By Victoria Dyke on Mon 22 July 2013 in Web & eCommerce
While many still associate eCommerce as a business to consumer tactic, its adoption is growing rapidly in the B2B world with industry giants investing in this area.
If you don’t currently have an eCommerce presence, then it’s time to think about how you are going to represent your business in this digital era. A brochure type website is no longer enough.
Check out our 5 points to an online presence below…
1) Map out where you are going – develop a strategy of what you want your online brand to say. Is it the same as what your brand currently represents? In that case ensure you are giving your customers everything they expect in an offline experience, online. Is it different? For example, are you planning to sell those spare parts that didn’t offer enough margin offline?
2) Integrate your back-office systems that run and drive your business – eCommerce is usually an extension of your business. Think of all the customer knowledge you have stored up in your back-office systems, don’t give it up, use it to create a great online customer experience. Integrating these systems streamlines operations and reduces order turnaround times and overhead costs all whilst honouring your existing or improved business process.
3) Make sure you stay flexible – the world of online sales is a fast moving one, so make sure your systems are flexible, and more importantly that you are in control of this (don’t get tied down to a third party controlling what you can do on your own site).
4) Stand out – it is a competitive market with many B2B businesses making the move online in 2013. So how can you stand out from the crowd? Think of your USP’s in your offline model and see if you can translate these online. For example, do you have expert knowledge in your products? If so, how can you provide this same level of knowledge online?
5) Love your customers – Your primary audience is likely to be your existing customers; therefore, you need to build up online loyalty. Don’t panic the same loyalty rules apply online as they do offline. Reliability, expertise, responsiveness and exceptional service will solidify your customer relationships and keep them coming back, this can be easier to replicate than you might think.