Effective B2B solutions rely upon offering the most efficient, relevant, and compelling shopping experience for the unique needs of a wholesale buyer. Your products may draw interested buyers to your store, but unless you also serve them fast navigation, dialed in pricing, time-saving ordering methods, and very timely messaging, you might be losing business. In this blog, we’ll identify 5 under-appreciated B2B ecommerce platform features which can provide first-rate value for your store.
1. Site Speed
The importance of a fast-loading website cannot be understated. A slow-loading page can be the difference between quickly closing a sale and losing a potential long term client. According to various studies, even a single second delay can result in a significant reduction in conversions. For B2B buyers working on tight budgets and schedules, the perception of a slow, outdated website can be enough to discourage them from becoming a regular customer. For this reason, any B2B solutions you explore should prioritize page loading speed—ensuring seamless navigation, quick access to product information, and a breezy, intuitive journey through transactions and checkouts.
2. Native Price Quoting
For professional sales teams and buyers alike, a B2B platform’s ability to generate, send, and manage custom price quotes is a very useful enhancement to the ordering process. B2B buyers often request tailored pricing based on quantities, pre-negotiated agreements, or availability/timing of order fulfillment. They may need to get approval from other departments prior to purchasing. Automated price quoting systems allow businesses to swiftly respond to inquiries, providing a timely conversion incentive, and reducing the amount of waiting and busy-work for B2B customers.
Read more about how to effectively use price quotes here.
3. Dynamic Pricing and Account-Based Pricing
As market dynamics like consumer demand, inventory availability, and competitor pricing change, B2B stores must be able to adapt their pricing strategies on a dime. Dynamic pricing solutions allow B2B merchants to adjust prices in real time based on pre-set criteria such as stock levels, ensuring they remain flexible and competitive while also protecting profits. This strategy is particularly important in industries subject to fluctuating market conditions and complex supply chains, allowing businesses maximum flexibility over their margins and inventory.
Pre-negotiating price structures for B2B accounts can also be an excellent way for businesses to attract loyal shoppers. Account-based pricing can then be used to personalize the buyer’s shopping experience when they are on your site and browsing items.
4. Page Builders with Scheduling Features
Engaging, timely content is the core of effective B2B ecommerce marketing, but tight schedules and unpredictable conditions can leave merchants and content teams without enough bandwidth to develop and deploy content. Developing page content and promotions for complex B2B product catalogs with dependent SKUs and many variations can be time-consuming and require significant planning.
While many ecommerce platforms offer page building tools, few have the ability to schedule pages or page components to launch at a future date and time. A page builder with scheduling capabilities allows businesses to build and schedule content releases strategically, working ahead and taking the stress out of high-traffic seasons. By organizing content far in advance, these types of B2B solutions give merchants the time to ensure that promotions and messaging hit the mark.
5. "Shop As Customer" for B2B
“Shop As Customer” is a feature that empowers B2B merchants to view their platform from the customer's perspective and assist with orders as needed. By stepping into the shoes of a client, businesses can instantly identify pain points, connect shoppers with the products they are seeking, place items in the cart, speed up the ordering process, and enhance the overall shopping experience. This form of concierge ecommerce service can be a powerful conversion driver, and shows customers your commitment to excellent support on the spot.
Personalize B2B solutions for your customers with these great “unsung” features.
Fast loading sites, customized pricing/ordering, and thoughtfully executed promotions are some of the ways to go above and beyond customer expectations, while maintaining the flexibility to adapt on the fly to the market and costs. Meanwhile, customers are treated to a much more personalized ecommerce experience—one which they will be likely to return to.
About The Author
Katy Ellquist
Katy Ellquist, Miva’s Digital Marketing Strategist, is an accomplished writer, marketer, and social media analyst who has created sophisticated content campaigns for a broad range of professional clients. She brings to Miva a complex understanding of ecommerce trends and techniques, building upon extensive digital agency experience and a prior role as direct liaison to Miva’s top accounts. Katy is a regular contributor to the Miva blog, covering essential ecommerce topics like design & development strategy, site optimization, and omnichannel selling, with the goal of increasing the actionable knowledgebase of the entire Miva community.
