3 ways to improve B2B e-commerce: It’s all about CX

B2B companies are facing more pressure than ever to consider the customer experience and make their operations consumer centric. In order improve B2B e-commerce, they must shake off old ways and take a cue from the B2C world.

Business cases for B2B traditionally centered on cost reduction rather than the customer experience. But with the growing role of e-commerce in B2B, they need to shift away from a transactional mindset to an experiential mindset.

Today, call centers and emails are overshadowed and replaced by user first, rich, interactive experiences. This is especially important as we consider the buying behaviors of Gen Z in the workforce.

Gartner forecasts that B2B organizations with digital commerce offerings will see 30% more revenue and a 20% reduction in costs this year, compared to competitors without B2B digital commerce sites. As B2B brands step up their digital operations, measuring the customer experience has become a key driver and differentiator.

Let’s take a look at three ways brands can improve B2B e-commerce operations and focus on the customer experience.

Improve B2B e-commerce by making it easy for your customers

Too often, B2B companies complicate the purchasing journey. Make investments that simplify the buying process for your customers by removing or improving areas that can cause friction.

Following are three ways you can improve B2B e-commerce:

1. Make it easy for customers to research products online and understand the differences between similar items.
2. Provide self-serve options.
3. Elements such as simple or automatic reordering of common items can save customers an enormous amount of time.

B2B users are doing their job by coming to your site. You need to make it simple for them to work with you, with limited disruptions.

Adopt agility as a mindset to improve B2B e-commerce

Having an IT infrastructure that will allow you as an organization to make changes quickly is key. Agility needs to be a mindset that is backed up with tools to help you run the best you can.

Brands need to deliver on their promises, with the confidence that the supply chain is going to follow.

They need agility to be able to enter into new models of engagement and business models.

Investing in microservices and deploying headless commerce scenarios will keep their brand at the forefront of technology and the forefront of their customers’ minds.

Know your customers

Offering customers a personalized experience is key to improving B2B e-commerce. Customers today expect an individualized experience tailored to their preferences and purchasing history.

Having one view of the customer for transactions, orders, deliveries, payments, and services across channels and devices will allow you to optimize the relationship you have with them.

In turn, when you know who your customers are and how they like to engage with you, you’re better able to personalize their experiences and reward them for their loyalty, which increases customer lifetime value.

For some B2B companies, shifting away from a transactional mindset to an experiential one may require a big leap. But the payoff is immense. Happy, loyal customers will fuel the results you need for competitive edge.