Solving the 10 B2B Ecommerce Challenges Blocking Growth
k-ecommerce
Today’s B2B customers often rely on suppliers’ ecommerce sites to make purchases. And they’re citing ease and convenience as the key reasons they prefer the online sales channel over offline alternatives.
A key growth driver for B2B businesses, ecommerce now presents an opportunity that’s bigger than ever. In fact, as many as 70% of B2B decision-makers are prepared to spend up to $500,000 on a single ecommerce transaction.
However, just because we’re seeing growing demand from customers and a vast majority of brands offering a B2B ecommerce site, doesn’t mean that all B2B businesses will successfully deliver on ecommerce expectations.
But it’s not for lack of trying.
The Hidden Complexity Behind Today’s Top B2B Ecommerce Challenges
For B2B organizations today, ecommerce is a must-have. It’s a key tool in an increasingly sprawling tech stack, and in the face of an increasingly competitive market.
And although new data from Adobe reveals that most B2B brands (that’s 82%!) are selling online via ecommerce sites, and as many as 93% are happy with their current ecommerce platform, customers are —on the other hand— largely unimpressed with the experiences they’re getting.
When it comes to customer satisfaction levels in B2B ecommerce in 2024:
- 38% feel they typically have a somewhat negative or negative experience
- And another 25% rate their B2B ecommerce experiences as “average”
Here’s a look at some of the top B2B ecommerce integration challenges contributing to this disconnect today.
1. Complex Sales Cycle With Many Decision-Makers
The B2B buying process is typically complex due to the involvement of many decision-makers and the need for in-depth product research.
Unlike the quick purchases B2C ecommerce customers make, B2B transactions often involve significant investments and careful evaluation, which can be time-consuming. And that’s not all.
B2B customers spend time researching available options before purchasing a product or service. This long buying process poses a challenge for B2B ecommerce stores that want to make quick sales.
Here’s how you address this sales cycle complexity.
Solution: Provide Value and Personalized Customer Support During the Sales Process
B2B customers often rely on product demos as an information source when making purchase decisions. But there are some tried-and-true ways to make sure you can inform, educate, and empower them.
For example, make it a goal to provide personalized customer experiences and comprehensive product presentations to decision-makers throughout the sales process. This way, you can offer value to B2B customers, boost sales, and build long-term relationships.
At k-ecommerce, we offer a rich product catalog that enables you to feature multiple product images. You can also add dynamic content like spec sheets and videos to your product pages. The result? This enables you to showcase your products in style.
2. Data Security and Privacy Threats
Cybersecurity attacks are another major challenge B2B ecommerce companies face.
B2B transactions often involve large sums of money and sensitive information. This makes B2B companies prime targets of cyberattacks. So it’s crucial to implement solid measures to safeguard customer data, payment details, and proprietary business information from cyberattacks.
That said, implementing robust security measures can be challenging. You need to monitor and update your systems constantly to mitigate security risks.
Solution: Use Ecommerce Platforms That Provide a Secure Payment Gateway
Partner with reputable ecommerce platforms offering secure payment gateways that encrypt sensitive data during online transactions. This reduces the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks.
Ecommerce solutions protect customer data by implementing security measures such as:
- Firewalls and intrusion detection systems to block unauthorized access to the platform’s network or servers.
- Secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption to secure data transmission between your clients and your website.
- Two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security beyond passwords to further protect your systems and customer data.
At k-ecommerce, we offer iron-clad security through our in-house security experts and PCI-certified private cloud infrastructure, ensuring you get the highest possible level of data protection.
3. Complex System Integrations
B2B companies often have complex processes and software for customer relationship management (CRM), inventory management, and order processing. As a result, integrating these systems with new ecommerce platforms can be challenging. It requires careful planning and technical expertise to ensure smooth operations.
Moreover, customization and scalability are crucial for B2B ecommerce businesses. Since each customer has unique preferences, you need a flexible ecommerce platform capable of accommodating these diverse needs.
The platform should be scalable enough to handle increased demands as your business grows and attracts more clients.
Unfortunately, most ecommerce platforms can’t effectively address the needs of a rapidly growing B2B business. They’re more suited to retail companies with B2C customers.
