eCommerce in B2B: Shaped by customer use

For B2B companies, eCommerce is much more complex and expensive to implement than in the B2C sector. But here too, a consistent focus on customer use is the key to the solution. eCommerce, earlier almost synonymous with B2C online shopping, is experiencing a second wave in the B2B sector with its much bigger sales turnover. Here too, user behaviour is driving the change: Those who are used to fast and convenient ordering and mobile access around the clock are also demanding this standard for business purchases. With these expectations, B2B companies planning an online shop must differentiate themselves, regardless of whether they want to approach their business customers’ employees or their end users.

The key question: What do my customers want?

Multi-level trading, products requiring clarification, price and discount systems, international rollouts linked to interfaces in different countries, and complex purchasing structures make eCommerce for B2B more complex, and technical implementation more demanding, than an online shop for end users. Prefabricated solutions do not exist. Nevertheless, the right solution can be found — if you figure out exactly what your customer’s expectations are and consistently adapt to them. This is the approach used by B2C — tailoring the offer precisely to the customer’s requirements. For buyers in the business environment, this also means having a clear and appealing design for the online shop, which they are used to as consumers, but not the same intuitive approach. They don’t want to be inspired or persuaded, they just want to do their job as efficiently as possible. They are helped by functions such as the automatic generation of order lists based on previous orders and the uploading of CSV lists — whatever is convenient for the specific user. Orders are not always placed from a desk. If, for example, materials are mainly required by the sales force at a customer site or on construction sites, mobile solutions are particularly important.

eCommerce must offer added value

Since transactions between companies often involve several levels in one order, and purchases of a certain size must be approved, the necessary workflows and release processes should be integrated into the new online solution. Supply functions can be just as important. In short: An eCommerce solution must offer real added value. Even more so, because many companies are already using a traditional solution, such as eProcurement for their transactions. According to a survey conducted by IFH Cologne in 2012, the total electronically generated turnover in B2B amounted to 870 billion euros, the vast majority of which was handled by automated data exchange.1 An attractive design is not enough of an argument for an online shop — and also not for the agency responsible. Before the introduction of a webshop, the needs of the target groups are first thoroughly analysed. For a company already using direct data exchange via EDI, an additional need could be identified in this way, for example: A dispatch tracking feature for urgent orders which haven’t yet been filled by the existing system. Another feature could be an overview of all purchases made via a customer account — including phone and personal orders.

Hidden cost: Data processing

It is well-known that different prices and discounts apply to individual dealers and customers, and this must also be taken into account. This is technologically feasible, although somewhat more complicated than with a webshop for end users. It is more complex if the data isn’t consistently available digitally in the system but, for example, only in Excel lists or from the relevant sales people. This relies primarily on data maintenance. This also applies to product data, which is stored in the ERP system, but must first be processed and enriched for use in the shop. Further complexity results from the integration of the often very diverse systems of intermediaries. Whilst data maintenance is usually the responsibility of the manufacturer, the assistance of a digital agency is recommended for the consolidation of the system landscapes.

Sales team perspective: Sales people become consultants

B2B products vary greatly, from simple consumables, which are regularly ordered in large quantities, to machinery and capital goods, the purchase of which is preceded by personal conversations and longer negotiations. The more explanation required and the more expensive the products, the more crucial the role of the sales team. As soon as companies start talking about eCommerce, sales people see their raison d’etre being questioned. It is therefore important to develop internal concepts and strategies for how sales and the sales force can actively be involved in the eCommerce strategy, and how their roles might need to change to be an essential part of the digital experience.

Dealers become partners — the path to the end user

The next competitive situation arises when a B2B manufacturer decides to build an online shop for end customers. Then the middlemen feel bypassed. And as appropriate as an e-shop may be for trans-regional positioning and the brand image of a manufacturer, most companies cannot afford to upset dealers.

Therefore, only a joint solution involving dealers can be considered. But here, too, customer’s view, this time that of the end user, helps to find the right solution. An example: A manufacturer of doors and gates, who distributes its products to both building material retailers and small regional assembly companies, planned to set up an online platform. The analysis showed that many customers wanted to get information online, and the option to configure their own ideal solution and order it online. The necessary assembly, maintenance and service was to be carried out on site by a company — however to then undertake another web search to look for an appropriate assembly company would have been too much effort for most end customers. In other words: Without the involvement of regional dealers and assembly companies, the online shop would have had little chance of success.

The offer was therefore tailored to the needs of the customer and built as a marketplace platform. The customer chooses one of the dealers represented before he compiles his desired product with a few clicks, choosing size, colour and type of surface. Only the prices of his chosen dealer will be displayed. In order to prevent price dumping as much as possible, quality standards are defined jointly with the traders as a condition of access for using the platform. The criteria include, amongst others, response time, specifications for the range shown, and proven experience in the installation of the products. Conclusion: Whether it is pure B2B alignment or a B2C solution: Focus on the customer is critical to success and ultimately also the benchmark for eCommerce projects.

An external partner such as our digital agency, can be a valuable aid — by keeping the customer view in mind throughout the project and retaining an overview, whilst participants from the company itself are often caught up in internal structures and methods. Also, uncomfortable suggestions and proposals for necessary process changes are primarily seen as less biased when they are presented by outsiders. Last but not least, companies need digital specialists to design the complex system and information architecture and to select and programme the appropriate shop system.

Source: 1http://www.ifhkoeln.de/pressemitteilungen/details/geschaeftskunden-sorgen-fuer-870-milliarden-euro-b2b-e-commerce-umsatz-jaehrlich/