Why You Really Need a B2B e-Commerce Platform?
According to Forrester Research report (1), the B2B e-commerce industry is expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2023, and accounts for 17% of total B2B sales. Seizing such an opportunity has never been more timely. This blog post explores the evolving B2B buying behavior, some challenges B2B companies face and the reasons on why you really need to dive into the e-commerce world.
The shift in B2B customer behavior
The diversification of B2B buyers nowadays plays a big role in the evolution of customer behavior. With the integration of decision-making millennials into the mix, long-term relationships with business partners are deemed tenuous. Traditional business loyalty seems to disintegrate with the fast-paced innovative world taking over B2B workplaces. Today’s customers on the other hand expect to jump channels, research on mobile devices, interact with businesses across multiple touch points and do their purchases online.
Important Stats:
- 93% prefer online purchase to one of a sales representative (2).
- 56% of failed business deals due to poor customer service experiences (3).
With your best customers’ shifted buying habits, and your closest competitors lead in e-commerce; will your business remain steady?
Take the B2B e-commerce maturity test, and find out where you fit on the spectrum today!
The challenges B2B companies face
From complex sales channels to multiple product lines, every B2B company has its fair share of challenges.
The first pain point, a tough cookie to crack, is the integration of e-commerce into complex software systems preexisting within your company. Even with external platforms such as ERP and CRM, a meticulously calculated integration process is crucial to ensure efficient results. With a well-organized ecommerce platform, fitting your current systems flawlessly, high-end value becomes your business gain.
A second business pain point is the management of orders, especially high-volume ones. A well-developed e-commerce platform helps facilitate switching between orders, contracts, assets, accounts and other business units.
With the aforementioned shift in customer behavior, businesses of today require a 360 view over customers. Keeping up with market trends and integrating them into your business is another challenge that presents itself in the e-commerce world. With proper digital solutions, your business skips heaps of manual work alongside middlemen, reaching your B2B customer with a full overview on clients.
Ensuring a great distributor/customer service, aligned with their ever-changing needs and expectations, makes for an inevitably seamless customer experience as a result.
Ecommerce isn’t something to just try out for your business and then roll with it. It’s an investment in your future success that requires your time and attention before you take the first step.
– Derya Akcakaya, Program Director Emakina – Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Once these challenges are jotted down for you, and your business follows a well-organized solutions plan; no challenge remains standing in the way of your business making it further.
The Business Benefits of E-commerce
E-commerce sparks up a world of new opportunities when integrated into any business.
Apart from presenting a new platform for your customers to reach you at, it also easily introduces and engages new customers. These customers can now enjoy a maximized customer experience made easy with self-servicing portals that keep track of account, order, history and purchase information.
As for your business, e-commerce presence manages to increase:
- Efficiency by managing multiple accounts at the same time
- Scalability by allowing organizational growth and easier sales
- Sales by advantage of upsell and cross-sell opportunities
An e-commerce platform manages to decrease:
- Costs and expenses due to advantages listed above
- Scattered data by gathering various data systems into one platform that’s accessible at your convenience
Take the B2B maturity test, and find out how your organization can benefit from e-commerce!
We, at Emakina, are trusted partners in providing
commerce solutions for leading businesses in the region. As long time
SalesForce consulting partners, we’ve beyond supplied key decision makers with
the necessary tools and technological solutions to expand in their respective
markets.
Allow us to map out a future strategy design for you, ensuring an innovatively
full-proof business growth that your organization anticipates.
Reach out to our experts, they’ll gladly help.
(3).https://www.nextiva.com/blog/customer-service-statistics.html
