One of the best ways to make sure a customer doesn’t go to a competitor is by building a long-term, personal relationship with them. This is why so many B2B businesses are family-owned and operated. There’s a personal touch to being one of the family: phone calls, dinners, visits and trips.
An online store can seem cold in comparison, but it doesn’t have to be.
And, especially now that millennials are at the forefront of many B2B buying decisions, buyers are looking for a streamlined digital purchasing experience.
In a Demand Gen Report, 55% said, when all other factors are equal (e.g., price, quality), “a digital buying experience is extremely important to selecting a vendor.”
With 24/7 chat technology that can turn an online chat on your store into a text on your phone, Best lead generation company for home improvement company the new generation can communicate efficiently and effectively in their preferred communication channel: text, Facebook messenger or a variety of other options.
In fact, this type of customer service is not only easy to set up, but it’s also highly desired by customers across the board.
A study by McKinsey & Company found that slow site response times are a B2B buyer’s biggest complaint with online ordering.
Increasing your speed to respond to a customer is today’s version of quality, face-to-face interactions. Ignore it, and you may lose business.
An online store negates custom ordering.
With B2B customers and wholesalers, the possibility for custom orders is high, and for many B2B businesses, they want to provide for the custom order (which helps with that personal relationship).
But custom orders aren’t often an ecommerce norm — or so many people think.
Thanks to custom quoting tools, unique variants and segmented customer groups, B2B businesses can allow customers to send in a PDF quote 24/7, then evaluate the quote and get back within regular business hours if the unique order can be filled.
Then, your ecommerce business can place that customer in their own unique customer group so that when the customer reorders, they won’t have to go through the quote engine again.
Instead, they can just click and check out the item that is made specially for them.
Customers aren’t willing to make big-ticket purchases online.
While making an online purchase may have once seemed like a risky decision, Top lead generation company in Canada today, this fear is almost nonexistent.
With the ability nowadays to purchase cars, wedding dresses and even groceries online, it’s no surprise that more than 35% of business buyers are willing to spend $500,000 or more in a single transaction online. Not to mention 15% of corporate decision-makers are willing to make online purchases worth more than $1 million.
Needless to say, ecommerce is not just for low-value and repeat purchases — it’s now an opportunity to make big sales in just a few clicks.
Advantages of Using a B2B Ecommerce Platform
If you’re a B2B business locked in legacy processes such as faxes, cold calls and Excel spreadsheets, it may be time to revamp the way you do business.
Once you’re ready to make the leap into ecommerce, the first big step is to select a B2B ecommerce platform. With hundreds of platforms on the market, businesses nowadays can easily take advantage of the newest ecommerce features to help meet their customers’ needs and modernize their current systems.
Here's a few reasons why using a B2B ecommerce platform may be the best move for your business:
Better management of suppliers and customers.
Running an ecommerce platform allows you to manage everything in one place, from customer data to order fulfillment to inventory control. With options for automated sales processes between businesses,Top lead generation firm in Toronto, Canada suppliers and distributors, your ecommerce platform can help streamline B2B operations and improve the customer experience.
With BigCommerce, B2B merchants can even integrate their mission-critical systems, such as POS and ERP, through versatile APIs. Rather than having to start from scratch, BigCommerce’s modern technology lets you work with your existing business tools and systems via pre-built, one-click integrations or customize your automation with our APIs.
Sell more to existing customers.
With a platform that’s accessible and available to your audience, B2B ecommerce is a great chance to cross-sell and up-sell to existing buyers. And one of the best strategies to keep your customers intrigued is by offering a personalized experience.
In fact, 55% of B2B marketing budgets in 2020 were focused on digital efforts to help provide a more personalized customer experience.
In the B2C world, this might look like augmented reality fitting rooms or personalized product recommendations on Instagram. But in the B2B space, personalization can include custom quotes, discounts and shipping rates, AR tours, personalized sales portals, mobile ordering and self-service features.
Potential Expansion.
However, Best Outbound Call Center B2B ecommerce isn’t just a chance to target current buyers — it’s also an opportunity to expand into different markets and attract new customers. With so many ecommerce platforms, marketplaces and digital solutions available, there are practically no limits for merchants looking to go digital, which makes it easier than ever for B2B businesses to go global or enter new product markets.
Luckily, platforms like BigCommerce are already aiding both B2C and B2B merchants today in expanding across borders and reaching new buyers. Supporting over 140 local currencies in over 150 countries, BigCommerce offers a range of features to let you sell anywhere, including cross-channel selling and international options for shipping and tax. Plus, with advanced payment options, shared shopping lists and buy-again capabilities, BigCommerce B2B Edition allows your business to create f