B2B e-commerce solution

Boost your business with a B2B e-commerce solution

A software program known as a B2B e-commerce solution, enables businesses to control their website, marketing, sales, and operational processes. Business-to-business e-commerce solutions like OrderCentral allow organizations to consolidate their operations and manage their operations in any way they see fit, while still providing robust e-commerce functionality. Although entering the B2B commerce solution world may be overwhelming, and usually comes with its own set of speed bumps, it does not have to be difficult. Scroll down below to see some things to look out for when jumping in, and how OrderCentral helps you avoid these problems.

B2B e-commerce software solutions

Whichever sector or niche you specialize in, B2B e-commerce is a rich and mostly unexplored business avenue. The leap into B2B e-commerce software solutions is even more essential in an increasingly online world. After all, more than half of B2B buyers anticipate making at least half of their business purchases online. The ability to automatically create fixed prices and discounts for customers is a requirement for any e-commerce platform. It can be a hassle taking minimum order quantities and other factors into account when setting prices, but OrderCentral makes it easy as pie. What’s more, is that these custom offerings are displayed in an aesthetically pleasing way to your customers.

A high-standard customer experience

More and more B2B clients like having the option to submit their own orders, without the help of sales representatives. Additionally, they prefer to do it at a time that is convenient for them. It is vital that you, as a business, provide them with the customer experience they are accustomed to from top consumer web stores or B2C platforms. By using a B2B e-commerce solution like OrderCentral, you can quickly and easily build a beautiful webshop or customer portal that looks great on all devices, using templates and a drag-and-drop editor.

Show your clients exactly what they need to see

From a single central platform, you will be able to distinguish between different products, costs, discounts, terms and payment/delivery options at the customer, market segment, or regional level. This makes sure that whenever your consumers check in, they always see an offer that is pertinent to them and in line with the agreements established. Compared to B2C orders, B2B orders typically have more variables. For instance, larger customers occasionally request exclusive access, or first dibs on certain products. Sometimes there are volume discounts. These are all possible with OrderCentral. Transparency in pricing and product specifications is the number one factor in recurring B2B sales. Because of these variations, you need variable catalogs and pricing. With OrderCentral, you can essentially build up an e-commerce system that can switch between different catalogs and prices based on the B2B customer.

B2B marketplace solution

Mobile device usage is rising, which is a sign of people's multi-channel activities. The majority of them rarely explore, add items to their cart, and then make a purchase all at once on the same screen. They hunt for information across several devices instead. You must consider the experience on all of these devices as a single entity. This entails ensuring that each display makes sense, and that they are designed for speed and performance across all devices and platforms.

Mobile optimization has more benefits than you may realize

Everyone wants to give users a positive experience. And a website's lengthy loading time is one of the factors that causes users to quit sooner. This brings you one step closer to losing a potential consumer. Many mobile visitors will quickly leave a page if it does not respond to their device in the manner they would like. Studies show that if they have to wait longer than five seconds, it is too late, and they will go elsewhere. If your webshop is going to be visible to the public, rather than hidden behind a password, an added bonus is that Google will rank you higher in search results if your webshop is mobile friendly. Google claims that not having a website that is mobile-optimized is equivalent to closing the company down for one day per week. A website that is optimized for multiple devices will load considerably quicker than a standard website, because the HTML coding is set up to be compatible with different devices. So, not only are you doing your customers a favor, but you are also gaining SEO benefits in the process.

More people buy on mobile devices

Studies indicate that mobile users make more purchases than those who primarily use desktop computers. This is because people now have the ability to be informed customers, thanks to mobile devices. They no longer have to second-guess every purchase, because they can read product reviews and compare brands instantaneously on their phones. A person with a mobile phone may conduct research before making a purchase and is more committed to doing so. In actuality, 93% of people who investigate products on their mobile device go on to buy them.

With OrderCentral, your webshop will be optimized for all devices

By using Order Central as your B2B marketplace solution, your webshop will load incredibly quickly and display flawlessly on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop PCs. By doing this, you can provide your company clients with the greatest possible service, no matter where they are viewing your site from. It is a win-win for everyone involved.

B2B open source solutions

B2B open source solutions are platforms that allow users complete access to the source code, allowing anyone to alter and adapt it to suit their own requirements. Open source is most popular among development and IT-heavy enterprises. However, they do have their flaws. Due to this, an SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform, like OrderCentral, is often desirable. It gives you and your business the tools you need to grow, without having to deal with the extra complexity of creating and developing the platform.

Why is closed source the way to go?

With open source, your system becomes more sophisticated as you make more changes to the source code. This can imply that updating is more expensive and challenging. Open source platforms are not only expensive and difficult to set up, but they also need a lot of upkeep to function properly. To manage this upkeep, you will require a developer, an internal IT staff, and/or a third party. Your marketing team may even need developer support to make updates, so it may be more difficult to make quick modifications to the site in order to keep current. Using a SaaS platform is far more efficient for a growing business who wants to stay on top of modern trends, and not have to spend time and money with a development team. But that is not its only advantage.

