The importance of B2B eCommerce

B2B buyers' habits and attitudes are changing fast. Supply chain disruption, post pandemic and Brexit, all mean that there is much more fluidity in B2B markets.

On the positive side there’s more opportunities to attract new customers.

On the downside it also means there's a greater risk that existing customers will switch. Being on top of your B2B eCommerce operation is therefore vital.

The best B2B eCommerce systems can deliver significant cost savings by automating ordering processes, reducing errors in ordering, and facilitating clients in self-service for re-orders, returns etc., and providing information on a variety of things like delivery dates and spend to date.

Revenue gains come from allowing customers 24/7 availability, encouraging big order values, automating the personalisation of marketing communications and by significantly freeing up your staff time to focus on nurturing high-margin customers.

INTUS by Iconography

We find that businesses wanting to sell to other businesses via eCommerce need to be approached with a different mindset than conventional B2C eCommerce projects. It's never a 'one size fits all', INTUS offers a service that's built to fit your needs.

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McKinsey

More than three quarters of buyers and sellers say they now prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions—a sentiment that has steadily intensified even after lockdowns have ended.

Just how big a turning point this is becomes evident when you learn from this same Mckinsey research that only 20% of buyers said they wanted a return to in-person sales. That is by any measure a massive digital transformation in the B2B channel.

The Problem

Siloed data

One of the key challenges in this scenario is that many businesses have [wrongly] become accustomed to working with siloed data, and there are serious problems arising from that. Sales CRM, customer service CRM, order management, product information and accounts are all typically separate and disconnected, even though the information they contain overlaps. Siloed data often means inaccurate, duplicated data, creating doubt and confusion as to where the accurate and latest version resides and resulting in lost opportunity.

With the right system in place, one that removes silos, it's possible to bring much more value to managing individual accounts.

The Solution

Connected systems

By breaking down the silos and putting product and other key information in one place you will get all departments singing from the same hymn sheet. Logins based on customer types means you can show clients the products they can purchase, and provide them with the content they need to sell products on. Customer service and salespeople can use one CRM, built into the orders system, and eCommerce orders are just part of the normal order processing and fulfilment workflows.

A connected system provides a single view of your customers’ behaviour, their buying history, returns, loyalty balance and personal data irrespective of their choice of channel for interacting with you.

B2B Case Studies

Bentley Designs

Bentley Designs were held back by the limitations of Magento, and desperately keen to encourage their B2B clients to buy online where they knew they could enhance the customer experience with better product presentation and reporting.

By tailoring our INTUS B2B platform to their needs we have enabled them to delight their customers with, for example, customised retailer branded catalogues, bulk container ordering and quick ordering shortcuts.

Farmacy

Another example is farm medicines disruptor Farmacy. By automating the process as much as possible through the website and maintaining low staffing costs, Farmacy promises to supply veterinary medicines, both prescription & non-prescription, at competitive prices.

Order management processes are all consolidated into a single location to allow for great ease of use within the company, and customer service has never been better!

Tanks Direct

In 2021 we have delivered for Tanks Direct, part of the international Kingspan Group, an enterprise level eCommerce site aimed at both B2C and B2B users. For all users, the site provides useful front end conversion tools such as a product configurator. Users can input specific dimensions and associated data and the site suggests suitable products to meet the requirement. Using a dedicated login B2B users get the benefit of trade specific pricing, promotions and products.

The Tanks Direct customer services team use the platform CRM for a variety of tasks including: managing credit limits, order processing, customer service notes and required actions.

Logged in users can download stock information, personalised PDF brochures and product images all from one central location. No need for a separate login or media bank, as everything is in one place.

Also supported by the system:

Sales conversations - creation, review and actioning of quotes for customers
Purchase orders - suppliers are also raised and tracked via the system
Maintaining a large and complex product catalogue
Simple status and reporting tools give clear information to users and management

Externally this busy website feeds useful information (sales, quotes, purchase orders, returns, margins) directly into the Kingspan corporate ERP system. Our work continues with Kingspan Group across two more of their commercial websites where migrating away from Magento 2 is a priority.

Choosing the right ecommerce plaform

For any business serious about a long term commitment to B2B eCommerce, having the support of a heavyweight technical eCommerce agency can mean the difference between stellar-success or stop-start failure. Picking and choosing the right platform and agency to support and supply you takes careful thought.

In this context open source and widely deployed eCommerce platforms, such as Magento or Shopify, can seem very attractive with the initial promise of scalability and customisation. But there’s a substantial body of evidence to suggest that once you look into it there’s rather more “buyer beware” caveats than is reasonable. See our critique and comparison.

If you’re interested in exploring how our B2B solution can transform your B2B account management contact the team here.

Custom B2B eCommerce

We understand how to structure eCommerce for trade customers. INTUS Trade provides the specific stock, lead time and product information they need and the pricing, promotion, ordering and delivery options necessary to ensure all our trade sites are a useful resource which supports customers and adds real value.

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Posted by Wayne Robbins
2nd November 2021