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B2B eCommerce

Why Your Sales Team Will Love AI SmartOrder for Managing B2B Orders

January 14, 2025 | Oro Team

This article was contributed by AAXIS, a Gold Solution Partner of OroCommerce specializing in B2B digital transformation.

A customer calls to place an order, and the sales rep notes it down, double-checks the details, and manually enters it into the system. It’s a familiar workflow that works – until the volume of orders or the complexity of requests starts piling up.

Statista reports that in 2023, nearly 75% of B2B professionals still placed orders through traditional methods like phone calls, emails, or faxes. While these methods remain convenient for customers, they can create significant challenges for sales teams tasked with managing and processing orders efficiently.

That’s where tools like OroCommerce’s AI-powered SmartOrder come in. This platform-native feature automates the processing of purchase orders from any format, including email and fax, reducing manual effort by up to 95% and freeing sales teams to focus on higher-value tasks.

At AAXIS, OroCommerce’s Gold Solution Partner, we recently implemented AI SmartOrder for one of our building materials manufacturing and distribution clients. Based on these implementations, we want to share why we believe this solution is a game-changer for B2B sales teams.

In this article, we’ll dive into the challenges of managing traditional order methods, how SmartOrder addresses them, and the significant benefits it brings to B2B operations.

The Problem: Managing Traditional Orders Puts Pressure on Sales Teams

Traditional order methods like fax, email, and phone calls remain a staple for many B2B businesses, offering customers a familiar and convenient way to place orders. But these workflows often create a hidden burden on sales teams. Instead of focusing on building relationships or closing deals, they’re stuck chasing down details, resolving errors, and manually processing orders – tasks that can quickly pile up, especially during peak demand.

Even with modern eCommerce platforms available, many businesses struggle to fully adopt them. Customers prefer sticking to what’s familiar, while sales teams are left juggling inefficient processes. Over time, these inefficiencies add up:

  • Time-Draining Manual Entry: Sales reps spend hours on data entry that could be automated, leaving less time for strategic work like customer engagement.
  • Higher Risk of Errors: Manual processes inevitably lead to mistakes, like incorrect quantities, pricing mismatches, or wrong customer details, that snowball into costly fixes.
  • Slow Order Fulfillment: Every step takes longer when it has to be reviewed, entered, and validated manually, frustrating both sales teams and customers.
  • Rising Operational Costs: Inefficient processes increase labor costs and reduce productivity, eating into margins.
  • Customer Service Bottlenecks: Mistakes and delays create extra work for support teams, who must resolve issues instead of proactively assisting customers.

Smart tools like OroCommerce’s AI-powered SmartOrder bridge the gap. By keeping traditional workflows intact for customers while automating back-end processes for sales teams, businesses can retain what works while gaining new efficiency.
PO order recognition AI

The Solution: AI SmartOrder in Action

Imagine a typical day for a sales rep at a B2B manufacturing company. They arrive at their desk to find dozens of purchase orders waiting in their inbox, some sent via email, others as scanned faxes. Each one needs to be manually opened, reviewed, cross-checked against the system, and entered into the ERP. It’s a process that’s prone to errors, delays, and frustration.

With OroCommerce’s AI SmartOrder, this scenario looks entirely different. Instead of manually handling each order, AI SmartOrder scans the email inbox automatically, reads the attached purchase orders – whether PDFs, faxes, or other formats – and processes them in real time.

Watch Itay Braverman, VP of Product at OroCommerce, showcasing AI SmartOrder and AI SmartAgent features in action:

The data is instantly validated against system records, flagging any discrepancies for quick review. For more complex cases, sales reps can upload scanned documents directly into the Oro Admin Console, where AI SmartOrder takes over.

What used to take hours is now reduced to minutes. Errors, like mismatched quantities or incorrect pricing, are caught instantly, preventing costly downstream issues. It’s not magic, but it sure feels like it when orders move through with fewer errors and faster turnaround times.

Why It Matters for Manufacturing and Distribution Leaders

Balancing the needs of traditional buyers with modern sales strategies can feel like walking a tightrope.

AI SmartOrder changes this dynamic; not by forcing a shift, but by making the existing process smarter. What’s unique is how AI SmartOrder naturally encourages digital adoption over time. For one client, the solution didn’t just improve backend efficiency, it opened the door for customers to gradually embrace the portal for order tracking and eventually direct purchases.

This kind of transformation doesn’t require pushing customers out of their comfort zone. It simply makes digital tools the obvious choice by providing clear, immediate value.

For manufacturing and distribution leaders, AI SmartOrder is a way to reduce the daily grind of manual order processing while opening the door to smarter, more efficient operations.

Looking Ahead

The AI SmartOrder feature will be generally available soon, but some businesses aren’t waiting to get started. At AAXIS, we’re already working on early implementations, including a chemical industry client set to go live in Q1 2025. Adopting AI SmartOrder early is helping these businesses tackle operational bottlenecks while positioning themselves as leaders.

If you’ve ever thought, “There’s got to be a better way to handle orders than this endless cycle of emails and manual entries,” you’re right. Curious how AI SmartOrder could work for you? Let’s talk.

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