Optimise B2B online shops: Valuable tips for successful operation
B2B online trading is a popular, modern business model that is used worldwide today. B2B online shops were developed with the aim of satisfying the needs of business customers. Shopping online is convenient for customers. On the other hand, the shop operator generates more than half of the sales and creates competitive advantages through digital services.
B2B shops can be used efficiently and lead to increased sales and long-term success if the functionality and customer experience are improved. In this article, you will learn which features ensure the smooth processing of orders and effective communication with customers. Here you will find important tips that will make your B2B webshop powerful and successful.
Important role of a professional B2B shop for companies
B2B online shops are used to sell products and services to business customers, i.e. other companies. This involves complex business processes and the processing of large orders.
Transparent pricing and a variety of discounts are needed to promote long-term business relationships and a healthy climate of trust. Recurring tasks (ordering processes) are automated. This simplifies workflows and minimises errors. In addition, companies can increase their efficiency and reduce costs.
The B2B market is more profitable than the B2C market. While companies in the B2C sector need a large number of individual sales for their own profitability, companies in the B2B sector increase their sales with a few high-priced transactions.
The B2B online shop is initially understood to be a sales platform and an important tool for strengthening competitiveness. To make your business successful, read further recommendations.
Achieve more success by personalising the B2B shopping experience
Every customer is a personality. To ensure excellent and long-term relationships with your customers, you should improve the digital customer experience. It is important to maintain a customised buying experience. This includes effectively managing dynamic relationships with B2B customers, simple messaging and product suggestions. To realise this goal, the following measures can be implemented:
- Creation of customised product catalogues
- Customised prices for the entire shop
- Offer of personalised conditions and discounts
- personalised e-mails
These measures help you to approach customers in a targeted manner and analyse purchasing behaviour. Through personalisation, you not only make your B2B online shop customer-centric, but also the entire company. You should enable a seamless customer experience across different channels. This strengthens trust in your own brand and creates brand recognition. Personalisation measures have a positive influence on customer perception and the conversion rate of the online shop.
In order for your B2B webshop to offer a perfect omnichannel experience, customers should be able to find the products they need in your shop easily and without any problems. The support offered, which is possible for different sales channels and devices, is also important.
You personalise your webshop when:
- customers can easily create their accounts, track order histories, check prices and product inventory, view payments
- an ERP system is integrated. Then you always have the current data in front of your eyes. The entire purchasing documentation is always available in the B2B online shop.
First-class content - a good incentive for higher sales
The better and more detailed the content on the website, the more impressed and enthusiastic customers will be. To capture the interest of business customers, there needs to be plenty of information and documentation to support you at every stage of the online shopping journey.
Take stock of the content you offer to customers. You should determine whether the product specifications are sufficient and whether any descriptions are missing. To improve the buying experience in the B2B webshop, the product images should be optimised. After a detailed review, you can make the list of required improvements.
The use of a simple, intuitive CMS makes content management much easier. You can then upload the content to the website yourself and update it via the editor.
The "must-have" components of content for a successful B2B shop are
- Product specifications
- Information about prices
- Contact information
- Inventory information
- Delivery times
- Technical documentation
You also need to think about additional content elements. These are important documents that must be present in the B2B webshop. They are not required, but can be added to improve the buying experience. These include:
- Blog
- Webinar
- Product brochure
- References
- Whitepaper
- Value proposition
- Competitive differentiation
- Video-Testimonials
It is important that your B2B webshop not only provides important information, but also ensures that it is accessible. Customers should be able to find it easily. That's why you need to think about search engine optimisation.
Increase the efficiency of your webshop by collecting and analysing data
The process of collecting and analysing data is quite complex. Special tools or add-ons must therefore be used. The B2B online shop software usually provides these. Here are the most commonly used tools:
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Google Analytics is an important tool that analyses website traffic and visitor interactions, provides companies with information about visitor demographics, the best performing websites and much more. It is also used to record the source of visitors. This tells you how the customer arrived at the website. This analysis tool is used most frequently. It can be used to track marketing campaigns and test the effectiveness of advertising.
