Contents
More manufacturers are launching or expanding a B2B e-commerce site. But it’s still a work in progress. Business buyers want custom ordering and integration with ERP and CRM systems and those are e-commerce features manufacturers are slow to add.
Custom website design is still a work in progress for manufacturers
Manufacturers add personalization tools but only slowly
(percentage of manufacturers)
Manufacturers need to work on “just in time” e-commerce
B2B buyers usually know exactly what they want, and need to be able to find it quickly, easily, and with the least friction possible. Yet only 21% of manufacturers have an e-commerce site with an automatic reorder feature
Many B2B e-commerce sellers have large catalogs that feature thousands, in some cases millions, of products. A successful B2B site lets customers quickly and easily find what they are looking for. 33% of manufacturers will make faster search a top design priority for 2018, according to a recent survey of manufacturers by B2BecNews.
No needle in a hay stack. Buyers want fast search
B2B websites have a goal—to make the buyer’s job easier—that is different from the typical goal of a retail site to build an emotional connection with customers. As a result, B2B e-commerce sites must accommodate things that will make buyers’ workflows easier and faster. Workflow considerations have a major impact on website design. But for manufacturers getting there is a work in progress—with lots of work ahead.
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Key Takeaway
Mobile siteBulk pricingRequest for quoteAutomatic reorder
Custom pagesConfiguratorRecommendRatingsApps
The main thrust of a B2B e-commerce site needs to be focused around making the buyer’s job easier and more personal. But only 27% of manufacturers offer a product configurator as an e-commerce feature
Integrate with ERPIntegrate with CRMWork flow approvals
Current feature
Plan to add
Manufacturers are slow to embrace personalization
Business buyers want in and out and web tools that plug into their core systems
E-commerce provides an opportunity for sellers to make buyers aware of products they might otherwise not know the seller offers, and do so in a scalable fashion. Common web merchandising methods that work for B2B merchants include product cross-selling and upselling (on product pages and in the shopping cart) and product bundling (a.k.a. kitting). But only 20% of manufacturers currently have an e-c
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