B2B ecommerce is the process of marketing and selling products between two businesses online Business-to-business (B2B), also called B-to-B, is a form of transaction between businesses, such as one involving a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer. Business-to-business refers to business that is conducted between companies, rather than between a company and individual consumer

 Characteristics of B2B EC

1. CUSTOMIZED PRICING

Unlike the B2C portals that have uniform pricing for all the customers, the B2B enterprises propose different pricing depending on the client or the quantity that is bought. The wholesale purchases offer you higher discounts compared with smaller amount of purchases.

In addition, B2B enterprises offer group prices for specific products, quantity discounts, etc.

Your site should be designed to display the right price for different customers. Once a particular customer logs in, he must be able to access the price for him, depending on the quantity ordered and other discounts.

2. ADVANCED PAYMENT METHOD

We agree that the process for B2B orders is more complicated than B2Cs. This means that the shopping chart model should be the most appropriate. Your e-commerce website design company needs to be able to design your site to make it easier to pay and reduce the basket desertion.

The payment process must not only be streamlined, but also help to remember some other factors such as:

• • Customers must be able to transfer their shipping costs to their delivery partners accounts (such as FedEx, USP, etc.)
• • Customers must be able to retrieve their payment information from previous orders.
• • They must have the possibility to pay for orders through different payment methods such as a line of credit, a purchase request, commercial credit, etc.
• • It should be possible to repeat an order previously placed and not to research individual products again.

3. WHOLESALE PURCHASES

Very often, B2B customers place large orders. In such cases, searching for all the products in your online catalog is boring and time-consuming. To simplify the task, you can provide your consumers with a form for a bundled order.

When designing a group order form, make sure that the customers can add products only with the part number or the SKU. In addition, they should be able to specify the desired amount for each item. Once the bundled order form is completed, it should take the customer directly to the payment page.

4. MINIMUM AMOUNT OF ORDER

This is another feature that makes a difference between B2C e-commerce websites and B2B portals. Very often, B2B companies sell products only in quantities of wholesale. Customers must order a specific minimum amount of order so it can be completed.

5. DEGRESSIVE DISCOUNTS FOR THE WHOLESALE PURCHASES

B2B customers often make bulk purchases. In this way, instead of listing products that are frequently sold as individual items, you can also list them as packages, boxes, cartons, or even pallets. This will make things easier for the customer as well for you too. If a customer is looking for nails, he can easily add them to the basket in the form of a box instead of 100 individual nails.

In addition, B2B companies offer different levels of discounts to customers depending on the number of products ordered. For example, offering the same discount to a customer who buys 10 air filters and a buyer of 1000 air filters makes no sense. Your online store must be able to accept different discounts depending on the quantity ordered.

6. RESTRICTED ACCESS

Some B2B companies only allow pre-registered customers or resellers to order products from their online stores. For example, if your business only sells through a network of resellers, your website should be designed so that only authorized resellers can access it.

When choosing an e-commerce platform, make sure it has the ability to protect with a password your entire site and restrict access to customers.

You can also restrict access to specific parts of the site to non-registered customers. This means that the home page and product line are accessible to everyone, but only authorized retailers can buy from your online store.

7. IMPROVED MOBILE EXPERIENCE

Today, more and more B2B customers are looking for professional products on their mobile. As mentioned above, almost 94% agree that they start looking for commercial services or products on their smartphones. This means that mobile-friendly sites are no longer an additional feature. They are essential to provide your customers with the best user experience.

When designing a responsive mobile e-commerce store, you need to look for advanced features such as:

• • Auto-entry – this allows your clicks to fill out forms using information already stored on their device. This way, they don’t have to enter repetitive keys to get common information such as name, address, email address, phone numbers, etc.
• • Clear call to action button – with this button, customers can contact your customer support team with just one click.

Make sure your site has fast loading times and offers an optimized experience on al screens.

8. INTUITIVE AND USER-FRIENDLY SEARCHES

One of the best ways to increase the conversion rate on the website is to improve the search functionality of your e-commerce portal. Customers should be able to locate the items they are looking for without having to go through your entire list of products.

This means that you need more than just a search bar on your website. Here are some improved search features to provide to your site:

• • Search filters – customers should be able to locate a product or refine default search results by varying attributes such as product size, color, availability, etc.
• • Long-haul searches – your e-commerce portal must be able to manage and interpret long-trailed semantic searches. Studies show that the dropout rate decreases significantly (40% to 2%) with a semantic approach than research.
• • Auto-entry – while this may seem like a simple feature, it does indeed have huge impacts. This not only saves consumers time, but also makes them buy other products that they haven’t thought of buying before.

9. FLEXIBLE PAYMENTS

In the B2C world, getting paid immediately before processing order is very important. B2B companies, on the other hand, do not operate that way. There is a stable relationship between the company and the customer and very often companies give their customers a line of credit. This leads to the need for flexible payment options.

Flexible payments add to the overall user experience. While different payment methods are very convenient for B2C online stores, they are extremely critical for B2B stores. While offering several payment methods, be sure to provide options for offline modes as well as the usual ones such as credit cards, transfers, etc.

An example of an offline payment method is to complete the order and then allow the customer to pay for it using the order number within 30 days of the end of the transaction

Models of B2B EC

If you’re just starting out in B2B ecommerce, you’ll likely fall into one of the following three categories. Each has its pros and cons, and many businesses operate in multiple categories simultaneously. 

B2B2C

B2B2C, or business-to-business-to-consumer, sells directly to the consumer without using a middleman. Wholesalers or manufacturers produce goods. Those goods are then sold to B2B entities that sell them directly to the consumer. 

In an ecommerce setting, a B2B2C business often includes a digital storefront showcasing its product catalog. The consumer may or may not know the product isn’t directly created by the business. 

Wholesale

In a wholesale setup, businesses buy goods in bulk from distributors or manufacturers to then offer them for sale to the consumer at retail prices. 

If you’re a wholesale supplier, buyer-oriented B2B marketplaces are a good way to advertise your products to buyers and retailers with less marketing effort. Buyer-oriented marketplaces exist where there are many buyers and fewer sellers. 

Buyers in this case have their own online marketplaces. They invite suppliers and manufacturers to show their products and accept bids from different sellers. 

Manufacturer

Manufacturers produce goods in large amounts that are then sold to other suppliers, wholesalers, or manufacturers. For example, a manufacturer might produce specialty shoelaces. 

Those shoelaces are then sold to a luxury shoe manufacturer, where they assemble the shoe and add their branding. From there, completed shoes can be sold in bulk to wholesalers. 

With the changing times, manufacturers are tasked with meeting digital demand. Wholesalers, suppliers, other B2B entities, and consumers are looking for increased flexibility in how they purchase manufactured items. Businesses are increasingly needing manufacturers to be able to complete online transactions with access to personalized features like pricing, production schedule, or sizing. 

Distributor

Distributors take care of packaging, shipping, and marketing, which a manufacturer may not want to do in-house. Manufacturers have the option of partnering with distributors to sell their products. 

A manufacturer and distributor partnership can be created online. By arriving at deals through an online platform, the manufacturer and distributor can achieve faster, more streamlined supply chains to meet or surpass customer expectations. 

As you can imagine, amassing market share by offering an excellent customer experience is a competitive quest. This makes optimizing cost-effective distribution initiatives a must.