In the beginning, you likely relied on Excel spreadsheets, phone calls, and emails to manage your wholesale orders. Like many smaller B2B enterprises, you probably had a pile of printed invoices ready to pass on to your warehouse team for order fulfillment.
Long ago, retail stores and other B2B customers typically bought many items at once and then stored them in warehouses until they were almost out. Then, they'd restock with enough items to keep them in stock for months or even longer. This practice made it so that their wholesale suppliers didn't have to be too speedy when filling orders, and in some industries, it was typical for delivery to take several weeks.
Inventory management varies significantly across businesses, departments, and products. It hinges on your current practices, capabilities, the skills and availability of your team, and the specific demands and expectations of your customers.
In the dynamic landscape of modern business, equipping B2B sales reps with tools that streamline their workflow and strengthen customer connections is essential. Online ordering systems have transformed sales operations by providing real-time data access, minimizing errors, and speeding up the sales cycle. Let’s delve into how these systems empower sales reps to elevate their performance with confidence and efficiency.
B2B eCommerce is becoming one of the most efficient ways for wholesalers to reach customers. Even smaller companies can afford to benefit from the opportunity that B2B eCommerce software offers. Giving your customers and sales reps an online order management system will ensure your wholesale business is poised for growth.
eCommerce solutions built for B2C businesses are usually not appropriate for B2B businesses.
It’s very common for up-and-coming manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and importers to think that their site needs to be like Amazon. That’s simply not the best way to do business with B2B customers. It’s not how your customers want to do business; quite frankly, it’s not how you want to do it. It’s worthwhile to emulate certain aspects of the Amazon experience, but not necessarily all of them.
Many established B2B businesses are stuck in a rut. They’ve offered the same things, in the same ways, for years—sometimes decades—and they don’t see why they should change.
When someone at the office, a colleague in the same industry, or even a competitor discusses incorporating B2B eCommerce into their current business model, your management team scoffs.
B2B eCommerce is no longer “cutting edge” or “the latest craze.” For manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and importers who haven’t jumped to digital, going digital isn’t a luxury or an optional necessity. This is something your customers have come to expect.
Any good B2B eCommerce strategy is built on a solid foundation, but that foundation will crumble if it doesn’t consider customers' needs.
Your customers, whether you’re aware of it or not, are only interested in a handful of things:
It’s harder than ever to attract and retain new customers or upsell your current customers, and yet it’s easier than ever for them to leave. That brings us to one of the simplest and most effective ways to improve your customer service while improving your fulfillment times, accuracy, and ability to scale.
