11 Features Your B2B Ecommerce Store Needs to be Successful

E-commerce has been on the rise over the past decade since most people now actually do their shopping online. But what is a B2B eCommerce store? It stands for business to electronic business commerce in full.

In simpler terms, it refers to internet-based transactions between companies and, often, involves wholesale distributors selling products to retail buyers.

To make your B2B eCommerce store successful, you need to consider a few features that make the business stand alone in the crowd.

Here are several.

  • Password-protected access

This feature is especially useful for B2B sites. B2C tends to rave about low prices, thus getting all the good deals. But some B2Bs are a bit reserved, meaning they withhold their pricing from the public by coming up with an encrypted password area to be accessed only by verified customers. This comes in handy if you’re competitive with pricing or you sell to a network of resellers.

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  • Having Online Security

Of course, for any online business to thrive, there must be online security, and that’s where SSL certificates come into play – these are highly trusted SSL Certificates that provide encryption at their very best. It also validates ownership of the domain and business existence. If you are searching for affordable online security, then you can consider the Comodo Essential SSL certificate. Ensuring your clients’ details are kept safe, you need to have an SSL certificate that provides state-of-the-art protection against data sniffing and brute attacks.

  • Superior quality product images

purchased a shoe online, but upon arrival, it doesn’t fit? That’s one downside to online shopping, not being able to handle a product physically. B2B sites must avoid customer dissatisfaction at all costs. They can solve this problem by providing a high level of detail in product imagery, so the client knows exactly what the product looks like, saving them the displeasure of an unpleasant surprise. They can even go ahead and take a short video and superior quality close-ups. 

  • Having a real-time inventory

shopping can get frustrating after placing your orders only to get a notification stating that not all the products are in stock. Real-time inventories provide real-time information regarding your stock, thus saving you customer dissatisfaction and saving face. 

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  • Offering discounts for bulk buyers

As is the norm, B2B stores are renowned for bulk sales rather than B2C which are more into retail. It would thus be a brilliant idea to offer a specific percentage off for bulk buyers or a discount.

But there’s a catch, ensure your pricing system allows you to give discounts depending on the quantity ordered for better efficiency.

  • Indicate the VAT price toggle

Most people expect to see the prices mentioned are VAT exclusive, as much as this may go either way; it is advised to include the VAT for excellent customer experience. Doing so reduces the chances of clients going through the trouble of finding a VAT calculator elsewhere. Try it today.

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  • Advanced search algorithm

Most B2B stores go wrong here, they have an extensive catalog, but the client spends a long time looking for exactly what they need. This can prove to be very harmful to your business growth. Pumping your money into these advanced search facilities like Algolia can rocket your product visibility to a whole other level. It can filter search results, autocomplete words, or bring up related products. 

  • Handling shipping costs

Shipping costs are a significant concern to most export-import businesses. Integrating some shipping service providers into your system can be an excellent idea. It would save the client the hustle of getting a shipping company to deliver the products. So, if you integrate, consumers would be able to choose their favorite service provider and view their various charges. Many shipping providers like FedEx and Aramex etc. can be integrated via their web APIs with your site.

  • Reliable order management

The internet is not always reliable, you could lose your inventory system by either power outage or sabotage by hackers, and this, however, can be prevented by employing the proper security. It should guard your site against external interference. Nevertheless, having an offline inventory system that keeps track of orders, time of order, the quantity of order, and pricing is vital. It would help if you had a plan of handling multiple orders before even setting up the store. This will help a great deal in tracking all orders and updating your inventory.

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  • Warehouse integration

This is a necessity for any serious B2B Store, whether you have a single or multiple warehouses spaced out over various localities. It would help if you had an inventory that has records of the products present in the warehouse, what’s out of stock, and many other details. An excellent B2B store must master this technique and integrate the warehouses and maintain a clean record for better management.

  • Online negotiations

This is, of course, an optional feature but a very attractive one. Placing this feature on your site enables customers to pick out items and reach out for negotiations on the pricing. Once an agreement is reached, you can edit the payable amount and update the new price. This is very healthy for maintaining good customer relations.

  •  Customer registration.

The customer registration feature comes in handy when you customize search results for customers, their orders, and payment details. Once the information is captured, you can use their email addresses to send emails about updates on pricing, discounts, and so much more.

Above mentioned B2B eCommerce features list is essential to make your business stand out from your competitors. So, what are you waiting for? Scale up your B2B commerce online store Today!