When selling products or services between companies online, it is essential to have a B2B e-commerce. This category includes online sales sites that sell products or services designed for companies or professionals. From wholesale sites to marketplaces where you can buy products from various suppliers, there are different types of business-to-business e-commerce.
After seeing the types of e-commerce in the B2B sector, we will see how to start an e-commerce and what features are essential in the website. Finally, we will see several examples of e-commerce in different B2B sectors.
Types of B2B e-commerce
A B2B e-commerce is a website used by a company to sell products (or services) to another company. On the other hand, we have B2C e-commerce in which the sale is directed to the end customer.
When we talk about B2B e-commerce we are actually referring to different types of online stores that fall into this macro category. The common point of these categories is that they are all e-commerce aimed at selling to another business, whether a company or a professional.
Wholesalers
Wholesale e-commerce stores are like their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Wholesale companies sell goods in large quantities at prices that are lower than the retail price. They are the ideal e-commerce stores to turn to if you are a manufacturer or distributor who then deals with reselling.
Manufacturers
Companies that produce products use e-commerce to resell their products. To give a practical example, this category could include a hardware component manufacturer that resells to wholesalers or other manufacturers.
Dealers
The category of dealers includes all those models of companies that act as intermediaries between manufacturers and other buyers. Often, in fact, manufacturers do not sell exclusively their products, but they rely on dealers to have a more widespread distribution.
B2B2C
A particular category of B2B e-commerce is what is called B2B2C (business to business to consumer). In B2B2C there is a collaboration between a B2B company and a B2C in order to be able to get to the sale to the end customer.
Unlike cases in which the sale of products occurs in white label and therefore the product can undergo a rebranding before the sale and no longer be linked to the manufacturer, in B2B2C things change. In this model, in fact, the product remains linked to the brand that produces it. One of the major advantages of a B2B2C model is precisely the possibility of strengthening the identity and reliability of the brand.
Marketplace
Marketplaces are a particular example of B2B e-commerce. You will certainly be familiar with companies like Amazon, well, this same business model can also be applied strictly to the B2B sphere. Amazon itself, with the Amazon Business section, applies the marketplace model to B2B e-commerce reserved for companies and professionals.
The characteristic that discern a marketplace from other types of traditional e-commerce is that it is an online store in which products (or services) from different suppliers are sold. The advantage is that you can buy multiple products together without having to place separate orders from different companies. Often marketplaces also offer wholesale purchasing options, so in this sense marketplaces can be compared to wholesale e-commerce.
How to start a B2B e-commerce
Starting a B2B e-commerce when you already have a solid company is easier because it consists of extending your business online. Even with the road paved, there are still some important considerations to make to start a business or to take your business online.
We have collected some useful tips to help you understand where to start, summarizing them in these steps:
- create a business plan;
- choose an e-commerce platform;
- start small and expand in three phases: startup – growth – expansion.
Create a business plan
If you already have a business, it is important to adapt the business plan to the needs of online sales. A business plan should have a series of essential documents:
- Executive summary: a section that summarizes the business plan itself. In this section you need to explain what our business does, what the goals are, what the target is, what our products (or services) are, what the current state and forecasts are for the financial state, information about the team and the marketing strategy.
- Company description: this section includes the company structure, mission, corporate values and business model. It can also be useful to add information about your industry.
- Financial and operational plan: here you need to consider all aspects related to expenses, earnings, suppliers, as well as the equipment and facilities we need to operate.
- Marketing plan: a detailed section that outlines the marketing activities to be carried out, both online and offline, is a must.
Choosing an e-commerce platform
Choosing a platform to create your B2B e-commerce depends on several factors. Today there are several platforms that can be used, each of them adapts differently based on the needs of your business.
When choosing we can take these different aspects into consideration.
Hosting Type
When choosing an e-commerce platform, we must first know that there are two options:
- hosted solution;
- self-hosted solution.
Hosted platforms are all solutions that offer the use of the platform and integrated hosting (hosting is the service that provides the server or web space needed to make the site accessible). This category includes, for example, Shopify, Wix and BigCommerce.
If, on the other hand, we use an open source solution such as WooCommerce, Magento or PrestaShop, we will have a self-hosted solution and we will also have to choose an appropriate hosting service. Depending on the number of visits (and the chosen platform), e-commerce generally requires a cloud plan or a dedicated server.
