In this blog, we will discuss the challenges every B2B vendor faces and present the solutions for these issues. But before starting the discussion a brief knowledge about B2B e-commerce is also mandatory for those with a limited idea about it.
Difference Between B2B and B2C:
The difference between B2B and B2C is in the goals. B2C e-commerce targets a huge pool of customers and lower sales quantities per customer so acquisition would be its main focus. B2B on the other hand sells high quantities of products or services to its buyer, who might not be the end consumer, but a purchasing agent specially trained to make buying decisions. So, the main priority is to build and maintain long-term partner relations. The focus in e-commerce here is on the tools being easy and convenient to use rather than having a flashy and catchy website.
Running a business could be tough whether you’re running a brick-and-mortar store or an online store. You will face issues at every stage but as there is a problem there is a solution as well. E-commerce has transformed the way B2B companies operate their functions like streamlining the processes and managing inventory effectively.
As technological changes happen almost daily, B2B surpasses B2C and other business models. B2B e-commerce challenges could be difficult to understand but nothing is impossible in this world. A report on B2B e-commerce stated that the B2B e-commerce industry will exceed $2 trillion in 2024. This massive growth would be a considerable factor for the industry. We are going to discuss some of the important challenges faced by industries dealing with B2B e-commerce.
B2B E-commerce Challenges:
- Choosing the right platform
- Client relationship management
- Complex pricing structures
- Creating a User-Friendly Experience
Choosing the Right Platform
Choosing the right platform for your business might be difficult but the right platform can help you improve efficiency while enabling you to run your business online. A perfect B2B platform could cover everything from implementing best practices to managing data and ordering processes.
Following these instructions you will be able to choose the right platform:
- You can go with the headless or hybrid e-commerce platform. These platforms help you with streamlined processes, especially the order management system.
- The platform must be multi-language supported.
- The platform you choose must be cloud-based so that you can not face the hectic management of heavy servers.
- Choose the platform that provides customization options so that you can personalize your store according to your needs.
- The platform could enhance the customer’s shopping experience.
- Make sure that the platform you choose must be growing and you might be ready to adopt that change and growth.
Client relationship management
Making and maintaining customer relationships could be the biggest challenge in B2B e-commerce. Because they have multiple options in the market you have to make efforts to stand out. The wholesale buyers expect more than just doing transactions they might be looking for tailored solutions, some strategic collaboration, and much more.
You can follow these steps to build a strong relationship with your customers:
- Adopting the customer-centric approach is key to addressing this challenge. Provide your users with an exceptional customer experience.
- Provide updates regarding your business to your customers with Emails, and social media.
- For existing customers, you can leverage the data you currently have like their personal information, and order history, to tailor their experience and give them personalized offers and prices.
- You can make use of CRM software by integrating them with your e-commerce platforms. These software are necessary because they manage your client interactions and overall communications.
- Provide users with multiple communication channels. You can do this by incorporating a live chat feature on your website, this will offer the best user experience with your brand.
Complex pricing structures
There is no one-size-fits-all pricing strategy in the realm of B2B e-commerce. Wholesale businesses have complex pricing structures based on multiple factors. You can stay in the competition with a good profit by implementing the best pricing strategies. All you have to do is, just follow these tips while making your pricing strategies:
- You need to keep the manufacturing cost in mind first, then the inventory or storage cost that you are paying for your products, and last but not least the shipping cost. These different prices could help make your pricing strategy.
- You can use different tools or add-ons to manage your B2B e-commerce store and can set the pricing for it. One of the best-selling modules is the Prestashop B2B Module (only useful when you are dealing with PrestaShop). Using this module, you would be able to set up your B2B e-commerce store.
Creating a User-Friendly Experience
According to a study, in 2024, 74% of B2B buyers may switch to other vendors if they face any issue in the purchasing journey. Let’s say you are running an online store and you are lacking to provide a seamless shopping experience to your customers, then you will miss out on your sales and ultimately revenue.
Wholesale buyers do not bother if they do not find what they are looking for. They will switch to the other vendor where they will find their desired products and that may be tailored according to their needs. So to deal with this issue you have to make sure that the user experience you are providing to your customers must be seamless and error-free.
You can provide an efficient user experience by using these tips:
- Give your customers an easy navigation and make the search process simple. Allow your buyers to search via name, keyword, and SKUs.
- Define user roles and make sure you display the products to only those customers who need them. This you can do with the role-based restrictions.
- Make your product navigation easy to understand and not complex.
- Add an efficient search functionality to your store so that users can find products with any filter and not just by names.
Final Thought:
In today’s digital marketplace, online businesses face the challenges of B2B e-commerce. In this article, we have discussed the major challenges and provided the solutions to overcome them.
You should adopt technological innovation and adopt a customer-centric approach if you want to gain the advantage of your B2B stores. By integrating different tools and incorporating the best strategies, you can make your business stand out from your competitors.
