Unified B2C and B2B eCommerce
Unified B2C and B2B eCommerce offers a great opportunity to many businesses to increase their efficiency and control costs. Whether the businesses focus is on B2C or B2B, a unified eCommerce solution offers them the opportunity to develop new markets in a way which is stream lined with their current sales channels.
Traditionally companies may have relied only on discounted bulk B2B sales or selling directly to consumers at higher margins to generate their revenues. Or perhaps they may have split up their eCommerce sites for B2C and B2B to help them accomplish the different operations required for each.
However, companies are beginning to move towards more unified B2C and B2B eCommerce solutions as it offers an opportunity to reduce costs and increase revenues while developing both B2C and B2B markets. In this post, I’ll outline some of the more significant benefits of having a unified B2C and B2B eCommerce site.
1. A Single Unified Catalog
Having one unified eCommerce website with a single catalog will remove the complications which can arise from managing multiple catalogues. A unified catalog that enables products and offerings to be toggle on and off for B2C or B2B customers is a much more efficient solution.
2. Less Technical Overhead
Managing and maintaining one website is much easier than managing two, especially if you’ve hired a digital agency established to deliver both B2C & B2B solutions. It demands much less in terms of development and management time, as well as the client’s management inputs.
3. Better Marketing
A business with a single website is much easier for their customers to identify and remember. Maintaining the brand identity for one website is also easier than two. And as a consequence marketing and promotions will also become easier to plan and run.
4. Lower Operational Costs
Having a single website will reduce the amount of server infrastructure required. Integrations with external systems such as CRM, ERP & PIM can become much more efficient. Also, content and order management costs will be reduced, if a business is operating from a single unified eCommerce platform.
5. Better B2B Experiences
B2B users want to be able to buy quickly, efficiently and at a good price. B2B users don’t want to waste their time searching for products and proceeding through the checkout. They are familiar with the ease with which they are able to purchase as B2C users, and demand the same user experience on B2B sites. A unified solution brings the advantages of the B2C experience to B2B users, while also offering the necessary B2B features such as quotations, requisitions, shared catalogues, unique pricing, company account management and company customer management and other features as required.
For more from Ross and the rest of our team, check out our blogs here.
