What Is B2B E-Commerce: The Important Things You Should Understand

You know B2B (business to business). And you know e-commerce. 

So what is B2B e-commerce?

It seems easy enough when you break it down into its component parts. You have B2B which means a business selling its products or services to another business. And you have e-commerce, which suggests that these transactions are happening online or through a platform.

But put that way, it’s too broad a definition. To help you understand how B2B e-commerce fits into your business, let’s talk about its most important characteristics.

Understanding What Is B2B E-Commerce

One of the ways B2B e-commerce differs from B2C (business to consumer) e-commerce is the complexity of transactions. When selling to an individual consumer, there’s not much variability in the prices.

This is because unlike B2B e-commerce transactions, the volume of products and services is much lower. Shipping is also less complicated.

In contrast, when you’re selling to another business, you’re dealing with a much larger entity. Often, sellers are made to go through a bidding process and it takes a lot more steps before the buyer decides to go through with the purchase. 

And it’s not only because the dollar value of goods and services sold is much higher. There are other factors to consider such as shipping requirements, tax and regulatory impediments, and so on. For these reasons, your choice of B2B e-commerce business platform is crucial to the success of your company.

The Value of a Business to Business Ecommerce Platform  

At this point, you may be wondering why you should even invest in a B2B e-commerce platform. If offering products and services through a sales rep has worked and continues to work for you, what’s the value of going online? 

While there’s nothing wrong with having a dedicated sales team to push your goods or services, you can’t lose out to your competitors. You can bet that they’re exploring an omnichannel strategy (if they don’t already have one). And they’re not letting potential clients who are mostly online fall through the cracks.

Without investing in a B2B e-commerce platform, you’re going to struggle to compete. You’ll also be missing out on customers who prefer to search, purchase, and complete transactions online. 

Some B2B E-Commerce Tips to Keep in Mind

Are you ready to embrace online selling and market to other businesses? 

As a B2B seller, there’s one thing you can learn from B2C e-commerce companies: focus on customer experience. While your customers are on your website, make sure their browsing, shopping, and buying experiences are as smooth and easy as possible.

Another tip you should remember is to learn from the best. Take, for example, Slalom, which does consulting for Salesforce, AWS, and so on. On their website, you can see that they have compelling case studies, as well as an informative blog.

These all help to make the case that their services can help other businesses enhance their bottom line. If you can replicate this strategy or tailor it to your industry, attracting clients and closing sales become much easier.

Need More B2B Advice and Tips?

It would be good if you can use what you’ve learned here to generate new opportunities for your company. 

But if you need more clarification on what is B2B e-commerce, as well as other business topics, feel free to browse our site. You’ll also find other articles on entrepreneurship, marketing, customer service, and more.