Although more B2B buying happens online than ever before, the caliber of the experience is constantly challenged by innovations in B2C ecommerce.

Sapio Research talked to 560 B2B clients who work with manufacturers and wholesale distributors to discover the things they look for in their B2B ecommerce purchasing journey.

The shift to online purchasing

The research shows that, typically, 75 % of the buyers are earning purchases online. Although many buyers want to purchase almost exclusively online not many achieve this because B2B merchants aren't meeting their needs.

This offers you an opportunity to obtain a competitive advantage by delivering a top quality B2B ecommerce experience for your buyers. You are able to provide excellent content, round the clock availability, personalization and streamlined purchasing and delivery. You will be in the perfect position to capture the interest of your competitors' customers too, if they're still struggling with telephone calls, emails and paper-based purchasing processes.

Cloudfy was designed from the outset for B2B ecommerce while offering leading-edge functionality and system integration options straight as they are. Whether you are planning the first B2B ecommerce venture or else you are ready to upgrade your ecommerce site to take benefit of the latest innovations, you could be all set to go in a matter of weeks instead of years with this particular software as a service (SaaS) solution.

Customer experience

One in four B2B buyers appear at first sight looking for an easier and faster checkout. They need an easy repeat order process, fast deliveries and improved tracking. To operate effectively they require a complete view of their purchasing process, from beginning to end. They know it's possible because all this is offered as standard within the B2C world.

As a B2B merchant the task you face would be to provide the speed and scope of Amazon and the tailored experience of your preferred online boutique. Cloudfy has an easy-to-use dashboard so that your brand can be clearly represented as well as your product details and costs can be simply updated and added. Because Cloudfy is designed for B2B, all your product codes, variations, technical details and customer-specific requirements can be treated without a fuss.

Accuracy

While B2C online sales in many cases are simple orders for any few products with few variations, exactly the same can not be said of B2B ecommerce. This really is one reason why four out of ten B2B buyers say they have frequently experienced online order errors.

The most common problems are mistakes concerning product choices, data entry and pricing. These are often due to errors introduced during manual data entry.

By integrating your ecommerce platform together with your other enterprise systems many of these issues only will disappear. Your buyers add their very own order details and preferences, including delivery requirements and they're automatically shared across all your systems. All relevant parties can easily see and track the same information simultaneously.

Availability

Once you have launched your new ecommerce site it's available around the clock, prepared to fit in with your buyers' needs. They are able to placed their orders at any time and everywhere, because a Cloudfy site is fully responsive for cellular devices.

Metrics

Ecommerce analytics have come quite a distance, because of B2C sellers. You may also take advantage of these techniques to enhance your decisions and your buyers' experiences. You should use previous buying and search histories to provide personalized catalogues when your buyers sign in, with easy reorder options and relevant promotions, offers and suggestions too. By understanding user journeys and conversion rates you can also improve your site and anticipate trends and preferences.

Cross-channel consistency

While your buyers might want to start most of their purchases online, they might still the help of your sales or customer service teams on the way. When everyone is sharing the same real-time information it will likely be easy for your employees to guide buyers right products. Their purchase can then be completed on their behalf or they are able to go back to your ecommerce site to continue using their self-service process.

Cloudfy is a Cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) solution so you don't have to make a capital investment to launch an ecommerce platform that won't only meet but exceed your buyers' expectations. You won't have to worry about keeping up with new developments either because regular updates are delivered in the Cloud to keep you at the forefront of innovation.