Digital commerce is on the march across the business-to-business landscape. From wine producers to fast moving consumer goods companies, expanding online is helping to improve engagement with business customer while driving down costs.

We’ve mapped out the current state of B2B commerce and highlighted its benefits for B2B sellers. But to unlock the broad areas of opportunities, businesses need to establish the right digital foundations that is capable of handling a diverse set of challenges (providing comprehensive product information, fulfilling large-scale orders) and buyers (long-tail and short-tail customers).

Let’s unpack the fundamental building blocks that need to be pieced together to architect a successful B2B digital store:

Product information

• Product SKUs with detailed descriptions and media 

Provide each product with a comprehensive description and multimedia assets such as PDFs, images, and videos. By giving customers a deeper understanding of products, it enriches the shopping experience and leads to more informed purchasing decisions. 

• Integration with PIM system for accuracy 

Connect with a product information management (PIM) system to maintain data accuracy and consistency across all platforms. With unified data, B2Bs can better manage and update product details, which minimizes errors and discrepancies and maximizes brand credibility and customer trust.

Order management

• Tailored availability & pricing 

Ensure that product availability and pricing can be adjusted for the region, country, or account. For example, certain products may only be available in certain countries, or pricing may vary from region to region, all of which needs to be accurate and up to date. 

• Split orders for multiple delivery locations 

Implementing split orders to accommodate different delivery locations offers customers flexibility and convenience. From a business perspective, this approach serves to minimize logistical challenges such as stockouts and overstock situations. It also helps to simplify shipping complexities through the strategic grouping of shipments based on factors such as destination proximity and similar delivery schedules.

• Access prior orders and re-order with edits 

Ensure that business customers are able to easily access previous orders, make necessary modifications, and quickly reorder. Providing seamless access to historical transactions and efficient modifications increases customer satisfaction and is one step towards greater customer loyalty. 

• Search by product code and pre-fill order details 

The ability to search by product code allows for quick browsing experiences to streamline orders with pre-filled details. Providing GTIN codes can increase click-through rates by 40% and generate 20% more sales.  

• Scan-to-cart functionality 

Include the use of a mobile scanning device to automatically add a product to an order list. QR code scans quadrupled in 2022, including add-to-cart scanning, and are fast becoming a core part of digital commerce. Major brands are looking to offer independent retailers scan-to-cart functionality while browsing products in store to streamline the order fulfilment process. 

Streamlined transactions 

• Integration with PSP for secure card payments  

Provide a frictionless purchasing experience by integrating with a payment service provider (PSP) such as Klarna, Stripe, or PayPal to offer diverse features that cater to customer preferences in a safe and secure way. This could be ideal for new customers or smaller, one-off purchases. 

• Enable orders by order number

Ensure that business customers can order by order number. Many B2B orders are submitted using an order number, which assigns a distinct order number for tracking and reference purposes.

Promotions & recommendations  

• Cross-sell, upsell, and recommendations 

Boost sales with intelligent cross-selling and upselling suggestions. According to HubSpot, the most popular cross-selling strategy was bundling products, which is used by 63% of B2B sellers. Further integration with AI enhances personalization by providing highly relevant recommendations tailored to each customer.

• Quantity-based discounts & promotional offers

Implement quantity-based discounts and promotional offers to incentivise purchases. By enticing buyers to purchase in bulk, sellers can increase units per transaction (UPT), lower inventories, and reduce per-unit costs. Promotional offers can be linked to the account, region, or country to personalize offers and enhance customer engagement. 

• Custom pricing and discounts per account 

Tailor pricing and discounts for each account. More than 8-in-10 B2B buyers believe that personalization enhances their purchasing experience. When customers feel valued, they’re more likely to feel engaged, repeat purchases, and become loyal to the brand.  

Customer experience 

• Special offers and redemption codes 

Incorporating special offers and redemption codes enhances the customer experience by creating a sense of exclusivity, fostering stronger relationships and elevating satisfaction. Personalizing offers will deepen this connection as it shows a stronger understanding of its customers’ wants and needs. 

• Persistent cart and on-site search capabilities 

Maintain persistent shopping carts and efficient on-site search capabilities for seamless browsing. These are crucial as they streamline purchasing and enable customers to easily revisit items and swiftly locate products, enhancing efficiency and overall satisfaction.  

• Exit reminders, cart retention 

Use exit reminders and cart retention strategies to not only minimize abandoned carts but also optimise conversion rates, which further provides a quality B2B shopping experience.  

• Spend-based rewards 

Implement spend-based rewards to drive customer loyalty and repeat business. Much like B2C loyalty strategies, B2Bs can mirror the points-based programs to also collect zero-party data to continually optimize and react in real time to shifts in customer behavior.

• Intuitive interface with mobile responsiveness

Design an intuitive and user-friendly interface across devices and channels, with particular attention to mobile responsiveness. Almost 7-in-10 customers are likely to make a purchase if a website has a good UI/UX.

Tryzens-added enhancements

The customer experience has become a critical source of differentiation for businesses – even in the B2B landscape expectations are high, with 63% of business buyers saying that most customer experiences fall short of what they know is possible. 

Work with Tryzens’ to enhance your customer-first capabilities and deliver on first-class experiences. These enhancements include:  

• Visibility on the delivery status

Providing customers transparency around their order status encourages proactive issue management, reduces inquiries, and enhances overall customer satisfaction.  

• Date-based ordering 

Give customers the flexibility to carry out orders to be delivered on a specific date, based on location, product, and volume. 

• Inventory visibility of stock levels at point of ordering 

Inventory visibility enables accurate demand forecasting, prevents stockouts, and enhances order fulfilment. Real-time insights empower efficient decision-making, ensuring customers’ needs are met while reducing carrying costs and improving overall supply chain efficiency.  

• Ability to cancel, adjust orders through the customer interface 

Enabling order adjustments and cancellation can foster a sense of customer control and convenience. This feature enhances customer experience, reduces customer service burdens, and promotes loyalty by accommodating changing needs swiftly and seamlessly.

• Returns management 

When customers find it easy and straightforward to return products, it can actually enhance the business reputation and instill confidence, knowing that returning products can be a hassle-free experience.

If you’re a B2B with ambitions of expanding into digital commerce, then send Tryzens a message. We use innovative solutions to get brands connected with digital commerce and continually optimize their capabilities to accelerate growth and strengthen customer engagement.