Can you spot the differences between eCommerce solutions built for B2C versus B2B? As technology and customer demand progresses, the difference between B2B and B2C eCommerce platforms is becoming overwhelmingly clear. Choosing the best platform for your business needs depends on your industry, customer base, and future goals.
In this interview, host Abdul Montaqim, Editor at Robotics and Automation News, speaks with Chris Raven, Channel Sales Manager for the UK at Oro Inc. about the major differences between B2C and B2B eCommerce platforms specifically for logistics and manufacturing companies. Clearly the pandemic has pushed manufacturers to consider selling online and Chris hints that as companies look towards eCommerce, or as they look to upgrade a legacy platform, they will need to focus on features geared towards their B2B customers.
Below is a snippet from the interview:
Abdul: What’s the difference between a B2C platform offering versus a B2B offering?
Chris: When you are selling in a business to business dynamic, there is a whole different approach to the way a buyer interacts with the shopping experience. For example, in a B2C website, the buyer logs on and it’s the same pricing for everyone. And the checkout process has a standard set of delivery and payment options. Whereas in B2B, your buyers are not always going to have the same pricing. Most of the time, customers are under tiered pricing terms. Or they may have bulk pricing terms. A B2C platform cannot display these varying terms. A B2B site, however, will be able to present a storefront that is personalized to their contract terms.
Abdul: For the logistics and manufacturing companies that you interact with, is eCommerce new to them? What trends are you seeing?
Chris: I see 3 trends when it comes to this:
- People have an awareness of eCommerce and it supplements their sales approach. And they have a system in place already that might be a homegrown eCommerce solution. These customers need something that is much more scalable that they can update quickly and take their business to the next level.
- Another trend is digital transformation. Customers who are traditionally offline, who have a purely manual process, are now trying to build an eCommerce solution from the ground up. Especially with the pandemic this year, these companies are seeing the importance of selling online.
- The third trend is where people have invested in a big name platform, but it’s not doing them justice for B2B. They may have chosen a B2C solution that now needs extensive add-ons and customizations to suit their needs for B2B. They unfortunately end up realizing the hard way that they need to leverage an eCommerce platform specifically for B2B.
Abdul: What do you think the future holds for B2b ecommerce platforms? Do you think more companies are going to switch from B2C towards specialized B2B platforms?
Chris: I think more businesses will realize that all eCommerce platforms are not the same. They will begin to realize, as they look towards upgrading, that they need to focus on a different set of requirements geared towards their B2B customers. We’ve built a product that comes with a wide range of B2B requirements where customers won’t need to customize with add-ons but rather the B2B features will be native to the product. And as demands change, we build additional native B2B eCommerce features around that to help businesses further adapt.
Listen to the full interview on Robotics and Automation News.