Best practices and What to look for, while selecting the B2B e-commerce platform for your growing business.
Shifting trends from B2C to B2B
Business to Business Electronic Commerce; implicating one business selling to another business via Web is genuinely global.
Yes, to you maybe B2C has triumphed more with e-commerce, it has an appearance everywhere, and nearly half of them are millennials.
You will be shocked if we tell you that the B2B e-commerce industry is said to be four times higher than the B2C market.
In not more than just a couple of years it will mature into a market that will be worth $1 Trillion, as per the US Department of Commerce, with more than 15% of all B2B sales within the United States.
Your B2B e-commerce startup choices must be one that can accommodate order requirements, website interface, client experience, payment integrations and also contribute to sound management when the business is growing.
To help you, this article covers what to look for and best practices for selecting the B2B e-commerce platform for your growing business in 2018:
1. Know What You Need, but also What You Don’t Know and Need in E-commerce
• Although you are on a b2b platform, you should be knowledgeable enough about the b2c services and features too; it will allow you to differentiate and filter out a better platform for your business, and use it optimally.
• Learn about what OOTB (out of the Box) is, Out of the Box Business Tool Capabilities, and Out of the Box Customer Experience Capabilities. Get to know how to promote and merchandise better. You will gradually come to get a hand on experience on the last ones as you continue working you understand more and more.
• Use cases instead of RFPs. Most importantly have a basic framework for what you will be needing. It provides clarity inside of your organization.
2. Know your E-Commerce Platform
Is the platform best for B2B e-commerce? A Good enough platform will only be good enough for just the time being, you may be missing the core services that can make your business a top game, you must know the difference between the B2B and B2C platforms.
B2B businesses have certain requirements while making a deal. Your platform has to meet those particular needs.
Keep the following tick list in mind while looking for a suitable platform:
• Is the platform customizable enough?
Check out their-
- Responsive Design
- Self-Service Flexibility
- Payment alternatives
- Customer Specific Pricing
• How flexible when it comes to Integration?
The platform must have the right ERP and CRM integrations. Also must be able to integrate any existing software into your new platform.
To realize the full potential and efficiency of e-commerce, now most B2B platforms offer either easy or even out-of-the-box integration via a plugin.
• Cloud Technology Practice
See if the platform is Hosted, on-premise or cloud-based. Utilizing cloud tech is a no-brainer, Companies now run 80 percent of workloads in the cloud, with its percentage continually increasing.
According to a survey, although many people already use the cloud on public & private networks, the most significant growth in adoption this year has been companies shifting to hybrid clouds. Furthermore, it continues to improve and will become an even critical factor for B2B e-commerce trends.
• Does the platform provide the best user experience for your customers?
Must have the right CMS, browsing compatibility, response time, PCI Security, and transparency with no hidden costs and such.
While maintaining a Mobile-Friendly Commerce with consistent performance for optimal user experience.
Moreover, look out for the Platform’s throughput, how much data load it can take, and its optimization limit.
Product catalogue, shopping cart, payment including various taxations and order fulfilment, a variety of secure payment capabilities, are the primary building blocks to execute e-Commerce transactions keep in check the B2B e-commerce 3rd Party logistics Partners & Delivery Options too.
3. Here are the fastest-growing e-commerce platforms of 2018 that you can start your research with:
- Magento
- ShopifyPlus
- NetSuite
- Flexfire LED.
- Assurant
- IBM
- WooCommerce
With the accessibility of mature technology and the rise of B2B, people’s expectations have bounded B2B companies to come out of their comfort zone.
Nevertheless, B2B e-commerce is an investment in your work. Your platform should help you attain your business strategy in both the short-term & long term.