Although more B2B buying takes place online than ever before, the quality of the experience is constantly challenged by innovations in B2C ecommerce.
Sapio Research talked to 560 B2B buyers who work with manufacturers and wholesale distributors to find out what they look for in their B2B ecommerce purchasing journey.
The shift to online purchasing
The research shows that, on average, three quarters of your buyers are making purchases online. Although many buyers would like to purchase almost exclusively online very few do so because B2B merchants aren’t meeting their needs.
This offers you an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by delivering a high quality B2B ecommerce experience for your buyers. You can provide excellent content, round the clock availability, personalization and streamlined purchasing and delivery. You will be in the perfect position to capture the attention of your competitors’ customers too, if they are still struggling with telephone calls, emails and paper-based purchasing processes.
Cloudfy was designed from the outset for B2B ecommerce and offers leading-edge functionality and system integration options straight out of the box. Whether you are planning your first B2B ecommerce venture or you are ready to upgrade your ecommerce site to take advantage of the latest innovations, you could be ready to go in a matter of weeks rather than months or years with this software as a service (SaaS) solution.
Customer experience
One in four B2B buyers say they are looking for an easier and faster checkout. They want a simple repeat order process, fast deliveries and improved tracking. To work effectively they need a complete view of their purchasing process, from start to finish. They know it’s possible because all of this is offered as standard in the B2C world.
As a B2B merchant the challenge you face is to deliver the speed and scope of Amazon and the tailored experience of your favorite online boutique. Cloudfy has an easy-to-use dashboard so your brand can be clearly represented and your product details and prices can be easily updated and added. Because Cloudfy is designed for B2B, all of your product codes, variations, technical details and customer-specific requirements can be handled without a fuss.
Accuracy
While B2C online sales are often simple orders for a small number of products with few variations, the same can’t be said of B2B ecommerce. This is one reason why four out of ten B2B buyers say they have frequently experienced online order errors.
The most common problems are mistakes concerning product choices, data entry and pricing. These are often due to errors introduced during manual data entry.
By integrating your ecommerce platform with your other enterprise systems many of these issues will simply disappear. Your buyers add their own order details and preferences, including delivery requirements and they are automatically shared across all your systems. Everyone involved can see and track the same information at the same time.
Availability
Once you have launched your new ecommerce site it is available around the clock, ready to fit in with your buyers’ needs. They can place their orders at any time and from anywhere, because a Cloudfy site is fully responsive for mobile devices.
Metrics
Ecommerce analytics have come a long way, thanks to B2C sellers. You can also take advantage of these techniques to improve your decisions and your buyers’ experiences. You can use previous buying and search histories to offer personalized catalogues when your buyers log in, with easy reorder options and relevant promotions, offers and recommendations too. By understanding user journeys and conversion rates you can also improve your site and anticipate trends and preferences.
Cross-channel consistency
While your buyers might want to start most of their purchases online, they could still need the help of your sales or customer service teams along the way. When everyone is sharing the same real-time information it will be easy for your staff to guide buyers to the right products. Their purchase can then be completed on their behalf or they can return to your ecommerce site to continue with their self-service process.
Cloudfy is a Cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) solution so you don’t need to make a capital investment to launch an ecommerce platform that will not only meet but exceed your buyers’ expectations. You won’t have to worry about keeping up with new developments either because regular updates are delivered in the Cloud to keep you at the forefront of innovation.
Book a free demonstration to find out how Cloudfy can help you to meet your B2B buyers’ expectations.
