Forward-looking E-business leaders are turning to customized e-commerce technologies to answer the call for improved online customer experience. While an intuitive UX and B2C (business to consumer) feel and look is being expected, creating a flawless experience in a complex B2B (business to business) environment poses unique challenges. In the last year, B2B platforms morphed into a more B2C look and feel — not just from a user experience perspective, but from a content point of view as well.
All that matters is that the content you present adds value for the B2B buyer. During B2B implementations, the focus areas are around customer/buyer-specific catalogs, and hopefully those are dynamic, reacting in real time to the customer’s buying behavior and past order history. Typically, B2B buyers want to re-order products that they already have approved and budgeted for — so instead of letting them pick from scratch every time through a catalog, B2B platforms can pre-populate a “shopping cart” as an order proposal.
Special pricing and offers for repeat buyers can also be included in their shopping carts. This is where the real-time and seamless integration to SAP is key and all configuration of SAP SD can be completely leveraged and reflected in their shopping cart. The buyer then only needs to fill in the quantity for a every line item. Naturally additional items can be added via traditional product catalog browsing/search. Forrester analyst Duncan Jones’ touches on another aspect of best-in-breed B2B E-Commerce sites: “Sellers can win favor with the Chief Procurement Officer’s mission to stop so-called “rogue-buying” by supporting their needs within their E-Commerce system. Such features may be optional extras at the moment, but they will soon be must-haves, as CPOs’ expectations, and sellers’ support for those expectations, increase.”
The 
look and feel of WECO E-Commerce can be customized based on audience. Our solution is built using HTML5 with responsive design. The same e-commerce application is delivered to multiple devices, whether it’s mobile, desktop, or laptop, which is a critical aspect of today’s e-selling experience. For the business, the logic on the back end is the same, and only one application needs to be supported. This cuts down on complexity and maintenance.
One of the major benefits of our solution is its capability to allow multiple ways of order entry: Users can order via a catalog or upload, using templates or past order history. One interface is all it takes to provide multiple methods for ordering. In addition to conventional order processes, some clients use the e-commerce platform as a secondary option for their customers. A variety of customer-oriented options, such as customer-specific welcome pages, product catalogs, as well as overall general usability in regards to what actions they can perform on the e-commerce site are provided.
While customer experience and creating the right look and feel are keys to launching a successful online store, it is important to carefully vet available solutions. Your implementation partner should help you implement a web store in tune with the latest standards and best practices. Be wary of solutions requiring you to adapt your organization’s business processes to the solution, not the other way around. If you’re eager to get started, an out-of-the-box implementation takes approximately three months, depending on complexity and enhancements. To ensure the project is delivered on time and within budget, CNBS follows a strict methodology from start to finish with key milestones along the way to assure success.
Creating and launching a modern, dynamic and scalable E-Commerce platform that your customers will love doesn’t have to be complex, expensive or take years to implement – do your due diligence and take the first step towards renewed digital revenue success.
