What is the best B2B eCommerce Platform

Aug 18, 2022

Are you able to provide services that aid businesses in their growth, hiring and managing teams? Do you provide products for companies? Are you able to sell wholesale items?

If you're in the B2B industry (or would like to become one ), you can benefit by a B2B eCommerce service. It can make life simpler for your customers and your employees and help you expand faster and more efficiently.

In this article, we'll look at the ways in which an eCommerce store will benefit the B2B industry , as and how you can select the best eCommerce platform.

The motivation behind creating an B2B eCommerce store

The majority of online stores you've seen include B2C (Business to Consumer) that offer your pet's food, your child's birthday gifts, or even the food you prefer to eat. Beware of believing that eCommerce stores are only made for companies that sell to customers. It is possible to use them as a powerful tool to B2B companies as well.

An analysis of recent data revealed the following: 41 % of customers who were B2B said that the self-service capability would improve the process of making business transactions on the web. This is a huge amount! The capability of clients to control their accounts and also complete associated tasks is one of the highlights of the online capabilities.

For example, instead of calling to ask for a quote, the Sourcing Manager could submit a request on the web and receive immediate quotes regardless of the time of the day. The Sourcing Manager could also make an order, or join a program that will have your products supplied at a regular basis. Also, if you supply landscaping services for retail shops, a owner of the store could log into their account and change the frequency of service and check for the following day to see when you'll be able to drop by.

B2B eCommerce stores can also contribute to automation of processes. They may take some of the stress on customer service reps as well as members of sales teams through the different self-service functions mentioned previously. They are able to transfer data across various distribution channels, and guarantee accuracy and up-to-date information. Additionally, they remove the hassle of sending manual invoices and quotations, then follow-up with prospective client.

In the end, an online store is your company's image and is the center of your marketing strategies. Your store could be tied directly to products and services via emails sent to customers and in advertising campaigns. It is possible to create content that guides prospects through the sales funnel. And you can evaluate the impact of your efforts in order to guide the direction that you want to take for your company.

There are a few considerations to keep in mind when selecting the best B2B eCommerce platform

It is the eCommerce platform you pick is the base of your online storefront. Here are some things to be aware of when choosing the most appropriate one. We'll also look into which is the ideal choice to use B2B eCommerce stores.

What kind of products that you're offering

There are a myriad of possibilities to consider for B2B companies. Here are some products you can sell, as well as some of the examples to use

  • Physical objects. Imagine equipment, printed manuals, as well as cleaning equipment. Storage and handling Equipment  For instance, offers eco-friendly shopping carts to supermarkets and retail stores.
  • Digital products. These include classes online, eBooks, eBooks and other eBooks to download and software licenses. TipoType is a prime example. It offers font licenses for freelancers and businesses.
  • Services. Services can include graphic design, accounting and legal advice. Your Benefit Store is a service provider providing healthcare plans which companies may add to their plans for employees.
  • Wholesale products. Offering large quantities of goods to retailers, essentially acting as their supply. Porta Pro Chem For instance, offers portable toiletries to customers all over the world.
  • Members. Access to a variety of benefits as well as other tools like a video library, or an online forum. It is the Interactive Advertising Bureau, as an example, has a Membership program which includes the following resources: classes, invitations to events and much more, geared towards marketing and media firms.
  • Subscriptions. Services or products that are recurring, such as a year-long licence, weekly cleaning service, or a monthly supply of coffee pods to use in your break room. Design Modo offers subscriptions to design software, however subscriptions could also comprise physical items or newsletters.

The two are very different in their respective ways, however there may be the possibility of overlap. It is possible to sell wholesale or products for sale. You can sell physical and digital books together. It is also possible to subscribe to a program that offers an annual office clean-up along with a set of cleaning supplies.

Important to know that you can operate your business by a number of options and ensure that your chosen platform is compatible with them all.

offers functionality for each of the items along with the services listed above as well as other products! In reality, all of the websites listed above utilize . Offer one kind of product , or multiple products at a time. Let anyone purchase or limit access to certain retailers or wholesale customers.

No matter what you want to promote, ensure it is possible.

Design Flexible

Just as your goods or services are distinct, your brand also is distinctive. And, of course your site needs to be a reflection of the personality and unique characteristics of the branding.

A reliable B2B eCommerce platform can give customers the total freedom to design and create anything you want, without the need to edit the code or employ a programmer if you don't want to.

As it's an add-on to WordPress it can make use of the power that comes when you use the Block Editor to build all of your posts and pages. The Block Editor lets users to drag and drop components -including headings, paragraphs pictures, videos and columns -and create your personal layout. It is then possible to toggle settings to change the colors, font styles and other elements of the layout to make the page individual to your.

the block editor creating an About page

Ownership of Content

In the world of online businesses, ensuring the content on your site is owned by you is vitally important. Your site is an important source of revenue -- you shouldn't be putting your money at risk the possibility of it disappearing. Many of the business-specific eCommerce platforms will remove your site without warning if they discover that you've broken their rules and guidelines. This means losing revenue along with time and work!

