Your Roadmap to Start a Successful B2B eCommerce Initiative

Just a few years ago, research found that 48% of companies now conduct 50-74% of all corporate purchases online. Further, 23% of companies do 75% or more of their purchasing online. 

While it’s clear that B2B buyers want to make purchases online, many manufacturers, distributors and others have been slow to adopt eCommerce initiatives. 

Part of the problem is that shifting to an online sales model isn’t any easy transition. It can require an entire overhaul in how you conduct business. And, without the right mindset and strategy, your digital transformation might not be fully realized. 

To help get you started, our quick guide focuses on five key areas that are key to any successful eCommerce initiative. 

7 Tips To Supercharge Your B2B eCommerce Site

(This is a guest post from our friends over at121eCommerce, a seasoned Magento Professional Partner and web development agency specializing in B2B and B2C eCommerce.)

We all have to grow up sometime.

For some of us it happens gradually- we get a little taller, a little stronger each day. 

And for some of us it happens overnight- you wake up one morning only to find out you no longer fit into your clothing.

It’s not that different for B2B eCommerce companies. 

According to Amazon, B2B eCommerce was worth $829 billion in 2016 – and by 2023, it’s estimated to grow to a market size of $1.8 trillion. 

In other words- it’s time to grow up.

So, how can you make sure that your eCommerce website is ready for this spurt, and ensure that it’s easy for B2B shoppers to use your services? In this guide, we’ve put together a few tips you can use to improve your website and shopping experience. 

B2B eCommerce: Native B2B Platform Vs Repurposing B2C

(This is a guest post from our friends over at OroCommerce, the first purposefully built from the ground up open source B2B eCommerce platform.)

The eCommerce software market is full of excellent solutions which can make it difficult to decide on the right tool for your business. If you’re selling to manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and resellers, you may start your search with a purpose-built B2B eCommerce solution. However, there are many resources suggesting that, with enough B2B plugins and integrations, you can quickly make a typical eCommerce system B2B-capable.

In this post we will analyze if there is a grain of truth in these suggestions.

How to Choose the Best B2B eCommerce Platform for Your Business

(This post was originally published on April 4th, 2019. It has been updated for accuracy and completeness.)

According to Forrester, US B2B eCommerce is expected to reach $1.8 trillion and account for 17% of all B2B sales in the US by 2023. B2B eCommerce is on pace to be twice the size of B2C eCommerce.

However, many B2B sellers are still in their infancy for building out strategic online channels. So far most have been slow to adopt eCommerce best practices. If there’s one thing to learn from B2C selling, it’s how crucial it is to choose the right platform to power your online business.

This article aims to show B2B merchants the role eCommerce technology plays in building a user-friendly online experience and how to evaluate which B2B eCommerce platform is best for your business. (more…)

Should B2B Merchants Sell on Amazon or Their Own Web Store?

While manufacturers and distributors have been selling online for over 20 years, many merchants are still trying out eCommerce for the first time. Selling online today is more challenging than ever. Buyers want more than a simple online portal for repeat purchases. Instead, they’re demanding sophisticated online shopping experiences not far from what they’re used to for personal purchases. B2B merchants should look to build out an eCommerce presence that acquires new customers, serves existing, and overall creates a healthy revenue stream.

eCommerce is a strategic investment that takes considerable time and resources, not to mention it’s usually a cultural shift for a B2B organization too. One of the first decisions you might make is whether to sell on a marketplace like Amazon or make the investment in your own branded web store.

This guide walks you through the differences of these go-to-market eCommerce strategies and why the answer is probably that you should be selling on both.