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Hotjar is a platform that helps you understand your customers better. It provides behavioural analysis and feedback data. This tool combines product experience insights, customer feedback and user behaviour. This allows you to analyse the actions on your website and the reasons for these actions. You see the website as your visitors see it. Then you clearly understand what they visit and where errors occur.
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Woopra is a perfect content marketing tool that allows you to track complete customer journeys. It enables more than traditional analysis, but offers tools for sales and customer service. With this software, you can track user behaviour on websites and apps in detail. It is perfect for the media, software and e-commerce sectors.
Ensure the user-friendliness of your B2B webshop
Make sure that your shop impresses with outstanding usability. The website should be structured in such a way that your customers can find the products and information they need quickly and without any effort. A good search function is essential in a B2B webshop. You need granular sorting and filtering functions, website navigation, quick and faceted searches to make it easier to find products.
No customer wants to spend hours searching for the products they need, but wants to find them quickly and order them easily without any additional steps. Create pleasant conditions in your B2B shop and you will soon notice positive changes. Increase the conversion rate and sales. In addition to simple navigation, the products should also be clearly described, fast loading times ensured and optimised for mobile devices.
The implementation of personalised features can lead to increased efficiency and time savings. The personalised approach enables you to build trust and increase customer loyalty.
Other important B2B functions are needed to improve usability in your shop. These include
- Multi-add to cart
- BOM kitting functionality
- Different currencies
- Product images of optimum sizes (with zoom function)
- Product reviews
- Order templates
Win more B2B customers through user-friendly web design
If you want to attract customers, you need to pay attention to the design of your B2B online shop. The operators of successful shops favour clear, clean, light designs. Attention should be paid to the corporate identity, which must be consistent for the entire website. The webshop layout should have a logical structure. The following points must be taken into account:
- Easy navigation
- Consistent fonts, colour schemes, backgrounds and layouts
- Links that look the same and stand out from the rest of the text
- Same buttons on all subpages
- Familiar icons that are easy for users to understand
Fast loading times are a guarantee of purchase cancellations. That is why they should not take longer than 2 seconds. Customers need to reach their destinations quickly. There should be clear and precise instructions so that tasks can be completed without any problems.
Optimisation for mobile devices also plays a major role. If it is not taken into account, usability will deteriorate and the search engine ranking will drop. In addition to accessibility, accessibility should also be taken into account. The following actions should be taken to make the website easier to use:
- Enlargement of the text for people with visual impairments
- the ability to navigate the content using the keyboard
- the high contrast between text and background
- Interpreting content and forms with a screen reader
- Videos with subtitles
It is possible to make the website as user-friendly as possible. However, it must be understood that the higher Webshop creation costs are associated with this.
Automate business processes through third-party system integration
Connecting your B2B online shop to CRM and ERP systems ensures an uninterrupted, smooth workflow. The service provider with whom you have your shop created develops and implements interfaces and plugins to expand your shop with a wide range of functions. Integration with third-party systems contributes to the automation of multiple processes:
- Then you don't have to edit the order processes manually. All orders are automatically checked and processed.
- The invoices are generated and sent automatically.
- Integration with logistics systems enables customers to be notified when products are dispatched.
- If different payment methods are integrated in the online shop, customers can pay for their orders immediately. Processing takes place automatically and the accounting department is relieved.
If the necessary systems are connected to your web shop, processes are handled more quickly. This relieves the burden on employees and reduces errors. There are other advantages too. Companies react more quickly to new trends and growing demands. This increases productivity and margins. The business environment becomes efficient, flexible and competitive.
Why is it important to set up the B2B webshop?
To ensure that your shop meets the specific requirements of business customers, customised adjustments should be made. This is a complex process that involves several steps and requires careful consideration. The high-performance B2B shop must offer specific functions. It is therefore advisable to focus specifically on your target group. Thoroughly analysing the requirements of B2B customers will help you to better understand their needs and expectations. Then you will know exactly which features are essential in your shop.
When it comes to setting up your B2B online shop, it is advisable to contact a certified service provider. As a professional e-commerce agency, we will help you to customise your shop and Kenner Soft's specialists will recommend correct, profitable solutions. You will receive professional advice and support from us. We realise your e-commerce idea professionally.