Online stores in B2B sales - the effect of the web revolution over the years

Once crawling online add-ons to stationary trade. Today - dynamically developing platforms that are the foundation of sales. It took only 10 years for online stores operating in the B2B model, i.e. directing their services to business clients, to undergo an unimaginable transformation. Where have we been and where are we now?

When attention is drawn to the dynamic development of the eCommerce industry, more often the phenomenon of B2C trade is emphasized, pushing the Business-To-Business into the background. While discussing the rapid shift of trade from traditional stores to the web, it is worth looking at this (r)evolution also from the perspective of wholesale. Today, not only the average Smith wants to do shopping with just a few clicks and without a trip to the stationary store. Similar expectations are held by a supply specialist, a purchasing manager or any other person responsible for company transactions. Thus, the strictly business activity has also changed.

The third decade of the 21st century: expectations from B2B

Fast, efficient, intuitive and attractive - these four words very accurately describe what customers expect not only from B2C, but increasingly also from B2B. Gone are the days when wholesalers and other companies directing their offers to business customers could limit themselves only to having a website for obtaining information. The lack of an online B2B offering - with the ability to make purchases through the site, discounts to individual customers, additional benefits and conveniences - is a serious mistake that can have disastrous consequences for business. Online stores for B2B sales are not a future tale, but a clearly heard rhythm underpinned by market expectations.

For this reason, Polish e-business is showing more and more interest in:

• creating a web store for B2B sales,
• functionalities of a sales platform for aB2B market,
• features and facilities a B2B online store must have to generate traffic and sales.

And that is something to be proud of! Polish e-business, however, must also remember to follow the rhythm of change in the Internet world. Implementations introduced a few years ago have already lost their relevance - the virtual world is a space in which you must constantly adapt to the needs of the audience in order not to be left behind.

How have B2B online stores changed over the years?

Bolder brands were already introducing the first solutions in terms of eCommerce a decade ago, seeing digital transformation as their chance to grow and get ahead of the competition. In turn, it can be said that since ca. 2015 such behavior began to be standard. The difference between the possibilities of that time and the proposals used today is huge - just like between the value of sales in 2010 (PLN 13.43 billion) and 2020 (over PLN 100 billion). The changes are visible in:

• sales functionalities,
• visual templates for stores,
• available integrations for B2B platforms,
• Internet marketing opportunities.

B2B eCommerce - time to forget the standards of the past

Only the desktop version? As soon as possible you need to add a mobile version to your site, because more and more people are shopping online using a tablet or smartphone. The issue of responsiveness is extremely important if you want to reach the largest possible audience.

"Just plain" photos? Nowadays we say a definite "no" to them. Developed possibilities in the field of making visual changes on a website allow us to present our goods in a way that will arouse interest of customers. We should still remember that a virtual customer is not able to feel our goods, interact with them or experience them as in a stationary store. It is therefore necessary to arouse his curiosity with something more than a precise description. An extensive gallery, interesting display of details, solutions allowing for e.g. virtual rotation, use of AR technology - it all works.

Standard functionality? Definitely not enough. B2B platforms, because of their specific target, must constantly adapt to the growing expectations of customers and increased competition. So it's worth taking into account:

• extensive loyalty programs for regular customers,
• automation in calculating individual discounts,
• full personalization - assumption that company X has different prices than Y,
• digital delivery network,
• marketing automation systems,
• automation of a sales process at all stages (product selection, sales, order processing, logistics, customer satisfaction survey).

A B2B platform designed in this way is a mechanism that virtually handles the order from A to Z: from logistical issues to marketing and after-sales care.

B2B client projects - showcase of Advox Studio capabilities

At Advox Studio we are not afraid of challenges - we undertake tasks of setting up online stores for both B2B and B2C clients. The leading example of our skills is the office supplies online store artim.com.pl, which we recently put into operation. Built on the Magento platform, it will supply B2B customers with the best possible equipment and articles necessary in the office.

It is a common practice in business customer service to differentiate the price of an order depending on its size. The new version of the artim.com.pl store allows the prices of products in the store to be displayed dynamically by downloading data from the price list. In this way each contractor is presented with individually selected prices of selected products. /p>

It is also worth noting that as part of our joint work with Artim, we managed to implement, among other things, shopping lists, thanks to which customers can create individual lists of products they need. A saved list makes it easier to make transactions at a later time, saving time for the website user. Such a store makes you want to use it, doesn't it?

How else will B2B change?

As described, B2B e-commerce in 2021 is eluding all the familiar standards churned out over the past 10 years. The growing importance of automation, ever-changing consumer trends, the ever-popular Internet of Things, and more - these are the things that both functioning and put-upon online stores must adapt to in order to meet the expectations of B2B customers. And this is only the beginning of the iceberg - we can only wait for the challenges that are yet to come.