If you run a B2B e-commerce platform, your entire business depends on your site. Most of your customers are probably doing business through your site, and if it doesn't fit what they want or need, they'll go somewhere else. When businesses need something, whether it's a lower price or more modern technology from a company, they'll do whatever it takes to get it. Unfortunately, some companies will even go as far as leaving a company they've been doing business with for years if it hasn’t caught up to their discerning standards.
Here are a few of the things that your customers are looking for in a B2B e-commerce platform.
Access to Their Information
Your customers want answers quickly. Make sure that your site includes any information important to your customer. Information like pricing, discounts and order history are important ones. Put all of your products on the site and include as many specifications as possible, like size, weight, color, as well as a picture of the product. Shipping and tracking information is also important to have on your B2B e-commerce platform. With all of this information accessible to your customers, phone calls and emails from them will be minimal because they can find the answers for themselves.
Ease of Use
In addition to looking professional, your B2B order site should be intuitive and easy to use. Even if your website looks beautiful, if a customer can't find their way around or can't quite figure out how to find information or place an order, they aren’t likely to stay for very long. Your site should flow easily and be simple to understand and use.
24/7 Access
Giving your customers access to your site 24/7 is no longer a courtesy, it is a necessity. Some people work at odd hours, especially if you sell internationally. If a customer is able to access their account anytime and answer their own questions, you won’t come into a barrage of emails first thing in the morning. And they can send orders throughout the night as well so orders are ready to ship first thing in the morning.
Quick and Easy Ordering
Most business people are in a hurry. The have a lot of things to do, and they don't have time to wait on a website to load. Make sure that your site loads as quickly as possible. It shouldn't take more than a few seconds for any page to load.
Make the order process go as quickly as possible. It should only take a few pages and a few clicks for a customer to order what they need. Look for a B2B e-commerce platform that has customized order forms and pricing so that you can set these up for each of your customers. For someone who knows what they need, it should take less than five minutes to complete an order.
When you run a B2B e-commerce business, the site is the most important aspect of your business. Every customer is different, but they all want similar things. Make sure that your website has everything that they're looking for.
