5 B2C features to give your B2B ecommerce platform a winning edge

The B2B and B2C ecommerce models have significant differences depending on the needs and demands of the target audience. However, the ultimate demand of all the customers is a simple online platform which makes the shopping experience easy. As the customers are used to the easy and user-friendly B2C ecommerce solutions, the same is expected by the buyers from a B2B ecommerce platform.

Around 80% of B2B customers compare the checkout process with the B2C platforms and expect it to be equally easy. The B2B platforms include more complexities as compared to the B2C platforms. B2B platforms have provided a chance to the business owners to progress as the trend of online shopping has been showing positive results.

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Thus, the boom of B2B e-commerce solutions has also been increasing day by day. A research done by Frost & Sullivan says that B2B e-commerce is expected to reach $ 12 trillion by the year 2020.

The number of B2B business owners stepping in the online world has been increasing. In order to convince the customers to come back for more, offering a seamless buying experience is a must. Thus B2B business owners should offer the capabilities provided by the B2C platforms for better business growth.

Here is a list of the 5 B2C features that have become essential for the B2B platforms:

Easy Search - Providing easy search and navigation features are essential as the B2B customers have diverse requirements. Once the customers find their desired products easily, they can spend more time on the site searching for various deals, offers, similar products etc. The B2B e-commerce platforms should provide easy search for products, product descriptions, exact keywords, features etc. In order to stay ahead of the competition, B2B wholesalers should find out ways such that the customers spend more time in exploring the site which can further result in good purchases. Providing strong search capabilities can reduce the time involved in search and navigation and can be helpful for the B2B business owners in engaging the customers.

Mobile readiness - M-commerce is the future of online shopping not just for B2C platforms but for B2B platforms too. One way to make the customers happy is by allowing them to shop at any time of the day using any device. Almost every one of us carries the mobile phones throughout the day. It won’t be wrong if we say mobile readiness of a site has become a necessity for the B2B e-commerce platforms. Thus one of the ways to gain a definite edge over the customers is by providing a mobile-ready platform which should never be missed by the business owners. Engaging the customers with the help of interactive site and convenience in shopping can definitely show better results.

Facility to provide personalized deals - In order to create a loyal customer base, it becomes essential to make the customers feel special. The first step to achieve this is by doing a proper analysis of the purchase history, order size etc. This plays a key role to filter out the frequent buyers. You can then send personalized deals and offers to those customers and encourage them to continue shopping with you. This can also help as the loyal customers would recommend the online site to other buyers and will ultimately help in better sales. The analysis of the customer records can be done with the help of a powerful dashboard which would further assist in increasing the sales volume. The B2B e-commerce solution should thus come up with unified notifications like emails, SMS, web notifications, mobile notifications for offering personalized deals to the customers in real time.

Simple sales process - Customers feel happy when they do not have to inquire from the sales and support team for making an order. This fact does not apply only to the B2C customers but the B2B customers also. The simple sales process can help in reducing the queries from the clients and result in better ROI as the customers can easily completing their orders. B2B e-commerce platforms should offer the easy ordering, tracking, multiple payment options, easy checkouts etc for a better user experience and more orders.

Full-fledged shipping support - E-commerce is incomplete without a full-fledged shipping solution. In order to deliver products to multiple customers, it is better to have integration with the best shipping companies. But getting integrated with each one of them individually is a time-consuming task and requires the involvement of the in-house resources for maintaining a track.

Shipping optimization is one factor which needs special care for ensuring the success of the online business. If the shipping services and shipping charges provided are not up to the mark, customers are likely to abandon the cart. Thus B2B e-commerce platform should offer integrated and automated shipping for making the shipment part cost effective and easy for the customers. The hassle-free shipping can thus be helpful in gaining the trust of the customers and converting them into loyal ones.

The way a B2B platform and a B2C platform functions are quite different but offering these listed B2C features can be helpful in engaging the customer. B2B retailer should thus make a wise decision before choosing an e-commerce platform to build his business online. The platform should have all the listed features and provide a blend of the B2C and B2B capabilities all together in an easy way. You can choose StoreHippo as your e-commerce platform which is designed exclusively to fulfill the diverse B2B and B2C requirements of retailers. It provides all the above-listed features and helps the B2B retailers earn a profit in their business.