Presenting offers, processing orders, and enhancing customer satisfaction - e-commerce is becoming increasingly interesting in the B2B sector and is no longer limited to B2C. While e-commerce has become an integral part of consumers' everyday lives, its potential in the B2B sector is often underestimated. Therefore, this post aims to explore the opportunities as well as the challenges associated with a B2B shop.
Why E-Commerce is crucial for B2B
Cross Border Selling: One of the biggest advantages is probably the exploration of new markets and target audiences that were difficult to reach before, either due to geographical distances or low profit margins in personal sales. E-commerce represents the simplest form of international trade. It allows businesses to sell goods not only in their immediate vicinity but also across borders.
Read more: Internationalisation in E-commerce
Process Optimization: Despite the potential for international shipping, you can streamline order processing, as well as inventory management and supply chains for your products. Simultaneously, your customers can search for specific products, place orders easily and quickly, and track their delivery status in real-time. This enables quicker responses to customer inquiries and addressing individual needs.
Automating processes in the B2B sector also leads to significant cost savings. Lengthy, paper-based processes only incur unnecessary expenses and consume time.
Individualisation: With digital solutions, you can not only attract and retain new customers, but also gain valuable insights into their buying behaviour. Through automated data collection and analysis, you can analyse user behaviour and personalise products and services. By offering customised price lists, discounts and payment terms, you can meet the diverse needs of your customers while providing a seamless and consistent customer journey.
Competitiveness: At a time when digitalisation and online commerce are playing an increasingly important role, e-commerce is crucial to staying competitive. Flexibility, scalability and the ability to innovate make an online store an indispensable tool for companies looking to increase their growth and efficiency.
Find out more: B2B Sales - Increase revenue through process optimisation
The complexity of B2B commerce
What a successful online shop looks like and the essential features it should have are no longer a secret, as there are many good and successful examples in the market. However, in the B2B sector, things are different - a different target audience, different requirements, different challenges. Those who rely on B2C solutions in B2B e-commerce quickly encounter limitations because the functionality often falls short in this context.
Offering a wide range of products
Starting from the assortment and product selection, there are already differences compared to a B2C shop. Commercial customers often have access to different products and services than individual consumers. This frequently leads to a vast selection of product variants in terms of form, color, and size.
Different prices and conditions
The most obvious difference between B2C and B2B lies in the prices and conditions. Business customers are primarily interested in net prices rather than gross prices. Additionally, long-term customers often have individual agreements on conditions regarding prices or deliveries. It is essential in this context that different customers can be assigned different prices or quantity discounts.
Speaking of prices: Payment methods are also often chosen differently. While payment methods such as PayPal and credit cards are most commonly used by consumers, in the B2B sector it is more common to buy on credit.
Read more: Shopify Payments: Benefits and setup
Order Processing
Unlike in B2C shops, orders in B2B do not appear as "completed" orders but as order drafts in the admin area. As a merchant, you have the option to review the order and then approve it. This way, discounts and special conditions can be granted retroactively.
Easy product search
Another significant difference from the B2C customer journey: B2B customers do not browse through your shop. Instead, they are looking for a very specific product they want to reorder. The search process should, therefore, be quick and straightforward, allowing them to search using the appropriate product ID or SKU.
Despite all the differences, it's essential not to forget that ultimately, people are making purchases on the business customer side as well. What has become commonplace in the B2C sector is increasingly expected from B2B customers too. But what does this mean specifically for a B2B shop? And can the B2B business be reconciled with the B2C business in the same shop?
Read more: User Experience: Why every invested Euro pays off eightfold
Unique Challenges in B2B and B2C
If you intend to sell to both business customers and end consumers through an online shop, there are several points you should consider. For the implementation, we recommend using Shopify Plus. Shopify's B2B capabilities include numerous features that enable B2B sales on your shop without the need for third-party apps or other interim solutions. You have the option to choose between one or multiple separate shops.
Selling B2C and B2B in one Store
You can set up your Shopify store for both selling to individual customers (B2C) and commercial sales (B2B). You use one shop for both customer groups. However, to cater to both target audiences, different requirements need to be reconciled. These may include, for example:
Invoicing option available only for B2B customers: Invoice payment has been one of the most popular payment methods in Germany for years. However, for businesses, it also represents an increased risk of payment defaults or relatively high costs. As a result, many online shops limit payment options to methods such as PayPal and credit cards.
In the B2B sector, invoice payments with specific payment terms and discounts are more or less expected. Tiered pricing and minimum order quantities are also common in this context. But how can these two target groups be reconciled in a mixed online shop?
Generally, all configured payment methods are equally available to potential customers during checkout. However, with Shopify Scripts, you can dynamically hide payment methods in the checkout process, for example, only for specific groups.
Quantity and Reordering: B2B customers rarely purchase just one or two items and seldom place a single order. Reorders, meaning the repeated purchase of the same item at a later time, are common in this scenario. To make the customer journey as efficient and streamlined as possible, shopping carts should be savable for different scenarios. If products go out of stock or become unavailable, automatic suggestions for replacements should be provided.
Both features can be retrofitted on Shopify Plus through apps or custom theme adjustments. For the convenient ordering of multiple items, you can offer your customers an order form where they can add multiple items to the cart at once. By providing a reordering option in their accounts, you can make it easy for your customers to put previous orders back in the cart with just one click.
Dedicated B2B Store
Another option is a dedicated B2B shop that runs in parallel with your own B2C online store. This allows different offers, features, and conditions to be provided for both target audiences. The product range, prices, and checkout process are tailored individually to each specific audience.
However, having a second shop also comes with its own challenges: Typically, the product range in both shops is at least partially identical and sold from the same inventory. To avoid overselling, it's essential to ensure that the stock levels in both shops are synchronized when making a sale. Additionally, you should be mindful that both shops require proper management, incurring some additional costs.
For a successful B2B strategy, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Regardless of the approach you choose, a well-thought-out strategy and the appropriate e-commerce platform are essential.
Find out more: B2B with Shopify: How JAN 'N JUNE does it
Custom Solutions with Shopify Plus
When implementing a B2B store with Shopify, there are several factors for online retailers to consider to ensure smooth operations. Nevertheless, it often proves to be a worthwhile investment. If you need assistance, feel free to reach out to us! We look forward to hearing from you.