However, WordPress is a software instruments designed to help you achieve your goals. Your site is able to be hosted wherever you'd like and you're in total control of the site. It's not necessary to fret about deleting your website. It's just that the site is yours to keep..

Integration with payment gateways

Payment gateways let you collect money from customers and clients in a secure manner, and then transfer that money into your account at the bank. There are pros and cons to different tools and the specific features you'll need for your specific business. Particularly, you may require recurring payment, accept multiple currencies, connect with payment tools for express payments like Apple Pay, or offer financial alternatives.

It's crucial to make sure that the online platform you pick works with the one you'd prefer to work with, particularly in cases where your company already has kind of payment processing system or invoices.

Integrates with a range of payment gateways. These include:

the  Payments dashboard

Shipping

If you sell physical products and shipping can be a major aspect when selecting the eCommerce platform. Shipping can be complicated so you need a tool that lets you establish fees according to the method you prefer, and is suitable for the service providers that you use. This is crucial if you have the ability to transport large quantities of goods simultaneously or have specific needs like refrigeration.

calculating shipping rates with  Shipping

User experience

User experience is important to any company for a variety of reasons. If a potential client or customer visits your site and finds it difficult to navigate the site, they'll probably leave your site and go at a competitor. In addition the search engines consider the experience of users when ranking.

Your job, for now is to discover an application which can help you create the best user experience feasible. Below are some things to consider:

  • Manage content. Find an online platform for eCommerce that helps you create menus that are organized by categories for posts and items, and add features like breadcrumbs for navigation. Since WordPress was initially designed to be an online platform for blogging from its inception, the technology for creating content cannot be beat.
  • Mobile-friendly design. Your site must look stunning on all devices like tablets, laptops and mobile phones. WordPress is responsive by default and you can pick a variety of themes with mobile-friendly designs that you can pick from.

Marketing and customer service

Marketing of course assists you in reaching new customers and boost sales from existing customers. Good customer service can aid in keeping customers loyal and encourage them to tell others about your business. These two aspects are crucial to a successful B2B eCommerce store.

The application you're using can make your marketing and customer service plans work regardless of whether that involves integrating with the applications you're already using or making it easy to include tracker codes.

Here are some of the features of customer service and marketing to be found in

  • Connectivity to CRMs. Connect with the CRM of your preference with extensions for Jetpack CRM HubSpot, Salesforce as well as many others.
  • Integration to support forums and ticketing system. Add live chat to your site, create an online support forum, and then integrate with tools such as Freshdesk and HelpScout
  • Content creation capabilities. You can create frequent and beautiful blogs , pages for landing and other sites for the remainder of your marketing activities and also to help educate your customers about the benefits of your services.
  • Integration with a wide range of marketing tools. Track traffic using Google Analytics and join social media, such as Facebook and TikTok in addition to publishing Google advertisements right from your dashboard, and create emails, keep track of abandoned carts and many more.
  • The simplicity for your team members. Every member of your team has is given a unique account with access to the account depending upon the position they fill. Accounts with approval are able to answer support queries as well as review and approve orders, administer refunds, create blog entries, and other.
Porta Chem Pro site
Product page from Porta Pro Chem that allows clients to request a quote

Extra functionality

The functions you want to be able to access on the B2B eCommerce website are specific to the business you run. Take note of any special requirements you have. Below are some suggestions:

Scalability

A B2B eCommerce platform you choose is one that should not hinder your progress. Beware of platforms that base fees off of the amount of customers or sales or number of site visits. The platform you choose to use should be able to load fast, regardless of whether you have 100 people simultaneously or 100,000.

It can be scaled up to the maximum size. There's no limit on the quantity of products or variations you may be able to offer (in actual fact, this test site had 1 million!). It's designed to take on large volumes of orders and also as traffic increases. The service is completely free, however you may want to pay for additional extensions since the cost does not depend on the number of sales or clients.

The best part? You are able to choose which hosting service you'd like. So, although you might be on the shared hosting service in the moment it is possible to change to a VPS plan or a dedicated server when increase in traffic doesn't affect the online shop you have.

Ease of use and management

In business there is always a need for time. You can't afford to spend time with an application that's not user-friendly or difficult for new employees to master as well as requires a developer to implement the changes.

If you're able hire the services of a web developer for your site, however, you don't require it in order to get the most of your shop. Like we said earlier, the Block Editor lets users to organize, alter, or eliminate elements with a simple drag and dropping. Are you looking to modify your product? This can be done simply using buttons, and making adjustments to fields - no need for code!

Store managers have access to all the information from figures on inventory and the site's analytics to information about orders all at one location. If you're using a program like Jetpack CRM and Shipping and Payments, you can print labels, paypal invoices, refunds, quotes and many more from the dashboard of your account, too.

In the event that you decide to work with a professional in order to create, manage or modify your store look through our directory of WooExperts. They're vetted, high-quality agencies willing to assist!

Develop and extend your eCommerce B2B store using

If you're an established B2B firm , or a newcomer to the market, this platform provides all of the tools and the flexibility to grow. In addition, it could improve the experience of your clients and improve the productivity of your employees.

Are you ready to expand? Get started with the top B2B eCommerce platform right now.

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