Today business to business, commonly known as B2B, traditionally selling their products using their physical sales teams to their customers. When the same pr...
A definition: Today business to business, commonly known as B2B, traditionally selling their products using their physical sales teams to their customers. When the same products sold through an online channel with the help of eCommerce, it is known to be B2B eCommerce.
As per Forrester study, 74% of B2B buyers research before making purchase decisions. The B2B buyers are changing, and the new millennials have become buyers. Where the new generation buyers may prefer the B2C like personalized experience through digital channels for B2B. Making their presence online helps B2B companies to cater to the needs of their customers 24×7.
The platform can save 30-40% of the sales team’s time. The new platform can handle routine tasks like pick up the order and fulfillment discussions. They can now spend their time effectively spent on strategic coaching or to provide trusted advice to their customers.
So, every manufacturer, wholesaler & distributor must provide a B2B eCommerce experience to their customers.
B2B eCommerce is very different; hence, traditional B2C eCommerce platform won’t do the required job for B2B, or else heavy customizations are required to suit the requirement.
One should look for the below basic requirements of a B2B eCommerce.
Custom quotes
Ease of ordering
Multiple price-lists
Personalized experience (Customer-specific pricing, catalog, terms, etc.)
Sales leaders should anticipate the change in their buyer behavior and prepare their sales team for the most significant changes. Manufacturers can build singular commerce experience for their partners & customers. Distributors can make their physical stores as micro delivery centers and provide click to collect, buy online, and return to store kind of features to their customers. Building a new sales channel is imperative for manufacturers, wholesalers & distributors in today’s fast pacing changes. Happy selling!
Growmax ARC is the all-in-one B2B commerce platform built for small and mid-size distributors. Get up and running in days with built-in QuickBooks/Zoho/Xero integration, customer-specific pricing, and a self-service ordering portal — all for $199/month.
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Key challenges include managing complex pricing across customer tiers, maintaining real-time inventory visibility across locations, competing with Amazon Business and other digital marketplaces, retaining customer loyalty, and digitizing traditional sales processes without disrupting existing relationships.
B2B eCommerce involves online transactions between businesses, characterized by bulk ordering, negotiated pricing, complex approval workflows, and longer sales cycles. Unlike B2C, B2B buyers expect customer-specific catalogs, tiered pricing, and integration with ERP systems like SAP or QuickBooks.
B2B eCommerce platforms can increase revenue by 30-50% through 24/7 order availability, automated reordering, cross-selling via product recommendations, and reduced order processing costs. Digital channels also expand geographic reach without proportional overhead increases.
Essential features include customer-specific pricing and catalogs, bulk ordering capabilities, purchase order and credit term support, ERP/accounting integration, multi-warehouse inventory visibility, quote-to-order workflows, and mobile-responsive self-service portals.
