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For a Successful B2B Site, Take Advice from B2C

Posted by Christina StublereCommerce, Mobile/Tablets, Site Search

b2b_orange_600x350

The business-to-business industry is rarely considered glamorous. But don’t let its reputation fool you. Think of the almost-invisible wallflower who shows up to prom transformed and looking like a knockout. That’s B2B, and based on the numbers, it should stand for Big and Beautiful.

With more B2B buyers expecting to find what they need online, a growing number of B2B companies are embracing e-commerce. According to a survey by TradeGecko Pte. Ltd., 41% of wholesalers said e-commerce would be their top sales channel in 2015, up from 31% in 2014. In addition, 24% said they will sell online for the first time in 2015 (TradeGecko).

B2B Shoppers Have Higher Expectations

Shoppers have come to expect a customer-centric online experience, and B2B sites would be wise to step up their game. The addition of Amazon Business to the e-commerce scene only increases the pressure to act more like B2C. Why should shopping for work be any less efficient (and fun) than shopping for yourself? B2B buyers want a seamless online experience – even though the B2B path to purchase is usually more cumbersome.

The B2B buying process often requires in-depth research, approval from multiple stakeholders and possibly price negotiation. This combination of complexity and great expectations means your site has more chances to hit (or miss) the mark.

Here are a few ways you can do this:

Showcase Your Expertise

Nothing against your sales team, but your corporate web site is the first choice among executives for learning about business products and services, according to the 2015

Sullivan survey “Executive Buying Behavior.” Make sure potential buyers can easily find the information they desire, whether it’s demo videos, case studies, consumer guides or blogs. A superior site search experience will deliver product results and non-product content, so your visitors find everything they are looking for and more.

Go Anywhere, Be Everywhere

Work-life balance often means blurring the lines between both – and getting tasks done when you can. Research is no longer constrained to the dual-screen desktop at the office. Your customers might be traveling for business or couch surfing from the comfort of their home. Either way, go with them via their smartphone or tablet. As a bonus, the more mobile friendly you are, the higher you will rank in Google’s search page results.

Be Supportive

Set a gold standard for customer service. While today’s B2B shoppers want to independently scope out what you’ve got, they also want to know you’re there when they need you. Make it easy to place orders, track orders, make payments, get answers to frequently asked questions, find technical documentation and talk to a real person.

For more tips on creating an exceptional online shopping experience that will win loyal customers, take a look at this B2B Industry Brief from SLI Systems.

B2B, It’s Time to Step Up Your Game

Posted by Christina StublereCommerce, Site Search Tips, User Experience

b2b_blue_600x600 You found your niche in the lucrative (albeit lackluster) world of B2B e-commerce. It’s been great. Your clients don’t need anything fancy, you say. You can hum along with a website that walked right out of 2008 and it doesn’t matter. Because really, your customers aren’t here to shop (not in the traditional, show-me-something-pretty way). They just want to buy what they need and get back to work.

But here’s the thing: If you aren’t making it lightning fast and super simple for your customers to find and buy what they want, somebody else will. Somebody named Amazon. As Amazon launches “Amazon Business,” B2B sites would be wise to step up their game. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Start with search. Compared to non-searchers, searchers have an 11% higher average order value and a 2.7 times greater conversion rate, so it’s important and revenue-boosting to listen to what they say. Site search is key. If people quickly move from search to navigation or leave your site altogether, your site search isn’t doing its job. Good site search delivers relevant results fast.

 

  1. Showcase your expertise. You’ve created a virtual library of case studies, blogs, consumer guides and videos – all with the hope of educating and converting your prospects into customers. But can they find any of it? Andersen Windows is a good example of how to deliver search results with a wow factor. Type “French doors” in the search box, and you’ll get products along with support information, technical documents, photos and videos. Using SLI Learning SearchTM, Andersen Windows makes all of its non-product information incredibly easy to find.

 

  1. Be open to possibilities. At Spectrum Chemical, the search box invites users to input “Product Name, Catalog Number, Manufacturer, CAS #” – a confidence-boosting move that makes users feel they can’t go wrong. Smart search will allow you to create appropriate synonyms and tune your results so that visitors find what they are looking for, even if they type it in slightly different ways. Technical specifications and measurements are a great example. For instance, if someone typed 2.5, 2 ½ or 2-1/2, you’d want them to get the right results. In addition, features like SLI Rich Auto CompleteTM help people know they are on the right track by showing results as soon as they begin typing.

