The Best B2B eCommerce Software for Manufacturers

1. The Best B2B eCommerce Software for Manufacturers ===================================== The pandemic hit the economy hard in 2020. Still, in the face of a burgeoning crisis, B2B eCommerce grew by 10%. Manufacturers hoping to build business resilience post-pandemic will have to invest in B2B eCommerce software. But where to begin? Here, we explore the 9 biggest advantages that B2B eCommerce software bestows on digital leaders. And identify the essential B2B eCommerce software platforms for manufacturers of all sizes. Why B2B eCommerce software solutions are vital in 2021 COVID-19 has moved entire industries online. And according to research by McKinsey, only 20% of B2B buyers want a return to the status quo, even in sectors like biotech where in-person sales have dominated since day one! Once a "nice-to-have," B2B eCommerce has become the dominant go-to-market strategy for manufacturers for 2021 and beyond. Taking a "wait-and-see" approach to B2B eCommerce–letting competitors make the first move and learning from their mistakes–is way too risky. B2B eCommerce software provides a profound first-mover advantage thanks to the impact of data-driven insights on sales performance. Digital leaders are pulling away from the pack and taking an unassailable lead. The time to act is now! 9 reasons why manufacturers need to harness B2B eCommerce software now 1.Manufacturers can reach a global market through search. Innovative use of digital marketing–from content to email and social–levels the playing field, letting small and medium-sized manufacturers punch way above their weight. 2.The best B2B eCommerce software is fully scalable, particularly software from SaaS providers. Manufacturers in high growth industries like biotech can take on new customers without increasing their workforce size or putting existing IT systems under strain. 3.B2B eCommerce software automates core sales processes, which increases efficiency and lowers costs compared with in-person sales. Forget about travel expenses, sick days, canceled meetings, rogue selling, and human error–B2B eCommerce software just works. We're not saying:

2. "fire the sales team," but let your reps focus on revenue-generating activities rather than menial busywork. 4.With B2B eCommerce software, manufacturers can cut out distributors and go direct-to-consumer, boosting margins and taking ownership of their customers' juicy data. Manufacturers wanting the customers without the customer support headache can go down the B2B2C route instead–partnering with respected brands to increase their own brand awareness. 5.B2B eCommerce software gives manufacturers access to detailed analytics that provide a holistic understanding of customers and sales channels. Armed with real-time data, managers can predict customer behavior to increase customer satisfaction, forecasting accuracy, and profit-making potential. 6.B2B eCommerce software caters to the preferences of Millennial buyers– those born post-1980–who have never known an internetless word and strongly favor independent research and online self-service over face-to- face sales rep interactions. 7.B2B eCommerce software increases revenue through tailored recommendations, promotions, upsells, cross-sells, and personalized customer journeys. The best sales reps have honed time-honored tactics for extracting maximum profit from customers. But B2B eCommerce software has machine learning and AI on its side! 8.B2B eCommerce software serves as a single source of truth for sales organization-wide. Each functional department can gain access, breaking down silos, improving collaboration, and democratizing data to supercharge innovation. 9.The best B2B eCommerce software integrates easily with hundreds of cloud-based tools and solutions to level up manufacturing efficiency. Take KBMax, for example– Sales reps and end customers can configure complex products using an intuitive visual interface, then automatically generate technical drawings in CAD, which are sent to engineering and the shopfloor. A process that often takes weeks can be performed in minutes.Open-source, SaaS, or Headless? Which is the best type of B2B eCommerce software for manufacturers?

3. When selecting your B2B eCommerce software, the critical decision to make is which platform to choose. Your platform can determine your eCommerce project's long-term success or failure and the speed at which you can recoup your initial financial outlay. We can separate B2B eCommerce platforms down into three main groups– open-source, SaaS, and headless. Let's find out which option is right for your business... Platform #1: Open-Source Best-in-Class: Magento, OpenCart With an open-source B2B eCommerce platform, you really "own" your code. You're not beholden to any third-party for security, compliance, price hikes, or anything else. And you can modify your site to your heart's content, specifying exactly how it looks and operates. Going open-source gives you complete power over your website, but with great power comes great responsibility! And in the world of B2B eCommerce software, there are a LOT of things to be responsible for–PCI compliance, hosting, patches, updates, upgrades, bugs, integrations... need I go on? Maintaining and making changes to an open- source B2B eCommerce platform can be a nightmare! It's slow, technically challenging, and very expensive due to developer fees. One false move and the whole thing comes crashing down, causing significant downtime. While an open-source B2B eCommerce platform might be free-to-own, the TCO (total cost of ownership) is, on average, six times higher than a SaaS platform. And for this reason, if nothing else, an open-source B2B eCommerce platform is really only suited to large, IT-heavy organizations who want custom everything. Platform #2: SaaS Best-in-Class: Shopify Plus, Oracle SuiteCommerce For simplicity, agility, and cost-effectiveness, there's no better option than SaaS. Instead of building your own B2B eCommerce site from scratch, you rent one from a SaaS provider like Shopify, and they manage everything for you–from security to updates–with little risk of downtime and 24/7 support if you get stuck.

4. SaaS B2B eCommerce platforms are, essentially, "ready-to-go" right out of the box. You can be up-and-running in weeks with little need for technical know- how. With Shopify Plus, you're able to add additional functionality with a couple of clicks, thanks to apps in the Shopify Plus Certified App Program. You can also edit your code. So the potential for modification is, to all intents and purposes, endless. Platform #3: Headless Best-in-Class: BigCommerce, Shopify Plus (Headless Commerce) The third type of B2B eCommerce platform–the one that provides complete omnichannel flexibility–is headless. With headless, your website’s front-end (the side your customers see) and back-end (the side your employees use to manage your site) are decoupled. This decoupling means that you can add, remove, and test front-ends continuously, taking a lean approach to online. You can pick a different presentation layer for each channel (eCommerce stores, mobile apps, IoT, etc.) without them affecting one another's stability. The downside to Headless is complexity and cost. Headless requires far more developer input than an out-of-the-box SaaS platform. Still, if you're operating across multiple channels and sites, it provides unbeatable agility.