This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
10 Tips to Choose the Right B2B E-commerce Platform
This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
B2B e-commerce has created a revolution in the retail industry. According to the US Department of Commerce, B2B e-commerce industry has grown four times faster than the current B2C businesses. It is undeniable that with the users’ preference for online shopping B2B e-commerce platforms are rapidly becoming the most sought-after choice for businesses planning to go online. The annual growth rate of a B2B (19%) is comparatively higher than a B2C business (17%). It has also been predicted that the B2B will be swiping the global sales market, off its feet by 2020 with over $6.7 trillion sales.
With constantly increasing sales figures, the B2B ventures are no more dependent on their brick stores and are switching to the virtual world of e-commerce. There are a few other reasons listed below, that will drive your interest in B2B e-commerce platforms for your business.
Why is an e-commerce platform essential for your B2B business?
The most important step to take your B2B venture online is to finalize the right e-commerce solution for your business. This is one of the most crucial decisions. An ideal e-commerce platform can provide the right solution that can shape the future of your business.
Analyze the strength, weakness and business opportunity of your venture. Then search for a technology partner that understands the ins and outs of your business and offers solutions that help in business growth and development. The right B2B e-commerce platform provides an accurate solution for your business.
Keeping these things in mind, there are 10 tips for you to find a perfect e-commerce platform that provides an ideal solution for your B2B business.
Cutting Edge Technology – The never-ending race!
In the era where technology updates release faster than your favorite director’s movie, keeping a business technically updated is not a piece of cake. The vision here is to pick a technology that is future ready and easy to update. Many successful B2B e-commerce platforms use technologies like MEAN Stack for building the online stores for the business to business model. Such stores are not only reliable but also easy to upgrade. These technologies are also used to develop B2C online businesses and this experience has made it a well-tested choice for enhanced B2B versions.
Mobile – The Future of E-commerce!
There is no denying that mobile is the future of e-commerce industry. The ease of scrolling through online products without opening our hefty PC is the new trend we are getting addicted to. When it comes to the online store, having a mobile ready website is compulsory. You may lose customers if they don’t find your online store well-suited to their mobile device.
Responsive Design – A User-Friendly Experience!
Customers play a major role in deciding the fate of any online business. The more traffic you get the more conversion rate you have. The most important factor that attracts traffic is responsive designs and user-friendly website. Customers look for a site that is responsive enough to fit all the screens competently. Check out if your B2B ecommerce platform offers this feature ensuring better traffic and client conversion.
Pricing as per Geographical Location
In order to capture the maximum sales prospect, your e-commerce store must have multiple payment channels. If you are ready to offer personalized pricing or pricing based on IP addresses, your business can have exceptional profits. Pricing override gives flexibility to the customers to use their native currency for shopping. It is a mandatory feature for a B2B platform that provides solutions for global business.
Multilingual Platform – The First Step to Globalization
If you wish to bestow your business with global exposure, a multilingual site is the most basic yet significant step you can take. Globalizing your business not only fetches more revenue but also gives your brand a new market to explore. A comprehensive B2B e-commerce platform will always offer solutions to target global audiences and branch out your business in different countries and continents.
Expanding Business - Marketplaces and Multi-Location Stores
Setting up multiple location stores and marketplaces are necessary for a successful B2B model. The right e-commerce platform will always have an inbuilt feature that gives the flexibility to extend the store functionality and allows to create a multi-seller marketplace. It even allows you to create multi-storefronts where you can offer special promotions based on your targeted audience segments.
Customization – Because Businesses will Grow with Time
Every business has different needs, structure and customizations requirements. The right solution gives you the freedom to tweak the frontend and the backend according to your requirement and business scalability. The architecture of a perfect e-commerce platform is such that it can support your business growth by having a scalable setup. This gives you the liberty to extend your business or even minimize it, as per the market scenario. You must also have the flexibility to access the front and backend on any device, anywhere you want.
Personalization – The Key to Customer Satisfaction!
Personalization is to offer the customer’s exact demand for better conversions. With the B2C business model, the customers had already witnessed personalization. They now expect more from the B2B model. The right B2B e-commerce platform provides solutions that have features like customer categorization and industry segmentation that helps in sending personalized offers to customers and taking your business a notch higher.
Product Management – An Effort to Ease Categorization and Search
76% of B2B customers choose a website on the basis of navigation and search flow. The right platform will empower you with product categorization of up to 4 levels. This not only introduces smooth search in the system but also provides ease in management and product categorization. Availability of multiple filters can help customers narrow down their requirements to micro level for better results. If a B2B e-commerce platform offers a reliable solution with this feature, consider it an upright platform.
Promotions and Marketing – The Crux of Online Business
Promotions and marketing have always been game changers in the online industry. It is crucial how customers perceive your product. According to a survey, about 85% of brand success depends on marketing. So settle for an online platform that includes product promotion and marketing solution. The platform should provide solutions for implementing discount coupons, promo codes, free shipping and other schemes to pump up the product sale. Your B2B e-commerce platform should also be SEO friendly and offer easy and quick social media integration so that you can avail its benefit without spending much time on the unobvious things.
Conclusion
The right e-commerce platform will offer solutions with these features to make your online experience worthy. StoreHippo is one such platform which offers a comprehensive list of B2B features that will help in rolling out and doing business effortlessly. But just to remind you, every business has its ups and downs. The vision here is to make your business robust enough so that it is not affected by small inconveniences. So, give your business a solid base through the right B2B e-commerce platform and witness the unstoppable growth of your online empire.