different objectives, product ranges, types of customer and address different markets, there are many different platforms to choose from.

• They can be broadly classified into the groupings below.
• Entry-Level eCommerce Platforms
• Mid-Level eCommerce Platforms
• Large eCommerce Platforms

If you haven’t already read part 1 ‘Business Goals and Strategy’ Click Here.

Part 2 Finding the Right Platform

Once you have identified your important business goals and know your customers well, both current and future, your website goals will jump out at you. In turn, your website goals will drive your platform choice.

For example, if attracting more customers very important then the platform will need a flexible Content Management System to allow for design and marketing content.

Likewise if the focus is on providing your existing customers with an powerful online ordering and self-service portal, you will need an eCommerce platform provides the B2B functionality and features out-of-the-box.

If you haven’t already read part 1 ‘Business Goals and Strategy’ Click Here.

Part 1 - Business Goals and Strategy

Choosing a new B2B/B2C eCommerce platform is a major decision. As with much technology today it is all too easy to make the wrong choice so we have written this guide to help you understand and choose the best platform for your business needs.

We are well and truly in the digital age as technology advances it is finding automated solutions for the majority of business processes. Companies use software to cover accounting requirements, payroll, human resources and many more business functions. E-commerce websites are increasingly replacing brick and mortar shops and users are increasingly turning to the web to find information. The way business is being conducted has transformed and the centralised platform that is becoming the facilitator for these business activities and transactions is the World Wide Web. Each organisation’s website is now the face of the company, the client facing element and centralised touch point for core business activities.

How many times have you left a website without buying anything or disinterested because the process was too difficult or confusing, there were too many steps to get through, you were asked for irrelevant information or you couldn’t change something with your order etc? You click your mouse in a few places, go around in circles. Click your mouse a bit harder in some boxes and ev ...