5 Factors To Consider When Selecting B2b Ecommerce Solutions

By Author: Shane Emerson
Total Articles: 36
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When you are planning to start your online store to handle your B2B customers, you simply cannot commit the mistake of using a traditional B2C eCommerce platform. This is because the platform is bereft of features that are needed to deal with B2B customers.

Many say that managing B2B transactions is no easy but if you choose the right eCommerce solution it is a breeze. When you have incorporated the right technology, selling products in the B2B environment is easier.

B2B eCommerce solutions should have the following features to achieve your business goals:

1. Customer Segmentation

Does the eCommerce platform allow you to segment your potential B2B customers into discrete groups based on similar characteristics?

This is a must-have feature in a B2B environment without which you simply cannot open your eCommerce store. For instance, you can divide your potential customers based on their product needs/catalog requirements.

The ability to create customer-specific catalogs is a critical requirement to deal with B2B ...
... customers. B2B eCommerce catalog may differ from one B2B customer to another.

Another factor to consider when segmenting customers is their buying behavior. For instance, the sub-division of a customer base into discrete groups based on order volume and reorder frequency.

Analyze the buying characteristics of B2B customers and accordingly segment them to meet their business needs.

2. Setup Different Pricing Structure

Offering a personalized shopping experience is the key to grow your B2B business. In the B2B environment, you cannot offer products at the same price to all your customers.

B2B customers often request products at special pricing to their suppliers. This means the B2B eCommerce platform you choose should allow you to define pricing structures for different customer groups.

Moreover, customer segmentation will allow you to identify the most profitable and least profitable customers. This data can be used to redefine marketing strategies to improve sales.

3. Ability to Request Bulk Discounts

Many times, B2B customers place orders in bulk. Unlike B2C customers, they do not order one or two products. Whenever B2B customers place bulk orders, they expect you to give discounts.

So ensure that the B2B eCommerce solution provider you choose allows B2B customers to request discounts for every bulk order. This feature can help to close deals faster and encourage B2B consumers to make repeat purchases.

4. User Management

Multiple employees in your office might be handling the eCommerce back office. As an eCommerce owner, you may want to assign specific privileges/permissions to your employees.
For instance, you may not want all employees to view sales reports or define user-defined fields. So check whether the B2B procurement platform has provision to assign user roles.

5. Minimum Order Quantity

Earning decent profits on the cheapest products or low-margin products is no easy. So what's the solution? Well, the B2B eCommerce solution should allow you to setup minimum order quantity (MOQ) for these products.

For instance, if you set MOQ to 50 units, your customers will have to buy at least 50 units to place the order. This can ensure long term profitability despite selling low margin products.

When any product is giving reduced margins, try using this feature to boost your cash flow. You can sell in large volumes and earn big with MOQ features.

Why Avoid Open-Source or Self Hosted eCommerce Platform?

If you want to quickly launch your B2B eCommerce store, avoid choosing these eCommerce platforms. This is because you have to be tech-savvy to start your online store. You will require profound technical knowledge to use open source/self-hosted software.

As your business grows, you will require additional types of infrastructure to support your complex business operations. From setup to maintenance, you will have to manage everything to run your eCommerce business.

All in all, an open-source/self-hosted solution is an expensive proposition and you would struggle to handle your business.

On the whole, if you want to sell effectively and start your online store at the earliest, choose a cloud-based B2B eCommerce solution.

Shane is an American writer for various digital news publications. After being in the ecommerce industry for more than 15 years, Shane has a good understanding of what it takes to make an ecommerce business successful. His articles give insights on the latest trends in the B2C and B2B ecommerce industry. His ecommerce coverage is robust and provides everything from best ecommerce platform to improving your website site. He also likes to cover newsworthy events related to business management software, customer relationship management (CRM) and Quoting software.