Online sales are here to stay, and they arrived revolutionising the market completely. The change was first experienced in B2C businesses, but it is now an established trend in B2B companies.
However, sometimes companies business to business face certain problems in carrying out this adaptation and getting their customers to use the ecommerce portal regularly.
Today we want to tell you how you can get the most out of this option that brings extensive advantages to your business.
Why do customers want to use ecommerce?
The first step is to understand what a B2B ecommerce portal brings to customers, in order to clearly establish and enhance these benefits and incorporate them into the customer's routine.
In fact, according to a Sana report in 2021, professional buyers actively seek access to online channels, and those who already use them want to continue along this path. The problem, however, lies in certain obstacles that interfere with the customer experience, and that force them to “seek help” in traditional channels.
The same Sana study established three main reasons why customers want to have access to buying online:
- Ease of purchase
- Easily browsing the product catalogue
- Greater knowledge of inventory availability and delivery times.
In other words, the main advantage of online commerce for customers is convenience; being able to buy or access information quickly and easily on their own. Therefore, if you play your cards right, an ecommerce portal can be the best way to build customer loyalty.
Knowing this, how can we give our online sales a boost?
4 strategies for B2B customers to buy online
Guide your customers to change purchasing behaviours
A common impediment to customers buying online is a certain resistance to changing purchasing patterns due to habit.
So, make sure customers feel guided and that they are properly explained how the portal works, for example, with explanatory videos. It is important that the customer does not think they are being forced to change their patterns completely and suddenly, but rather that they are being offered new options that provide certain conveniences.
Offer incentives
A strategy that could be useful, especially at the beginning of incorporating online commerce into your B2B business, is offering certain special discounts.
There are many ways to do this, such as offering free shipping on certain orders or exclusive discounts for customers who use the online portal for the first time.
It can also help to offer financial advantages for larger orders or for several items at once, so the customer becomes familiar with the online catalogue from the start and is more likely to place a large order instead of several small orders.
Ensure traceability of the process
Do not forget that when a user buys online they really only receive a “promise”. Once the purchase is made, they are informed that their order has been processed, but on many occasions there will still be a period of uncertainty until they can verify their satisfaction with the product or service and the purchasing experience.
It is important to thoroughly assess the traceability of the purchase. That the customer can properly track their purchase throughout the entire Customer Journey is a good way to earn their trust and for them to choose the ecommerce portal again in future.
In this sense, for example, it is essential that if there is any problem, the customer can quickly and easily reach the company to communicate their concern.
Train the sales staff
In this sense, the Sales Enablement is key, as sales staff play an essential role in conveying to customers the advantages of the ecommerce portal and encouraging them to take it into account for the purchasing process.
Sales Enablement consists of everything that helps the sales team maximise sales benefits while ensuring an improved customer experience. This can be achieved through team training, providing information, using digital tools, etc.
In fact, in this sense, it is highly interesting for the sales force to have digital tools to be able to show customers how the portal works and its conveniences.
In summary, the essential thing is that your customers understand what the advantages of buying through ecommerce are, so that they themselves decide to do so and verify these benefits on their own.
