With the rise of eCommerce, retailers need to adapt quickly to stay relevant in a market that continues to evolve. How they do business is changing, and they must be able to provide consumers with an online experience that’s as engaging as it is convenient.
Hence, b2b ecommerce platforms are one of the critical tools for achieving these objectives—it can help you deliver seamless customer experiences across channels, support new-age marketing channels like social media and mobile commerce, and give retailers more control over how their products are presented online.
An eCommerce platform is changing how businesses are run and is an integral part of your business strategy.
An eCommerce platform changes how businesses are run, and it’s an integral part of your business strategy. With the right capabilities, you can build a brand, manage inventory and automate delivery to your customers.
Further, eCommerce platforms have evolved to include new features that make it easier for retailers to create online stores without hiring developers who know how to code or designers who can develop websites from scratch.
When choosing an eCommerce platform for your business, there’s a lot to consider. So many vendors promise the same thing but deliver drastically different outcomes. It’s easy to get confused and make the wrong decision that could severely impact your online selling success. That’s why having an ecommerce management guide can be helpful in understanding the various factors involved in making the right decision.
Understand the options available and make an informed decision by selecting the right capabilities.
The first step in the process is to understand the options available and make an informed decision by selecting the right capabilities.
Consider these factors when choosing a platform, such as:
- The size and scope of your business
- Your budget for the eCommerce platform
- Your experience with eCommerce platforms
Seamless Customer Experience
The customer experience is a crucial component of your eCommerce platform. Humans are creatures of habit, and as such, we form expectations about how things will happen in the world around us. Suppose you expect to be greeted by a familiar face when you walk into a restaurant. In that case, that’s because you’ve been conditioned over time to recognize specific signals (like the hostess) that give you confidence in your choice.
An excellent customer experience delivers on those expectations—and exceeds them—to delight customers and keep them coming back for more. But what does it take for an eCommerce platform to achieve this?
In short: A seamless customer journey across all channels. As consumers become increasingly savvy and mobile-first (or even wholly mobile), they’re less likely to tolerate friction points between their various touchpoints with brands—especially if those channels don’t feel connected or cohesive.
For example, imagine being excited about something on Amazon but having difficulty finding related products on your favorite retailer’s site; it would kill all enthusiasm for making further purchases with that brand.
Features that support new-age marketing channels like social media, mobile commerce, and more.
eCommerce features that support new age marketing channels like social media, mobile commerce, and more.
Social Media Marketing: Social media has become an important channel for brands to connect with consumers and generate sales. The eCommerce platform you choose should allow you to leverage the power of social media by providing a suite of tools that make it easy for you to create content, manage campaigns, and track results in one centralized location. Some platforms even offer capabilities like automatic post-scheduling and publishing directly from your website or store.
Mobile Commerce: Mobile devices are ubiquitous today, with customers shopping on their phones at all hours of day or night – so making sure your eCommerce platform can support this shift in consumer behavior is critical. It would be best if you had a solution that can integrate seamlessly within existing mobile experiences (think native apps), optimize performance & user experience across devices (mobile browsers vs. app vs. desktop) while also offering personalized recommendations based on past purchases/behavior across all channels including web, app & social media marketing platforms such as Facebook Ads.
Robust Analytics Capabilities
Analytics capabilities are the key to understanding customer behavior and improving your business.
Analytics help you improve the customer experience, making it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for on your site and complete transactions without hassle.
Your analytics platform should allow you to identify trends in sales or conversion rates by product category, time of day, region, or any other variable that is relevant to your business model. It should also alert you when something unexpected happens—like a sudden spike in traffic from one new channel—so that you can take action immediately instead of reacting after the fact.
Support for Personalized B2B Commerce Experiences
Personalized B2B commerce experiences can help increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and implementing b2b loyalty programs can further enhance this effect. Personalization can also help improve conversion rates, which is especially important if your company is trying to sell products or services on your website. In fact, personalization has been shown to boost the lifetime value of customers by up to 63 percent.
To succeed in eCommerce, retailers need to be able to provide superior customer experiences.
To succeed in eCommerce, retailers need to be able to provide superior customer experiences.
- Customer experience is key to brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. According to the Dimensional Research State of Retail Report 2018, 86% of consumers have abandoned a purchase because of a poor experience.
- Customer experience is key to customer retention and growth. The same research predicts that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% could increase revenue by as much as 20%. And improving your average order value (AOV) can help with this, as 60% percent of surveyed customers said they were more likely to spend more if they received positive experiences through their shopping journey.
Final thought
Choosing an eCommerce platform is just as important as selecting the right features. It will impact your business and your customers’ experience. This blog post has shown you what to look for in an eCommerce platform so that you can make a well-informed decision when choosing one for your online store.
