How a B2B e-commerce platform could change your business

By Ella Noll

Today’s consumers are digitizing, preferring to purchase online instead of in-person. And they favor companies that provide sleek and accessible websites to ones that don’t. Manufacturing clients are no different, so if you don’t yet have an e-commerce platform, it’s time to get one.

According to Forrester Research, B2B e-commerce grew by 7.7 percent in 2015, with $780 billion in sales, and is estimated to top $1 trillion by 2020. The market is big and the payoffs are high.

Forty percent of manufacturers already have an e-commerce platform, and of those who don’t, 69 percent are planning to launch one within two years. With consumers preferring the ease and timeliness of online transactions, they are opting for companies that have transactional websites.

Investing in a B2B e-commerce platform can increase your revenue in many ways. It can lead to more sales and customers and can eliminate the need to hire teams of costly customer service salespeople.

Steps to establish and maintain a successful platform

Setting up an e-commerce website is a very time-consuming and complicated process. These websites must handle an array of complex transactions like detailed quotes, custom pricing and product specifications. And if there’s anything that could hurt your business more than not having an e-commerce platform, it would be having a bad e-commerce platform.

Michael Moores, founder and CEO of Envalo, Inc., recommends these five steps for successful B2B e-commerce:

• Understand your ever-changing customer
• Don’t get replaced over bad digital user experience
• Elevate customer lifetime value
• Offer self-service
• Leverage an integrated platform

The main goal of an e-commerce website is to have a smoother transaction with the client. If you have a website or are considering making one, make sure it’s working toward this goal.

To read more about the benefits of B2B e-commerce in manufacturing, read the article below.

The role of B2B e-commerce in modern manufacturing – Mark Bartlett, Manufacturing.net

Ella Noll is a Client Manager at InTouch Manufacturing Services, a QC firm that performs product inspections and factory audits in Asia for clients in the US, EU and Australia.