Platform functions
Another aspect to consider when creating an e-commerce is the type of store you want to create. You will need to make sure that the required functions are available.
Among the options you may want to consider:
- options to create a multi-currency and multi-language e-commerce;
- payment options available;
- integrations with CRM and management systems;
- integrations with warehouse systems;
- integrated reporting and marketing systems.
As you can see, there are many aspects that should be taken into consideration when choosing.
Budget
When choosing the platform to use, we cannot ignore the budget. Depending on the platform chosen, the costs also vary significantly.
In particular, it is important to take into account that in addition to the cost of maintaining the platform, therefore the monthly or annual cost of the platform or hosting plan (for self-hosted platforms), other costs must also be added for:
- Initial e-commerce design;
- Implementation of additional features in the future (e.g. to expand to another market);
- Maintenance for updates and modifications;
- License costs;
- Transaction costs.
Starting from a startup to expand
You can’t set up a complex business overnight. The ideal is to start from a minimal version, for example following the startup model.
In a first phase, you can test the market to validate the business idea. In this phase, it is important to focus on aspects ranging from containing the budget to collecting feedback that can help us make the right decisions.
Subsequently, after validating the business idea, you can move on to a growth phase in which you can expand the team of employees and experiment with new marketing strategies to continue growing the business.
Only in a more mature phase, you can start thinking about expansion, for example by starting to take action to reach new markets, or to expand using more distribution channels.
Essential components in a B2B e-commerce
The paths to follow for the creation of a B2B e-commerce are different because they also vary based on the platform you choose. However, there are essential factors to take into consideration in every e-commerce in the business to business sales sector. Let’s see what they are.
Improve product catalog management
The organization of the product catalog in a B2B e-commerce is one of the aspects to give top priority. In fact, the product search is the fundamental step that can simplify the purchase and it is important to make it as fluid as possible.
In particular, when structuring the product catalog, these aspects should be evaluated:
- Using categories and subcategories: This structure makes it easier to search for products and find products similar to the one you are looking for.
- Using filters: It is important to have filters for different product attributes including availability, size, material and brand.
- Improving search: The ideal is to have a search system that helps people find what they are looking for in the shortest possible time. For example, auto-complete functions and suggestions can be of great help.
Here are two examples of product organization using filters (on the right) and subcategories (on the left) from an e-commerce website (Climamarket).
Manage content creation
For the success of an e-commerce, you need to give a lot of importance to the content marketing strategy. The creation of content involves several aspects, all of which are fundamental for the creation of an e-commerce.
On one hand, we have the description of the products: the product sheets must be detailed and taken care of from every point of view. This means, for example, showing images and videos of the product, but also inserting important details such as technical specifications and any sheets that can provide information on compatibility with other systems.
For example, Thermo Fisher inserts additional documents into the product sheets that help to understand the effectiveness of the product based on the use cases.
Another interesting feature that can be used to improve product sheets is to include comparison functions between similar products. For example, Sigma-Aldrich allows not only to display a comparison between similar products, but also allows us to highlight the differences between the products presented.
In addition to the work that can be done on product sheets, content creation also helps us in other aspects, for example, to create specific content that is not directly linked to sales, but to customer education. This category includes guides to product selection, case studies and videos that show practical applications, many of these contents can also be useful for intercepting organic traffic.
Content creation, therefore, is not limited to creating detailed product sheets, but can go well beyond the post-sales phase.
For example, Telwin has an Academy section on its website where there is detailed information on the correct use and maintenance of batteries and actual training courses.
Sigma-Aldrich has a “Calculators & Apps” section where they provide calculators, conversion tables and unit converters. All tools that can be useful in laboratory preparations.
These two are examples of how to leverage content marketing and the inclusion of dedicated sections on the site to improve the customer experience by helping them make the most of the products.
Design interface and design
As we anticipated when talking about the organization of the product catalog, when creating a B2B e-commerce it is important to pay the right attention to the design of the website. The experience for those who browse the site in search of a product to buy must be fluid and without obstacles. This means that each area of the site must be designed to guide visitors towards what they want.
