Digital transformations are challenging—learn to ask the right questions to optimize B2B ecommerce platforms
In today’s digital age, between various payment methods, complicated inventories or misconceptions about customers, organizations have put off either launching or optimizing a top B2B ecommerce platform. Common pain points for B2B businesses relying on legacy commerce systems are lack of scalability and flexibility.
But the digital B2B commerce landscape is not changing any time soon—research from IDC finds nearly 50% of cloud IT spending is tied to digital transformations, illustrating the demands of top B2B ecommerce platforms such as Salesforce.
Can a top B2B ecommerce platform help you make your business more efficient?
Maybe you need to streamline your current inventory process, or create better relationships with your distributors.
Maybe management is taking a second look at your sales strategy?
Can an ecommerce platform help with those problems? Let's find out.
Asking the Right Questions
When you address pain points of your current platform (or lack thereof) you will create a baseline for where to start when considering an ecommerce solution or deciding to optimize the platform you have.
First ask yourself a few questions, such as: Does my current technology allow me to:
- have a single integrated view of customer data from front and back-end systems?
- improve my relationships with channel partners?
- create more efficient processes between divisions of my company?
- manage my complicated inventory to increase sales?
Solving Your Toughest Problems
Today, businesses require responsive, user and mobile friendly web site design. ERP systems need to be flexible and integrate well with B2B ecommerce portals. Cloud platforms should deliver B2Bs total functionality they need to succeed.
Kastas, a leading manufacturer and supplier of sealing technologies, addressed these challenges. Their initial B2B site was built on Salesforce Community Cloud, which it used as an ecommerce portal. The platform could not provide the company with optimal functionality required to engage in ecommerce activities. The design of their B2B ecommerce portal was not responsive or user-friendly—was desktop-oriented and didn’t conform to mobile devices well.
Through a full-featured Web site overhaul of Kastas’ B2B ecommerce portal, seal-link.com, Kastas now provides 20,000 in-stock items from seven warehouses in two countries and handles 2,000 order lines per day with 92% stock availability. In the case of Kastas, B2B ecommerce solutions gather customer data from multiple sales channels—online and offline—and bring together Sales and Service clouds for a centralized view of customer data.
When organizations integrate multiple cloud solutions to sell B2B online such as Sales, Service, Marketing, POS solutions, Clienteling Apps, ERP systems, loyalty, and reward programs, they can leverage information enterprise wise, which helps simplify processes, delight distributors and increase sales.
Reaping the Benefits of Optimizing eCommerce Solutions
Businesses that invest in B2B commerce can operate more efficiently and drive an organization’s people, process, and technology to survive in the digital age. With an omnichannel approach, B2Bs can create greater customer loyalty, accelerate revenue growth and enable new channels quickly.
Here are the leading benefits to a top B2B ecommerce platform:
- Get to Market Faster and Generate More Revenue while Reducing Costs
B2Bs can capture more B2B ecommerce opportunities by deploying in weeks—not months or years. Streamlined online buying specially designed for B2B includes fast reorders, account hierarchies, contract pricing and custom catalogs.
- Empower Customers with Self-Service Buying
B2Bs can empower their business customers with easy, consumer-like shopping experiences they enjoy in their personal life—anytime on any device – and purchasing recommendations are tailored in real-time.
- Optimize B2B Daily Functions with a 360-Degree Customer View using Scalable System
B2Bs can stock the shelves of their retails stores, enable online ordering of inventory or meet the needs of your distribution or wholesale partners. B2Bs can also leverage customer data across multi-channels like sales, marketing, and service, allowing B2Bs to engage with buyers in any digital or in-person touchpoint.
- Enable Distributors to Create Branding Sites/Portals
B2Bs can help partners grow by creating branded sites and intuitive digital portals that B2Bs design and launch quickly. B2Bs can build customer loyalty faster and ensure repeat business with guided buying experiences customers enjoy that are fast, efficient, and personal.
Whether your business needs an entirely new ecommerce platform, replatforming services for existing systems or custom development work across multiple clouds, the process of transforming to meet market demands is critical.
Learn more: 5 Must-Have Features of a B2B Ecommerce Platform.
Accelerate Your B2B Journey
OSF Digital is a leading global commerce and digital cloud transformation company, with expertise in enterprise Connected Commerce, OMS, Storefront Management, CRM, and cloud application development. With proficiency in B2C and B2B commerce and experience in helping businesses leverage commerce, marketing, sales, and service solutions, OSF seamlessly guides companies throughout their entire digital transformation journey. Unlock the answers to ecommerce solutions today by requesting a demo of cutting-edge technology solutions helping B2B companies ensure their buyers receive the best possible experiences—anytime and anywhere.