 

Remember, your search box is where your customers tell you exactly what they want in their own words. Advanced site search will give you the ability to easily pull reports and spot trends, like your site’s top search phrases and those ending in “no results.” Use this data to tailor your merchandising efforts and make it easier for visitors to find what they want to buy. Because being B2B is no longer an excuse for not delivering the very best to your customers.

Four Pillars of Interactive Marketing for B2B E-commerce

Posted by SLI SystemseCommerce

Guest blog by Gian Genovesi, e-commerce account manager for Briteskies, an SLI partner

Many people think of interactive marketing as a priority for B2C e-commerce organizations, but not as relevant for B2B. This is not the case. The essentials of interactive marketing are just as applicable to B2B e-commerce as B2C, and in fact, the interactive marketing strategy should not differ between the two markets.

Just as in B2C, there is a tendency for B2B e-commerce companies to focus on solely SEO and SEM, which our e-commerce delivery lead, Gian Genovesi, equates to a sports team focusing exclusively on scoring as many points as possible. Increasing the points your team scores, similarly to the traffic your site obtains, is a factor of success, but in no way the end-all-be-all in e-commerce success. After all, of the top ten scoring offenses in NFL history, only one has won the Super Bowl.

four-components-IM-2While SEO and SEM are effective ways to drive traffic, traffic is only one variable in the e-commerce equation and should not be the sole focus. There are four aspects to consider when creating tactics for increasing the revenue of your e-commerce site, and paying attention to all of them together is far more impactful than honing in on just one.

1. Traffic

In its most basic sense, traffic is simply visitors to or hits on your website. However, it is important to consider where this traffic is and should be coming from just as much as its volume. Are you attracting the right kind of traffic? You want visitors coming to your site from related or otherwise beneficial sites, which helps turn visits into conversions.

Some B2B-specific tactics to ensure that you are getting views from the right places include:

  • Organic SEO
  • Pay-Per-Click Advertising
  • Content and Inbound Marketing
  • Online Display Advertising
  • Social Media Advertising and Networking
  • External Link Building
  • Off-Line Advertising

2. Conversion Rate

This is, of course, is the number of people becoming customers or clients out of the number of people visiting your site. The industry standard is 1%-3% of visitors becoming customers, but it is also important to consider who is converting and what is incenting them to convert, not just the percentage alone.

User experience is always the first factor in the conversion rate of a site. The employees purchasing for their company during the workday are the same people who go home and shop online for themselves in the evening, and they deserve a consistent and user-friendly experience no matter which context they are in. Important factors to keep in mind are:

  • Pertinent Search Results
  • Relevant Layered Navigation
  • Ratings and Reviews
  • Automated Email Reminders
  • Online Chat and Immediate Customer Service

3. Average Order Value (AOV)

Now that you have your site visitors becoming customers, how do you entice them to buy more? In B2B, there is often more involved in someone increasing his or her order value than just adding another item to the cart. Business purchase decisions often require more time and input from more people than the typical B2C purchase, so it is important to keep B2B-specific tactics in mind, including:

  • Personalized Marketing based on Customer Segmentation
  • Cross-Sells and Up-Sells
  • Pricing and Promotions
  • Search Results and Weighting
  • Product Subscriptions and Bundling

4. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

If a customer has trusted you enough to purchase from your e-commerce site once, how do you get them to convert again? They chose your product or service and gave you their payment information, so how do you entice them to keep coming back?

The best way to increase CLV is to reward customer loyalty. When attempting to re-engage with a previously converted customer, you want to be memorable, but not annoying. Some resources to use to increase CLV in B2B are:

  • Favorites Lists
  • Reward Points
  • Newsletters
  • Special Offers and Private Sales
  • Social Media Broadcasting
  • Frequent Buyer Programs
  • Recurring Orders

Focusing on these four pillars of interactive marketing, instead of developing a singular focus on one, will significantly improve the chances of your B2B e-commerce site seeing success in the online marketplace.

Need more information about interactive marketing? Feel free to contact Briteskies. Briteskies is a partner of SLI Systems.

About the Author: Gian Genovesi is the e-commerce Account Manager for Briteskies. He has a fiery passion for serving and aiding clients in fully leveraging the value, features, and functions of their e-commerce systems. With a myriad of experience in leveraging e-commerce systems and their wide array of supporting systems and strategies, Gian constantly strives to put his clients in an optimal position for success in the online channel.

About Briteskies: Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Briteskies is a full-service solution for e-commerce, enterprise software, iSeries, and the integration of these business-critical systems. We assist our customers in bringing their brands, products and services to the online marketplace. We’re a Magento Silver Solution Partner, Premier IBM Business Partner and a JD Edwards Gold Partner with iSeries Application Specialists and an in-house JD Edwards practice.