It is therefore necessary to correctly structure the navigation menus, the position of the filters that appear in the consultation of the catalog and also make advanced functions available for the checkout. For this last point, for example, you can think of additional functions that allow two types of order: to purchase both as a guest and to create your own profile in order to order more quickly for the next order.
Another example is the Quick order function of Thermo Fisher that allows you to make a quick order of products based on the ID number and also allows you to upload an xls file with the list of products to order.
Let’s not forget that today, it is essential to have a responsive site that is perfectly functional and easy to navigate from all devices (smartphones, tablets and desktop computers).
Offer advanced purchasing options
A feature that cannot be missing in B2B e-commerce is the customization of purchasing options. B2B buyers can have very different needs when purchasing especially with regards to bulk purchases.
For this reason it is important to consider different aspects such as:
- establish a minimum order quantity;
- make differentiated prices based on the quantities ordered;
- offer discounts in the case of bulk purchases.
It is also important to offer an advanced choice for the types of payment accepted in order to meet the different needs of companies that want to purchase.
Improving security
All websites should focus on security measures and this is even more true for e-commerce sites that handle payment data and personal information. Both for GDPR reasons and to avoid data breach risks, security should be the top concern for those who own an e-commerce site.
Luckily, by relying on reliable platforms or hosting, you can have advanced server hardening services and adopt disaster recovery systems.
Optimize speed
User experience on a website is evaluated by taking into account several factors:
- on one hand we have the usability of the site, in which the design and the interface intervene, as we saw before;
- on the other hand usability is also influenced by the loading speed.
When it comes to e-commerce with huge catalogs, site speed becomes even more important. A Google study found that having a fast site reduces the bounce rate (page abandonment rate). In particular, an increase of just 0.1 seconds in loading reduced the bounce rate by 8.3%.
Highlight reviews
Reviews, mentions, video testimonials and case studies are essential in an e-commerce. A good product sheet with all the technical features can resolve some doubts, but it is the reviews and real experiences that really make the difference in many cases. This is true for both B2C and B2B sales.
Manage customers
One of the aspects to consider when creating an e-commerce in the B2B field is customer management. It is important to have a CRM that allows us to organize customer information, track orders, but also stay in touch with leads. Lead generation tools often have integrated CRMs or integrate with them through extensions or third-party tools.
E-commerce platforms can also have integrated CRMs or offer integration systems. For example, PrestaShop has a B2B mode that can be activated to unlock new fields on each customer page (such as company name, business code, etc.).
B2B e-commerce examples
Alibaba
Alibaba is a B2B e-commerce that falls into the category of marketplaces. Inside you can find various categories of products ranging from household materials to industrial supplies. It also allows you to consult the list of global suppliers, grouped by country and then filterable by category.
Amazon Business
Amazon Business is the version of Amazon reserved for companies. Through this e-commerce you can buy at advantageous prices and wholesale products for different categories, from office supplies to products for safety at work.
Berlin Packaging
Berlin Packaging is a reference point for the packaging industry. By visiting the US version of the website, you can directly access the e-commerce. Interesting is the possibility of browsing the products both by reference sector (for example packaging for the automotive sector), and by function (for example sustainable packaging).
Unite (formerly Mercateo)
On Unite (formerly Mercateo) you can buy office supplies, electronics, up to packaging materials and business furniture. You can filter searches by category or brand. There is also a different and multilingual version available based on the selected country.
Medline
In the healthcare sector, Medline produces and distributes medical materials from equipment to surgical clothing, to instruments for treatment and diagnostics. It allows access to the catalog divided by country.
Thermo Fisher
Thermo Fisher produces instruments for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Its products range from laboratory equipment to culture media and reagents.
The e-commerce is well structured with the presence of advanced filters by product category, but also specific types based on the pre-selected category. Important information is highlighted such as access to information on prices and availability and the quick order function we talked about before.
Develop an e-commerce that converts with Visilay
Even if you have an e-commerce already started in the B2B field, it is always possible to improve the work done so far. At Visilay we have followed several clients with e-commerce, including Bosatta, B2B e-commerce on which we worked to improve multi-country sales and solved user experience issues that interfered with the conclusion of the purchase. With the right analysis we can help you identify the critical issues in your e-commerce and in the sales process and help you adopt solutions that allow you to improve conversions.
