B2B eCommerce solutions encompass the online – through an online sales portal – sale of products and services between companies. This is opposed to B2C (business to consumer), which describes the online business transacted between a business and individual customers.
B2B solutions like OrderCentral allow organizations to consolidate their operations and manage their operations in any way they see fit, while still providing robust e-commerce functionality. While entering the B2B eCommerce solution world may be overwhelming, it does not have to be difficult.
Historically, B2B businesses have been slow to adopt eCommerce. Just before the pandemic, an eMarker report found that only 9% of total B2B U.S. product sales occurred via an e-commerce website. With increasingly more B2B brands investing in new online sales channels, the eCommerce share of total B2B sales is growing: In fact, it’s predicted to reach 17% by 2023.
The Benefits of B2B eCommerce solutions
- Tap into a huge and growing market
- Reach more buyers
- Reach new markets
- Increase sales
- Enhance efficiency
1) Be part of a huge market
With the right web development, sales and marketing strategies, such as adding the best website pop-up to increase conversions, having an e-commerce website, etc. can help your business reach new heights, those previously unimaginable.
An effective B2B e-commerce platform will enable your organization to grow and scale easily to meet market demand and customer needs, by opening new sales channels and continuously reaching new market segments.
2) Increased number of audience and buyers
B2B e-commerce solutions not only make the sales process more efficient for the seller but also speed up the process for buyers. Today, 73% of millennials are involved in the B2B buying process.
41% say that self-service functionality is one of the top three ways B2B companies could make it easier for them to shop online. 50% of B2B buyers identified improved personalization as a key feature when searching for online suppliers to build relationships with, with consumers spending 48% more when their experience is personalized.
3) Wider market space
Selling online eliminates the challenge that time differences often pose in order processing. This means B2B e-commerce makes it easier than ever to serve a wider international market.
This also enables more resources and focus to be redirected to other business functions, such as sales or customer service. This can in turn improve profitability and customer satisfaction.
4) Increase sales
B2B e-commerce websites provide businesses with the ability to reach more consumers than ever before. In addition, they offer businesses a number of features and functions that make it easy to purchase products or services. With the right tools in place, a well-designed B2B e-commerce website can help increase sales significantly.
B2B features such as reviews and recommended or related products are now expected by B2B customers, and these functionalities provide an opportunity to increase the value of your orders too.
5) Enhance efficiency
Through an addition to enterprise resource planning and other back-end business systems, e-commerce provides marked efficiency for B2B organizations. Customers can order online at their convenience, customer service can focus on actual customer service functions rather than simply completing the takers of orders.
One of the important benefits of conducting business through B2B e-commerce channels is that operations are more transparent. Businesses can order stock online, and software is used to automate the shipping, tracking and auditing of goods or services.
With 32% of the U.S. B2B professionals claiming eCommerce to be the most effective sales channel- compared to 23% in favour of in-person channels, it’s no doubt that B2B e-commerce is making headway.
The benefits of eCommerce far outweigh the initial expenditure: access to new markets, increased conversions, improved customer satisfaction, centralized data and the list goes on.
B2B businesses need to take a customer-centric approach to reflect the experiences that buyers now have from sites like Amazon and eBay extending it beyond just an order entry portal. Although most B2B business owners are well aware of the necessity of digital transformation, the amount of merchants reaping the opportunities in the B2B eCommerce space is still limited.
