The online store model is definitely a more popular form of online sales than the one used for inter-company sales. The specificity of sale and purchase transactions between companies requires completely different decisions than in the case of a sale to an individual buyer. This is why the process of creating a B2B platform looks different than B2C and you need to seek help from ecommerce application development professionals. Again, you need to understand that the productivity of the platform depends on how it is designed. Using the example of the work of the company fireart.studio, you can understand what tools are used. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to understand the steps to create an e-commerce product.
Objectives and goals
Purchasing platforms for companies open the door to online sales in areas that typically require very high employee engagement in customer service and order fulfillment. With the B2B platform, you can perform a number of actions that are difficult to implement in offline sales or that take a long time. The B2B platform allows you to:
presentation of the full offer of the company, comprehensive service and order fulfillment, making payments and completing a transaction, customer relationship management, storage and processing of customer data.
B2B stores and their benefits
With the introduction of the B2B platform, your business will receive not only a new sales channel, but also a number of other benefits. A well-designed and implemented B2B platform guarantees:
automation of procurement and sales processes, facilitating and accelerating contacts with clients, reduction of terms of service and order fulfillment, reduced employee engagement in customer service and orders, 24/7 sales, availability of a full range of goods or services for customers, supervision of the level of stocks, a wide range of payment and delivery methods.
Development process and required elements
Having developed the concept and having decided on the tools for implementing the idea, it is time to move on to technical work. The integral elements of this type of store are:
The B2B platform must have a complete catalog of offered products or services, which is also accessible to users who are not logged in. The data in the catalog can be truncated, and in its entirety is available only to registered users. Special price lists. Business customers often buy products in large quantities, so it is advisable to set individual prices or price ranges based on the order size. Payment options. In B2B sales, flexibility in payment methods is important. For example, calculations are usually made based on a credit limit. A B2B platform should easily handle various types of settlements, including non-standard ones. Various promotions and discounts. A B2B trading platform should be able to customize promotions and discounts at different levels for specific customers or customer groups. Recurring orders. In the case of B2B sales, customers very often order from you periodically. By default, the B2B sales platform should be able to create recurring orders that are automatically updated on a specific date. Stock levels. Real-time inventory updates allow wholesalers to determine how many items you have. Integration of inventory levels allows you to control several or even a dozen warehouses.
Completion dates. Each product may have a different delivery date, so it is important that each product has an individually agreed and updated delivery date to the customer. Integration with systems. CRM, internal sales systems are just examples of systems that can be integrated with a B2B platform. This allows you to manage and monitor processes on one platform. The impression an Internet user makes when visiting your online store has a significant impact on conversion, that is, making purchases in the store. Attention to detail, professional product photography, and high-quality graphics as part of an e-commerce strategy can help build trust in the eyes of customers and drive sales.
