Is your organization struggling to create support for your B2B eCommerce project?
It’s not uncommon for businesses to have trouble seeing past the stigma of a complex, time-consuming project towards a powerful business solution.
Getting your entire organization on board is a tough challenge, and the experts at Magento and MarketingProfs have highlighted a number of common mistakes that can lead to resistance within your organization. Avoid these errors and you will have a much better chance to start your B2B eCommerce project with the entire team on board.
Mistake 1: Choosing the Wrong Deployment Model
There are a number of deployment models available to B2B organizations, including on-demand, hosted, and on-premise, and choosing the right platform for your business is a tough decision. One common mistake is to choose the platform that is fast, cheap, or easy to install without taking into consideration your company’s business needs.
Be sure that the deployment model you choose for your B2B eCommerce site aligns with business goals, brand objectives, and potential company growth. By making sure that the solution works not only with your current plan, but with future plans as well will ensure an effective eCommerce system for years to come.
Mistake 2: Not Integrating with Existing Systems
Maybe the solution you picked is not capable of an integration, or maybe members of your team don’t think an additional integration project is worth it. Whatever the reasoning behind it, not integrating your eCommerce solution with existing systems, such as your ERP, is a huge mistake.
As Magento and MarketingProfs say in their overview, “one of the keys to creating a great B2B eCommerce experience is ensuring that you build a seamless IT environment that improves company (and customer) efficiency.” The best way to ensure that efficiency is to work with your existing systems.
Data is king, and you need to be able to access it from your new eCommerce site, so do your organization a favor and integrate your site with existing systems.
Mistake 3: Ignoring the Importance of Scalability
As we mentioned when selecting a deployment model, future growth should play a big part in the decision process of your B2B site. Far too often, organizations build a site for the company they currently have, not the one they hope to have in the future.
Without incorporating the potential for growth into your decision-making process, you will be right back to the drawing board sooner than you would like. Instead, optimize your solution for growth at every stage to ensure that your site’s success is a triumph, not a problem.
Now that you know the mistakes to avoid, you can make these crucial decisions early in the process to help your team get on board with your B2B eCommerce implementation. And if you need help making those decisions, get in touch with our eCommerce team.
