How to Crack B2B E-Commerce Website Development?
In the past, when you needed B2B e-commerce website development, it was crucial to present your business as an official entity. Thus, most B2B website developers and designers played it safe. They used to stick to a generic and template-driven design. However, with businesses shifting from robotic messaging and drab interfaces, B2B companies have also taken some customization tips from B2C companies. Today’s blog will share the best ways to crack B2B e-commerce website development.
The Marketing Perspective of a B2B Ecommerce Website Development
It can be scary when the developers must create a unique B2B e-commerce website. Thus, they stick to the norm and play it safe. However, there are potential rewards for taking calculated risks.
Thus, let’s discuss a few numbers here.
- According to Statista, e-commerce sales in the USA will cross $360 million by 2025.
- Another report states that e-commerce wholesale & retail sites (Amazon & eBay) top the list of retailers.
- According to Forrester, B2B is a quickly growing segment, reaching up to $1.8 trillion. It accounts for 17% of all the B2B sales in the USA.
Even though this could result from changing consumer behaviours, the reverse is true. Businesses are adapting to the consumers, thus, the demand for e-commerce mobile app development companies. Here are the strategies to create a successful B2B e-commerce website development.
Developing a Data-Driven Strategy
While creating a B2B e-commerce website development, the first step is to plan. Think about three features:
- What features to add?
- How will the website look?
- What are the products for selling?
- Who is your audience?
When you know the answer to these questions, it helps you to do your research and generate relevant ideas. Then, you can fine-tune them later to formulate a coherent plan to hit every critical point of the business vision. Some business owners strategize for their websites independently, while others make decisions through data analytics. Yes, it’s true that “data” is a buzzword in all industries; however, using it to make decisions increases the chances of success in a business.
Some Examples of the Recognizable Brands that Rely on Data
It is crucial to garner and harness consumer data from the website. Some popular brands use data to work on their B2B e-commerce website development strategy.
- Coca-Cola mastered using customized products that empowered them to stay relevant for over a century.
- Amazon uses prime features for loyal customers to ensure faster delivery.
- Starbucks used data from customer complaints to use mobile apps that allow you to place orders before the users even arrive at the shop.
- Kohl’s used a data-based search approach for launching Kohl’s Pay. This payment service allows users to shop, save and pay for the services – thus, resulting in a 39% increase in the number of orders.
Also Read: Let Your Jewelry Business Sparkle & Shine With Custom Ecommerce Website
You can use these examples as a reference depending on your business niche. All you need to do before B2B e-commerce website development is gather data to help you garner actionable insights. Here’s how you crack the B2B e-commerce website.
#1 Using Technology for Personalization
For creating a client-friendly B2B website, you need to shift attention to e-commerce development services that support customization. With access to a wide array of data and actionable insights, you can now rely on modern tools to improve the website’s overall experience.
Open-source tools like Figma & Sketch can help with the UI/UX design prototypes and wireframes. You can also choose other prototyping tools to review the site’s new features in real-time. Regarding website functionality, you should consider using AI for the best B2B e-commerce website development.
#2 Augment the Shopping Experience
Pricing and recommendations are not the only factors that need technology to personalize the shopping experience. B2B companies have the option to take things up a notch using VR & AR technologies. Did you know? According to Analytics Insight, the global value of VR & AR in B2B e-commerce website development will reach up to $17.86 billion by 2028. For instance, according to Foresight Factory’s future shopping report, 3 out of 10 customers want virtual dressing rooms instead of a physical store for clothes.
#3 Test Before the Launch
Making changes to the website interface might sound like a no-brainer, but you must be careful about the potential risks. Any feature you add during B2B e-commerce website development will expose a new entry point for the potential vulnerabilities – this is a possible point of failure.
For instance, if you add an AR tool to a website with a weak server, the traffic surges will force the server to crash. British car parts and tooling retailer Halford had to figure out the hard way when the website crashed during a Black Friday sale. Also, the clothing brand Lululemon lost millions in potential revenue when the website crashed during the Black Friday sale in 2018.
So, what are the lessons B2B companies can learn from this?
- It is crucial to modernize the legacy systems and the outdated databases.
- Create backup servers for unprecedented circumstances.
- Use scalable, cloud-based, and secure servers for managing traffic surges.
- Conduct trial runs using the beta versions before you launch a new feature on the e-commerce website.
#4 Launching & Maintain
Once the website is ready and tested, you can launch the updated version to the public. To get enough attention for the new website, you must create an awareness campaign on other social media channels. Alternatively, you can release the beta version for the consumers to test before you finalize the B2B e-commerce website development process.
However, that’s not it! You must constantly test the online marketplace to check for possible optimization opportunities. You need a complete site health check and SEO audit to ensure that the website performs according to the expectations. If not, you need to roll out weekly or even daily updates.
In Conclusion
Startups should borrow B2C strategies while hiring e-commerce website development companies. This will help them boost profit and increase the clientele. To stay relevant in this competitive landscape, you must make sure that the business decisions are data-driven. Conduct proper research and testing both before & after adding features to the website. Focus on improving user experience on multiple devices and platforms.
