Tips for Choosing a B2B Ecommerce Platform for Your Business in 2020
Are you are launching a new online store, or planning to migrate your online store to another platform? Here are some useful tips on how to choose a B2B ecommerce platform that suits your needs!
1. Define your business goals and objectives
First of all, you should make sure to identify your business goals and objectives as precisely as possible. This may not seem important, but unclear objectives and goals can lead to numerous problems along the way. Decide on which products are you actually selling, how many products do you want to display online, how much are you willing to spend on an ecommerce platform, are you planning on expanding, and in which time frame, etc.?
The answers to these and many similar questions may help in determining your true needs when it comes to an ecommerce platform. In other words, do brainstorm, ask questions to yourself and your peers, consider and reconsider, go into details and the nitty-gritty, and do discuss all of the potential issues and confusion before you choose an ecommerce platform for your online business.
2. Decide on how much control do you (really) need
Control is an important aspect of any business, including online shopping. When choosing between WooCommerce, Shopify, and other popular platforms, one must first decide on the level of control they want to have in terms of hosting and maintenance.
Hosted platforms such as Shopify already come with the given domain, design templates, etc., and all you should do is just to subscribe to their package. This is probably a good option for beginners in the world of ecommerce.
On the other hand, if your business truly needs full control and advanced customisation, a self-hosted platform such as WooCommerce may be the right choice. In this option, you need to manage web hosting and design on your own.
3. Poorly designed websites do not attract customers
Not every business can afford the best web designers. Luckily, there are many useful and inbuilt templates on different ecommerce platforms, with thousands of free and premium themes. These usually come with almost unlimited design options, so you can customise them according to your business vision and logic.
Bearing this in mind, please note that creative freedom is important, but can be a burden as well. Responsiveness in design may also prove to be somewhat crucial in this manner. One should also ask themself if the ecommerce platform is suitably designed for the B2B niche market or not?
4. Focus on the customer
If you want your business to grow and succeed, you must convert a visitor to a customer. This is the reason why, in terms of features and personalisation, the focus should always be on the customer and user-friendliness. In other words, your platform should provide ease of use and personalised experience. Any successful ecommerce platform offers a seamless experience for its customers.
This implies numerous features such as inventory ability, multiple images per product, zoom features, ability to duplicate past orders, predictive searches, category filters, customized payment methods, customer support, security, and others. And, first and foremost, mobile access. A smartphone has become a necessity in contemporary societies, and online orders placed from a smartphone are on the rise.
5. Make a cost-effective choice
Finally, the price. Obviously, this decision mainly depends on the scale of your business. If you own a small scale online business, high investment on a B2B eCommerce platform may burden you financially. As we've mentioned, hosted platforms usually offer monthly subscription charges, although you save on expenses such as design, development, hosting, domain name registration, and others.
Note that humans usually perform relatively bad in their financial decisions, and their rationality is commonly bounded. Your own social values, presuppositions, and cultural and cognitive biases may work against the rational choice of the best option. While, at the end of the day, you should make a cost-effective choice for your business. This means going back to square (and our tip) number one. Please, do carefully define your goals and objectives. The other decisions considering control, design, features, and costs, should follow accordingly.
To conclude...
Ecommerce is on the rise and it is expected to grow. This is why a cautiously and considerately chosen B2B eCommerce platform, suited to your business model, may facilitate a significant rise in sales and revenue. The internet of things is our reality, and we should try to act accordingly. This is why you should carefully dive into the world of ecommerce platforms, their features, designs, and benefits. And evaluate them in a rational manner.
The fact of the day is that you can boost your online brand through determining and controlling the social experience your customers are getting through numerous ecommerce platforms on the market. A lucrative future may await, but do take our tips into consideration.