You need a secure system

Anyone can download and edit open-source software's source code. As a result, security breaches are a serious worry for e-commerce sites, since they are financial data gold mines and hackers are constantly seeking weakness and a way in. Patches for known problems might be available for an open source platform, but it is up to your development team to be diligent about applying them. For e-commerce businesses to protect client credit card and personal information, security maintenance is crucial. SaaS platforms not only offer security patches to address vulnerabilities, but also deploy them on your behalf, easing your mind of one more concern. By using a closed source system like OrderCentral, you can have peace of mind knowing that it is built with state-of-the-art technology, stopping hackers in their tracks. Meanwhile, security updates occur right under your nose in the background, so you won’t have to worry about a single thing.

You will be up and running in no time

OrderCentral can assist brands in entering the market in a fast manner. If speed of launch is a concern, then you will not have to worry about development time that is needed to launch on an open source system. OrderCentral includes an intuitive user interface and pre-built themes that make it easy to get started quickly. Additionally, using a closed source platform like OrderCentral makes it easy to expand and scale along with the expansion of your business.

A modern solution that is ready for the future

A B2B e-commerce solution does not have to be difficult. As long as you meet your clients’ expectations of online e-commerce, based on their B2C experience, and show them exactly what they are looking for on a secure platform, you will not have anything to worry about. You can get your webshop up and running with little time, focus on running your business, and be confident that your customers are having an amazing user experience. With OrderCentral, you can be sure that you and your company are well equipped to confront the future, no matter what it entails.

What is your B2B e-commerce solution?

Shift from B2B commerce to B2B e-commerce

Business-to-business e-commerce is gaining momentum at a rapid pace. Corporate customers and buyers are ordering online in ever greater volumes, without the intervention of salespeople or account managers. A B2B e-commerce solution allows you to adapt to the changing needs of your business customers. From offline B2B commerce to online B2B e-commerce. In addition, you can easily serve new target groups or tap into markets at home and abroad with a B2B e-commerce solution. Elevate your business with a B2B online business platform.

Differences between B2B e-commerce and B2C e-commerce

Similar to consumers, B2B customers expect to be able to order the right products quickly and easily. They expect your online ordering environment to be responsive, to display perfectly on all devices and to support a smooth check-out. Nevertheless, there are also important differences between business to business e-commerce and business to consumer e-commerce. For example, as a wholesaler, manufacturer or importer you probably work with customer-specific price agreements, minimum order volumes and orders on invoice or account. Similarly, the customer may have multiple employees or departments involved in the purchasing process. Given these differing needs of B2B customers, most B2B companies choose a specific B2B e-commerce solution.

B2B webshop or B2B e-commerce platform solution

Are you considering B2B e-commerce? Then you're about to decide between a B2B webshop or a B2B e-commerce platform solution. A B2B webshop is a separate online sales channel for your products. Such a webshop is often linked to other systems, for the purposes of order processing and invoicing for example. A B2B e-commerce platform is a total solution that allows B2B companies to sell online. Such a platform integrates functions in the field of assortment and product management, fullfillment, marketing, sales and service and supports your offline B2B commerce processes as well.

A modern e-commerce solution for B2B companies

OrderCentral is one of those B2B e-commerce solutions. With OrderCentral, you can quickly and easily set up one or more B2B webshops, offering your customers an online ordering and purchasing experience they're used to as a consumer. However, that's just the basics. The strength of OrderCentral is that you can get started with e-commerce in an integrated way, by integrating all your marketing, sales, order management and service processes in one single platform. Not only is this more efficient, it also gives you a better understanding of the needs and behavior of business prospects and customers. This approach enables you to refine both your B2B commerce strategy (offline) and your B2B e-commerce strategy (online) to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Business to business e-commerce solution

Collaborate with dealers and partners in a rewarding way

OrderCentral isn't just for B2B companies that sell directly to corporate clients. Even if you're a manufacturer, wholesaler, importer or distributor working with resellers, OrderCentral will support your e-commerce processes optimally. Enable your resellers with a service portal or white label webshop that allows them to sell your products. Alternatively, refer end users to the right dealer to process their order via your B2B webshop. Automatically and based on their location.

Rapid go-live of your B2B e-commerce solution

OrderCentral is a proven B2B e-commerce solution. By incorporating easy-to-use templates for B2B webshops and modules for e-commerce and customer relationship management, you no longer have to build a customised online environment for your customers; you can simply design it to match your corporate identity and branding. Saving you a lot of time and money. As a result, OrderCentral will allow you to go live faster than many competing B2B e-commerce solutions.

Managing your webshops flexibly and intuitively

Once the project is launched, OrderCentral will enable you to keep a tight rein on your own business. That means you can easily make changes to your B2B webshops or B2B customer portals yourself. Do you want to add a new product page or change the check-out procedure? You can do that yourself using the handy drag-and-drop editor. That means no high invoices from developers or having to wait for a long time for tailor-made adjustments. This ensures ongoing agility and allows you to quickly respond to changes in the market with your B2B e-commerce strategy.

Smart links to your business systems

Have you already been using an ERP or PIM system? If so, you're probably not eager to create a second product database for your B2B webshop. OrderCentral supports a single source of truth approach. With smart links, we connect our B2B e-commerce software to your existing business systems. This allows you to continue to manage your assortment and product information in a single system. In addition, you can ensure that your webshop or customer portal always displays the correct prices, inventories and delivery times in real time.

Your B2B e-commerce solution is always up to date

OrderCentral is evolving on an ongoing basis. We're doing so to protect your B2B e-commerce environment - and the valuable data of your customers - against the latest cyber-risks. We're also continuously adding new features so that your B2B e-commerce strategy is always one step ahead of the competition.