Solution: Choose the Right B2B Ecommerce Platform That Offers Customization and Scalability Functionalities
Invest in an ecommerce solution that offers specialized B2B functionalities such as:
- Bulk order management and customer-specific pricing to enhance your company’s efficiency, customer relationships, and overall profitability.
- Seamless integration with your existing ERP, CRM software, and order management system to ensure a smooth workflow.
- Robust order tracking and reporting features to monitor large-scale transactions.
An ecommerce solution like k-ecommerce provides B2B-specific features such as ERP integration and embedded payment gateways to meet your company’s unique needs. We also scale with your business as it grows, accommodating increased demands without compromising performance.
Take Sauces Piquantes as an example. In 2015, the company launched its ecommerce store and shifted its focus from B2C to B2B sales. However, the brand encountered new business challenges that its existing solutions couldn’t address.
Sauces Piquantes shifted to k-ecommerce due to its native integration with Acomba, an invoicing and inventory software. As a result, the brand could seamlessly connect invoicing and inventory with its ecommerce platform without third-party plugins.
Our ecommerce solution provided the brand with:
- Real-time updates on orders, prices, and invoices.
- Bi-directional data integration.
- Quick time to market for their B2B online store.
4. Trust and Credibility Building
Unlike B2C clients, B2B customers are more skeptical and cautious when making decisions since their purchases usually involve more significant investments.
B2B customers tend to patronize reputable companies that can be relied on to handle such large orders and deliver high-quality products and services. Establishing and growing trust with these buyers relies on a few key building blocks, including customer reviews.
Solution: Leverage Customer Reviews and Provide Detailed Product Information
Strengthen your credibility by including positive reviews for your products. Strengthening your presence on review websites also helps to enhance credibility, making it easier for potential customers to trust you.
In addition, provide reliable product information to show your customers how your offerings can improve their businesses. Enhance your product descriptions with high-quality images, video demos, and regular updates.
Besides providing detailed product information, here are other ways to build trust and attract positive reviews:
- Deliver high-quality products and services that meet or exceed customer expectations.
- Be upfront about your offerings, pricing, and terms. Don’t exaggerate or give false promises.
- Display customer testimonials and case studies on your website to show credibility.
- Understand customer needs and offer personalized solutions to build long-term relationships.
- Provide helpful customer support to address any questions or concerns promptly.
With k-ecommerce, you can offer your B2B clients a more relevant B2C experience that builds customer loyalty and encourages word-of-mouth referrals.
5. Inefficient Inventory and Logistics Management Systems
Maintaining accurate inventory levels is one of the biggest challenges B2B ecommerce companies face.
Ecommerce stores often deal in a wide range of products, so monitoring stock levels in real-time can be challenging. Overstocking ties up capital and leads to unnecessary holding costs, while understocking can result in customer dissatisfaction, delayed orders, and lost sales.
The characteristics of B2B transactions (i.e., bulk orders, different product lines, and multiple delivery locations) make it challenging to maintain accurate inventory levels. Logistics coordination also poses a unique challenge. With orders coming from various customers and going to different locations, timely and cost-effective delivery can be tricky.
Tracking shipments and handling returns further complicates the delivery process, as it requires more time, resources, and personnel.
Solution: Use an Omnichannel Strategy for Inventory Management
Omnichannel inventory management helps you track inventory accurately across all your sales channels. As a result, you can monitor stock levels efficiently to fulfill orders.
Inventory management functionality is one of the most important aspects of an ERP ecommerce platform. Accurate inventory data is key to efficient operations, and here’s where an ERP ecommerce integration proves useful.
Your ERP system can help you handle essential inventory tasks using data such as:
- Current inventory availability.
- Order histories.
- Client details.
- Inventory in transit.
ERP ecommerce integration enables you to share your ERP data about stock levels with your ecommerce platform. And likewise, you can automatically transfer data (e.g., new orders and product shipping details) from your ecommerce platform to your ERP system.
Sharing data seamlessly between major business systems helps you better understand what to sell and where.
As a best practice, your company’s inventory data should be easily accessible to all your business associates so they can make intelligent decisions.
