Overall B2B sales growth will continue during this time. However, the majority of the rise in B2B E-commerce will be due to customers switching channels to increase efficiency or decrease costs.
Also, existing buyers will shop online and stop calling or sending faxes to place orders.
Interestingly, about half of purchasing managers already make B2B online purchases from suppliers with competent B2B e-commerce websites.
What B2B Benefits Do You Already Recognize?
Many factors can lead to the migration of traditional B2B selling channels to e-commerce.
B2B electronic commerce streamlines the reordering process. It makes sales staff and customers both more productive.
Industrial Supply reported almost 60 percent of its quarterly sales from B2B electronic commerce last year. The company lists more than a million SKUs. All of them have detailed product information. This helps customers place orders easily.
B2B commerce also reduces costs for everyone. An automated, standardized e-commerce workflow is much more efficient than asking an internal salesperson to take calls or type orders from faxes. It is a better method of doing business.
These are only a few of the B2B ecommerce advantages you already understand. You may not be reading this article if it wasn’t for the fact that B2B E-commerce is more popular than many other sales channels.
B2B electronic commerce offers several more compelling and potentially strategic benefits.
New Customers Attracted By B2B Ecommerce
Not every wholesaler, every industrial supplier, and not every manufacturer is ready for B2B electronic commerce at the right time.
These laggards open up a new market for companies willing and able to sell online B2B products.
Your company can post detailed product specifications and information to your B2B online store. This could cover everything from product specifications and availability to market data.
The internet is a great way for professionals to search for products – at least nine in ten do. If they have to call, fax or email, it will appear as an extra and unnecessary step.
Your sales team will be able to leverage B2B e-commerce as a competitive advantage. One of your salespeople can call a potential client and show them how easy it’s to order online. Your e-commerce platform might even be compatible with the customer’s punch-out software for greater efficiency.
A tiny difference can help you win more business in B2B Sales. However, B2B e-commerce may be more significant than that.
Ecommerce Helps You Keep Current Customers
Don’t lose customers to the upstart business with a flashy new B2B ecommerce website.
Your B2B Ecommerce Solution helps you retain customers. It is less likely that your customers, the purchasing executives at the companies your company sells to, will switch vendors if you make doing business easy.
It is worth considering if all a B2B ecommerce site does for your business is help you keep the customers that you already have.
B2B Ecommerce Allows You to Sell More to Your Existing Customers
Retailers who sell business-to-consumer (B2C), have spent more time than a decade learning cross-selling, up-selling, personalization, and recommendation.
B2C sellers are the best because they use big data and learn more from each customer. B2B sellers can access all the on-site retailing techniques that they have discovered.
Your company could be able to significantly increase the sales of each customer by using existing technology. This can be a significant advantage for your B2B website.
A B2B website with ecommerce capabilities should help your company to attract new customers, maintain existing customers, and sell more products to each of those customers.
