B2B eCommerce portal

Hi, I’m Anton Pachkine and I have been helping merchants to grow sales online since 2003. We’re going to cover a lot in this article and if you get lost at any point, don’t hesitate to book a time in our calendar to chat with a member of our team. We’ll unpack everything you need to know for you to take away and implement in your business.

The challenges of setting up an advanced B2B eCommerce portal

Perhaps one of the greatest obstacles of acquiring a powerful B2B eCommerce portal is the complexity behind the setup. This is more complicated than B2C eCommerce stores because catalogs are large, products need more details and different customer groups require different prices, payment methods, and discounts. Most B2B eCommerce systems that offer a fully functional portal cost an arm and a leg.

In today’s digital age, successful B2B eCommerce businesses are able to capture leads and generate more sales through modern yet effective conversion tactics. These include going beyond offering the simple yet outdated “contact us” button at the bottom of each catalog by placing a special lead magnet instead.

With the global B2B eCommerce market size predicted to exceed $20 trillion by 2027, it’s becoming more important than ever to adopt a system that allows you to scale up and stay ahead of the competition.

Undeniably, it’s becoming more challenging for small to medium-sized businesses to remain competitive with their current websites but many of the obstacles they’re facing can be overcome with our B2B eCommerce Signature System.

The dangers of not having an advanced B2B eCommerce portal

The bar has been raised in terms of customer expectations. Customers naturally gravitate to B2B eCommerce businesses that provide them an outstanding experience, where they can have easy access to information as well as stellar customer support.

Failing to fulfill these requirements creates friction between customers and the business, pushing them away from the company towards competitors. And combining this with an inability to convert leads into paying buyers creates a website that cannot and will not help you grow.

The advantages of having a versatile and advanced online portal

As many businesses will know, online portals that are rigid and limited in their features make it incredibly challenging to achieve growth. Operating with one that is sophisticated yet flexible will overcome these limitations and put your business at the top of your industry.

Reduce errors by automating processes

Manual data entry by staff inevitably leads to errors. Integrating your online portal with ERP, PIM and EDI will exclude these errors as well as reducing the workload of your staff, and minimize the order fulfillment time.

Increase sales by optimizing the mobile experience

Most websites are now getting up to 80% of traffic from mobile devices. Optimizing your online portal for mobiles will maximize conversion rate and sales.

Improve customer retention by setting up a customer self-service area

Customers who have to go through the arduous process of contacting members of staff for every query create unnecessary friction. This includes customer inquiries after working hours. Instead, you can automate this process by giving them the freedom to track their order, check their order history, apply for a credit line and check their available credit line balance directly on your website. This frees up more time for your staff to focus elsewhere in your business and improves customer retention.

Make every product more accessible for your customers

Implementing an advanced product search and product finder will allow your customers to discover what they’re looking for instantly, simplify the whole process and improve the conversion.

Increase conversions through detailed product information

More than 94% of buyers do research online before purchasing a product. Providing crucial product information will increase the likelihood of buyers using your catalog and keep ordering from you. Include detailed photos; demo, installation, and maintenance videos; detailed specifications; schematics; compatibility and certification sheets; downloadable 3D models and drawings.

Provide alternative product lists to generate additional revenue

Positioning product alternatives is a simple yet easy method of generating more revenue. For example, they may not be willing to pay the full price of a branded product but would happily pay for a cheaper OEM alternative.

Automate Request for quotation (RFQs)

Your B2B online portal can take care of all quote requests 24/7/365, which will enable your sales team to focus on reaching out to customers and growing your business.

Acquire customer loyalty through enhanced security

The more simple and secure the ordering process is, the more customers you’ll keep. this will instill trust in your customers and remove the barriers during the ordering process.

Manage admin tasks with ease

Gain complete control of customer orders, categories, products, and promotions with an easy-to-use admin area.

Allow customers to contact you through multiple communications channels

An unattended customer query often leads to a lost sale and ever a lost customer. Having a “Questions” button on every product page that leads to an inquiry form gives the customer an opportunity to easily submit a query. And having a centralized system to effectively manage those queries will ensure a fast and successful resolution of each.

Decrease bounce rate and boost SEO with the super-fast page load speed

Having pages that can load in two seconds or less will maintain engagement and lower your bounce rate. Similarly, Google also favors fast-loading pages, rewarding these websites with a stronger ranking on their search results.

Now, I know there’s a lot of information to take in here…

So if you’re unsure or confused about anything that’s been said up to this point, then don’t hesitate to book a call in our calendar to speak to a member of our staff.

On the call, you can ask us any questions about setting up a successful B2B portal for your business.

[ Click here to Book Your free B2B eCommerce Growth Session ]

B2B eCommerce trends

64% of customers are more concerned about getting a positive customer experience than worrying about the price of the products (Magneto, 2018)
Poor customer service leads to a loss of $62 billion annually for U.S companies (Magneto, 2018)
86% of B2B CMOs believe that the customer experience will be more crucial in the coming years (Accenture, 2019)
77% of B2B buyers believe that making online purchases are overly complicated and time-consuming (Gartner, 2019 )

Looking ahead

Based on current trends, it’s clear that one of the most important determinants of success for B2B eCommerce businesses is based on the customer experience. Those who choose to skimp over this area by not optimizing important elements on their website will be doomed to mediocrity or even worse, go out of business altogether. The B2B eCommerce landscape is becoming fiercely more competitive by the day, making the attainment of a powerful online portal mandatory for those wishing to compete. But obtaining one that is both advanced and cost-effective is challenging, which is why we’ve created our B2B eCommerce Signature System.

With this system, you will have all of the above benefits and more without having to spend a fortune. From start to finish, the system is created for the modern landscape and to give you total control of your B2B eCommerce setup. You’ll have important elements of your business website optimized to enhance the buyers’ experience and maximize sales.