6. Rigid Checkout Processes Lose B2B Buyers
Your B2B customers need to render payments based on terms, PO numbers, or quote-based approvals, none of which are supported under the standard B2C ecommerce framework. Forcing your B2B customers to make all their purchases the same way you would buy a new coffee maker from Amazon becomes frustrating for them almost immediately.
If buyers can’t buy from you in a way that fits their operations, they’re likely to find another vendor who’s more accommodating. When you don’t give them the ability to reorder easily, save order templates, or submit bulk orders, you’re effectively leaving money on the table.
Solution: Offer Flexible Checkout Procedures
Having the right ecommerce platform means giving your customers all the flexibility they need to place orders and make payments in the ways that make the most sense to them. Quick ordering by SKU, tiered pricing displays, quote negotiation, and other B2B checkout optimizations enable self-service ordering that fits into their internal workflows and makes your site more usable.
7. Mobile Isn’t Just for B2C Anymore
The idea that all B2B purchases are made from behind a desk on an old beige computer is outdated. Today, more than half of B2B buyers place orders and conduct product research via smartphones and other mobile devices. This is especially true for those working in the field or on the jobsite.
Having poor mobile UX on your site means customers are likely to abandon their carts, file higher volumes of support tickets, or just plain walk away from your B2B company.
Solution: Implement Mobile-Friendly Site Design
Any B2B ecommerce business solution worth its salt needs to account for the large number of customers who use their smartphones to make purchases. This means having thoughtful, efficient B2B mobile ecommerce site design and architecture that makes it easy for customers to browse, search, and place their orders.
8. Without Insights, You’re Just Guessing
Just as important as what your customers are buying from you is why. Unfortunately, many B2B ecommerce teams are cut out of the loop due to a lack of real-time analytics. Without insights into customer journeys, product popularity, or abandoned carts, there’s little they can do to make improvements.
This puts many B2B sellers in a perilous position where they may be flying blind, only learning what doesn’t work during a post-mortem investigation when it’s too late to make any changes.
Solution: Integrate Real-Time Ecommerce Analytics
When you have the detailed and up-to-the-minute data provided by k-ecommerce, you gain valuable insights to guide your decisions. With real-time dashboards, customer segmentation, and ERP-linked reporting, you can get data you need to inform upselling, product development, and account management.
9. One-Size Ecommerce Doesn’t Fit All Business Models
Manufacturers that use ecommerce may need to sell to distributors and resellers as well as directly to consumers. Each of these audiences has its own distinct needs and pain points, which is why a singular ecommerce experience causes problems.
Although you might think the solution is to build a separate siloed ecommerce experience for each customer base, this creates more problems than it solves. It leads to disconnected data that causes confusion and leads to higher operating costs.
Solution: Adopt a Multi-Faceted Ecommerce Platform
A platform like k-ecommerce includes customer group segmentation, role-based access, and ERP-synced catalogs that support flexible, multi-model selling capabilities. When you can provide a tailored experience for each customer without reinventing the wheel for each of them, you can capture more business and offer a smoother process for all.
10. Ecommerce Fails Without Internal Buy-In
Believe it or don’t, but not everyone on your team may be excited about ecommerce. Many organizations face pushback from their own sales teams because they don’t do enough to make it clear ecommerce is there to work alongside them, not compete with them.
At the same time, some companies don’t do enough to integrate their ecommerce fully into their operations. This means salespeople lack the access they need for visibility into online orders, pricing, buyer behavior, and other critical datasets.
Solution: Make an Effort to Drive Ecommerce Adoption and Integration
Making sure your sales team is fully engaged and onboard with your ecommerce strategies means taking an active role in the rollout. Providing your teams with adequate training, incentives, and role-specific portals can help them see the value ecommerce provides for them and how they can harness it to be more effective. It’s also critical that the platform you choose supports comprehensive CRM and ERP ecommerce integration for total visibility.
For B2B Ecommerce Made Simple, Start with a Dedicated Strategy
In B2B, ecommerce has revolutionized the way companies operate and serve customers. And done right, it’s an opportunity to expand your reach, streamline sales processes, and manage inventory more efficiently.
Now that you understand the challenges to prepare for in your B2B digital transformation, explore our free resource to dive into the ins and outs of a successful B2B ecommerce strategy (without the challenges).