Running a successful B2B company comes with numerous challenges. From converting and retaining buyers to consistently improving product offerings—it demands hard work and dedication. But if you want to grow your B2B business in 2021, simply building great products and providing top-notch customer service alone won’t suffice. You must also leverage modern technology like a fast, responsive, and user-friendly B2B eCommerce software solution to build a powerful website.
According to Forrester, the U.S. B2B eCommerce market will be worth $1.8 trillion by 2023. And, it will account for 17% of the total B2B sales in the U.S. in 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic has further escalated the growth and adoption of eCommerce among B2B buyers. Today, more buyers are willing to conduct their research and make purchases online.
That has compelled many business owners to take the plunge and invest in B2B eCommerce software. Smart move considering companies investing in digital commerce will grow 30% faster than their competition by 2022. But building a B2B eCommerce platform isn’t just about designing a great website and app. You must use the right techniques to improve the customer experience and skyrocket conversions.
If you’re still contemplating whether searching for robust B2B eCommerce software solutions is worthwhile, we’ve got you covered. In the following sections, we’ll discuss the key benefits of using B2B eCommerce software for your business. And we will explore effective ways to make the most of your B2B eCommerce platform. Let’s get started.
Increase Conversion Rates and Order Values
Adapting to changing buyer preferences is one key way to help ensure the growth of your B2B business. That is because there is a demographic shift happening in the buyer position as tech-savvy millennials now comprise 59% of B2B buyers. Moreover, 33% of these millennials identify themselves as lead buyers for their companies.
Unlike Gen X buyers, millennials are true tech natives. Instead of reaching out to sales reps, they prefer using the web to find, research, and purchase products/services.
If you want to cater to the preferences of these buyers, you must use the right B2B eCommerce software. This will go a long way in improving conversion rates and help you acquire more paying clients.
It’s worth mentioning here that many B2B buyers tend to place bulk orders due to the nature of B2B business in general. Additionally, the average order value is also going to be higher than that of B2C eCommerce platforms. This makes it all the more crucial to optimize your B2B eCommerce presence.
How to Improve B2B eCommerce Conversion Rates
Considering the larger B2B order value, it’s natural for buyers to be skeptical before making an online purchase. Therefore, you need to harness the potential of B2B eCommerce software solutions to drive conversion on your website/app.
The first step is to find a reputed and experienced eCommerce solution provider, such as Zobrist. Having built award-winning eCommerce storefronts for leading brands, including JanSport, Mazda, 3M, etc., we specialize in designing powerful B2B eCommerce platforms.
We help you create a fast, secure, mobile-responsive, and high-converting eCommerce storefront to attract B2B buyers. Also, we provide you with useful tools for inventory management and order fulfillment. The best part is that your storefront will easily integrate with established eCommerce platforms, including HCL Commerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Adobe Commerce Cloud.
Our eCommerce solutions let you automate routine tasks, such as tracking orders and deliveries. Consequently, your sales reps have more time to forge long-term relationships with existing and prospective clients rather than being bogged down with tedious tasks.
Finding a reliable B2B eCommerce software provider is only the first step of optimizing conversion rates. Another critical element for user experience includes a dynamic electronic catalog that is capable of serving up millions of products with images, descriptions, schematics, warranty information, and other critical information that B2B buyers look for. Best of all, there is a powerful search engine behind the catalog that allows buyers to use plain English to find relevant products and recommendations. Buyers no longer have to memorize keywords, part numbers or SKUs. There is type-ahead, alias, and synonyms to help buyers discover products on their journey. It's like having Google for your product catalog.
Enhance and Personalize B2B Customer Experience
Customer experience plays a key role in shaping the future of B2B companies. This is because the B2B buying process is complex, involving multiple decision-makers and several steps. Also, these buyers are constantly hard-pressed for time. The only way to acquire such customers and win their loyalty is to provide them with an outstanding customer experience.
That’s where B2B eCommerce software steps into the picture. With a well-designed eCommerce platform, you can let users find, evaluate, and purchase products on their own. They no longer have to sit through lengthy sales pitches and reach out to your reps every time they have queries. Also, you can personalize the buying process based on a user’s preferences, purchase history, and online behavior.
How to Deliver Excellent B2B Customer Experience
If you’ve optimized your website for conversions, you’re already on the right track. The next step is to improve your website’s navigation and accessibility. Make sure you clearly outline the shipping, return, and cancellation policies. It’s also a good idea to create a consistent buying experience across various touchpoints, such as social media, search engines, email, etc.
Next, leverage the true power of eCommerce by showcasing personalized product recommendations. You could even change the layout of web pages based on a user’s past browsing history and make it easy for them to place repeat orders as well. Test different CTAs, landing page layouts, and other elements to find the best-performing ones.
Lastly, don’t forget to add a human touch to the customer experience. Reach out to customers after they place an order, and share effective tips on using your products. Likewise, congratulating them on a business milestone will position you as a company that values its clients. It’s a good idea to integrate the eCommerce portal with your CRM platform.
Better Understand Customers Using Data and Analytics
The collection of data and analytics are likely the biggest benefits of B2B eCommerce. Unlike conventional sales, B2B eCommerce software gives you access to useful data and insights on customer behavior. Apart from tracking conversions and sales, you can monitor how users are interacting with various landing pages and CTAs. Also, you can identify the top-performing products, as well as any gaps in customer experience.
How to Leverage Data and Analytics in B2B eCommerce
Analytics data is critical for any business so it's a good decision to incorporate Google Analytics, Coremetrics or Omniture with the launch of your B2B ecommerce site. But you can take a step further and overlay analytics onto each product thumbnail so you can have a visual map for your product catalog. Zobrist's Smart Merchandiser provides a clear visualization of important metrics and KPIs to monitor. Instead of simply measuring traffic and sales, you can get down to a granular level to track views, conversion rates, cart abandonment rates, sell-thru rates, and inventory.
Make the Most of B2B eCommerce Software
In 2021, you no longer have the time to wonder whether you need to invest in B2B eCommerce software. Instead, you must outline a robust strategy to build and launch your B2B eCommerce platform.
Using this eCommerce software, provide buyers with a personalized customer experience and optimize your website/app for conversions. Also, monitor relevant metrics to further improve your marketing strategy and selling tactics.
Ready to kickstart the digital transformation of your B2B business? Contact us to find the right B2B eCommerce solution for your needs.
