(Source: rupixen.com on Unsplash)

Brought to you by WBR Insights.

B2B eCommerce has been gradually expanded over the past few years. According to Statista, about 13% of B2B sales in the United States were eCommerce sales in 2019. By 2023, that percentage is expected to reach 17%.

But due to COVID-19, many B2B businesses accelerated their eCommerce programs out of necessity. Instead of selling products and services directly to clients face-to-face, they initiated online operations that kept both clients and employees safe. Some organizations successfully moved their operations online, but others faced significant roadblocks in their eCommerce implementations.

Here are a few ways B2B organizations can overcome some of the most common roadblocks in their eCommerce strategies.

Design Your eCommerce Experience Around Clients and Customers

The main appeal of B2B eCommerce is the opportunity to put self-service tools at buyers' disposal. Instead of engaging in transactions through meetings, emails, and phone calls, buyers can simply access an eCommerce portal and get what they need from the company.

Many organizations approach B2B eCommerce using the "Jobs to Be Done" framework. By gaining an understanding of how users intend to use the eCommerce platform and what they intend to accomplish, eCommerce teams can design the portal to work according to the exact needs of users. Analyzing user pathways across the site and soliciting feedback directly from users are two ways to gain a clearer picture of what B2B buyers need from the eCommerce function.

The eCommerce portal must also be intuitive and easy to navigate. Many B2B eCommerce leaders have taken ideas from the B2C eCommerce space and applied them to their websites to accomplish this. But some processes can't be replicated from B2C eCommerce.

To create an ideal customer experience, B2B companies must tailor their eCommerce experiences to individual users and their organizations. Contract-based catalogs and pricing, personalized smart menus, and customized payment options are all tools that can add to buyers' individual experiences.

Approvals must also be automated using workflows and rules-based logic to prevent any roadblocks during the buying experience. In most cases, the less buyers are subjected to your internal processes, the better.

Finally, buyers should only have to use your eCommerce portal if they prefer to. If they have an internal procurement solution, it must integrate with your eCommerce function so buyers can place orders through their preferred tool.

Implement Key B2B eCommerce Technologies

Companies that sell to consumers have a range of technology options to choose from when launching their eCommerce services. Companies like Shopify, BigCommerce, and even Amazon make it simple to spin up an eCommerce capability quickly.

But B2B eCommerce often requires different tools than B2C eCommerce. It tends to be more complex, and transactions can be much larger.

Industries also tend to have different requirements for their eCommerce operations than B2C sellers. They need more visibility into their operations, inventories, and supply chains, and they must be able to automate manual processes so they can move large volumes of products quickly.

Beyond an eCommerce website or digital storefront, some of the most important B2B eCommerce technologies include:

• Automated inventory management tools
• Real-time integrations with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
• Omnichannel personalization tools
• Third-party logistics integrations
• Syndication tools (to maintain branding through resellers)
• Dealer and reseller portals
• Personalized dashboards for internal employees

With the right tools in place, B2B organizations can reduce costly fulfillment errors, save time and cost on internal processes, and better serve clients and customers.

Develop a Roadmap for Adoption and Implementation

Internal and external resistance to new eCommerce functions is one of the most challenging roadblocks to implementation. But it can be overcome by creating a clear path forward for internal stakeholders and customers. The adoption and implementation roadmap shouldn't be generated in a vacuum either—it should be shaped by both internal and external input.

Customers, employees, department heads, and managers will all be interacting with the eCommerce platform, and it must help—not hinder—any relationships built between sales reps and the organization's customers.

First, organizations can conduct an internal analysis to determine if they are ready to implement a new eCommerce function. Generally, companies need support from management and employees, scalable internal processes, a supportive technology infrastructure, and clear data governance.

If there are gaps in these capabilities, then the organization can create a task list to fill them. These tasks can be ranked by importance and tackled one by one. The eCommerce site can then be implemented in an iterative process, with developments added based on the feedback of users and internal stakeholders.

Don't Miss the World's Leading B2B eCommerce & Digital Marketing Conference

B2B eCommerce is likely to continue accelerating as more and more businesses realize the benefits of selling their products and services online. But many organizations are still struggling to implement a viable strategy for their eCommerce operations.

If your company is considering or currently operates a B2B eCommerce function, you need the latest insights on this topic to get ahead of your competitors. Don't miss B2B Online, the world's leading eCommerce and digital marketing virtual summit for manufacturers and distributors, happening online from July 26^th to July 27^th.

Register now for free.