Learn how technology can provide a competitive advantage through changes to your online site, data management, and integration between your online site and back-office systems. Read on to learn if B2B eCommerce is something your organization should be utilizing.
For manufacturers and distributors, business can often be a very traditional affair, where clients call in or meet with the sales team to ask questions or place an order. But in our increasingly digital world, is that traditional take on commerce enough?
Forrester Research recently reported that total business-to-business eCommerce sales in the US alone were expected to hit $780 million in 2015. By 2020, that annual amount is expected to reach $1.132 trillion.
If your company is still relying on traditional sales methods, it’s time to join the world of B2B eCommerce.
Simply put, eCommerce can help grow your business. Consumer Executive Board (CEB) estimates that buyers are 57% of the way through the buying process before they have their first direct contact with a seller. Your potential customers are already looking for you, so you need to give them something to find.
Providing customers with the ability to purchase products and services via your website creates a convenient sales channel for your customers and encourages ongoing customer interaction. Additional conversions that are unrelated to sales, such as submitting forms, sharing content, and commenting on posts, are also incredibly important to plan for and track. B2B companies that are not taking advantage of eCommerce are going to leave dollars on the table.
Think of the calls that your customer service center gets most often. Regardless of your industry or offering, many of those questions are probably along the lines of:
If your eCommerce site is capable of answering those three questions for your customers, you are off to a great start.
Beyond those basic services, your site should operate as much like a B2C eCommerce site as possible. The consumers who spend their evenings shopping B2C sites are the same ones who will frequent your B2B site at the office. Why shouldn’t they have the same experience across the board?
By providing intuitive navigation, rich content and product information, effective search capabilities, and even mobile optimization, your customers will have an enjoyable, easy-to-user experience on your site.
Of course, a beautiful user experience would mean nothing if your eCommerce site could not communicate with your back-office system. This is where eCommerce and ERP integration is crucial.
Order management is a critical aspect of B2B brick-and-mortar operations, and that remains true online as well. Getting your back office and eCommerce site to communicate with each other will significantly improve sales interactions for your company.
Automating formerly manual sales functions not only frees up time for customer service, but it eliminates the possibility of human error throughout the process. The order management process becomes seamless, and data and order information is easily accessible.
Check out a B2B eCommerce and ERP integration in action in this Client Success Story.
Are you ready to join the B2B eCommerce space? Contact our team of experienced, certified developers to get started.
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