5 Tell-Tale Signs You Need To Improve Your B2B Ecommerce Platform

Before the advent of digital marketing and ecommerce, all the B2B transactions were conducted offline. Business cards were exchanged, face-to-face transactions happened up and down. But today, having a B2B ecommerce platform is a must. 

Why?

The growth numbers say it all. 

The global B2B ecommerce market is predicted to reach $21 trillion by 2027 and this trend will reflect across all businesses. 

With the growth numbers like these, you cannot think of being in the old-age period. Surely, you need a B2B ecommerce platform for your large-scale business. But that’s not enough. It is also important that your website is efficient to outpace the competition.  

There are very few B2B websites that are beautifully designed, strategically planned, engaging the visitors, and converting them as customers. If you really think that having a business website is enough, here is a wakeup call for you. 

If you are also not following the basic set of rules to succeed in the B2B ecommerce industry and looking into the ways to make your B2B website a success. Read on.

Here are the 5 signs you need to improve your B2B ecommerce platform

1. Your website is not backed by a story

There are tons of information and marketing strategies for B2C ecommerce websites but when it comes to the B2B industry, these tips and tricks are mostly undervalued. 

However, creating and distributing relevant content and representing a story through your B2B website can do wonders for your business. A right strategy can turn into huge business profits. Let’s understand some of the benefits of success stories for your B2B ecommerce platform:

• Provides brand credibility and boost sales
• Increase engagement through compelling narratives
• Tailored for local and regional audiences according to their choice and preferences
• Great source to offer unique content to the audience

You can also nail the art of storytelling. Let’s understand how:

• Start plotting the sequence of events you want to tell to your customers
• Place the story in B2B context
• Start the process of characterization by defining the hero and villain of your brand story
• Create the emotional; landscape through tone and voice to create the atmosphere
• Create a consistent flow of voice to communicate right message to your audience

And you are done creating a powerful story for your wholesale business. 

2. You are not paying attention to your customers

The key to B2B ecommerce platform success lies in the happiness and satisfaction of your customers. Surely, you have developed your website to showcase your brand, sell your products, make good business deals, and so on.

But while doing so, have you forgotten who you are talking to? 

THE CUSTOMERS!

No matter how good the products are and what they can do. It is super important to consider customers in every part of your business strategy and create value at every stage of your customer journey. And for this purpose, understand a few important things like –

• Who are your customers?
• What do they expect from your B2B ecommerce platform?
• What value can you add for your customers?

But how to gain these key insights? How about getting a summary of this valuable data right in front of you? Yes, you can access the important data in the form of email surveys, customer testimonials, customer service chat logs, customer feedback, and alike. This hidden treasure can help you focus on providing great value to your customers and delight them.

3. Your B2B ecommerce platform lacks essential opt-in features

Lacking the necessary opt-in features clearly indicates that you need help with your B2B website. An online enterprise-grade platform requires specific features and capabilities to handle the wholesale business affairs. Let’s understand those features first.

• If you think that you are dealing in large-scale business and do not need to focus on the first impression of your website. Well, it is not just the way it works in the B2B industry. Every visitor observes the beauty and functionality of your website, search capabilities, navigation menu, content of your website, and a lot more. So, build your website on a B2B ecommerce solution that leaves a lasting impression on your customers.
• Be transparent with your customers to maintain a powerful customer base. You can do it by offering useful resources and insights on the website.
• Always ensure that your website is easy to use. It can be done by providing easy navigation to the users, offering engaging customer experiences, and helping them easily find the information or products they are looking for on your website. 
• The key success ingredient of a wholesale business website is the experience of users. And this can be done amazingly with landing pages. Using the landing pages with the help of B2B ecommerce solutions is super easy too. It boosts your customer conversions by encouraging the visitors to provide their details. Once the customer details are acquired, the leads can be nurtured over the time. 

4. You have not optimized your website for mobile

It is no more a surprise that everyone of us is relying on our smart phones for almost everything. Be it a morning alarm, gentle task reminders, keeping our insurance and payment track, and a lot more. 

If you already know this scenario, there is no chance of leaving the mobile optimization part for your B2B ecommerce website. And the irony is most of the people think that if a website can be displayed on mobile, it is well-optimized for mobile. But it is actually not. 

Well, don’t worry. A B2B ecommerce solution can help you create a wholesale business website with a mobile-first approach. It makes your website completely responsive according to different screen sizes. And having a PWA (Progressive Web Apps) support can do wonders by making your website look and feel like a native app. So, don’t wait to reap the exciting benefits of mobile platforms to attract more relevant leads and speed up the conversion process.

5. You are not paying enough attention to the content of your website

The website content has to be relevant, useful and actionable for the users. The simple reason is that customers will get access to high-quality content according to their interests and you will get the business benefits in return. So, the process starts with establishing yourself as a brand and helping your target audience with their niche problems. 

Now you know the fifth sign why your B2B ecommerce platform was not working to its full potential. What’s the solution? 

The solution is here. Let’s understand step by step.

• Identify your audience. One of the best ways to do it is through Google Analytics data. It provides basic demographic details of the customers along with their interest areas.
• Analyze the search patterns of your customers through the information or products they are reaching over the web.
• Run an analysis to keep a check on your B2B competitors and see what they are writing before you decide on writing for your B2B ecommerce platform. Once you have the competitive insights, it becomes easier to plan targeted strategies. 
• Create user personas, send feedback and survey forms to your customers. It will help you target the specific elements of your customer buying behavior.
• Lastly, map the entire journey of the customer from initial interaction to the final purchase. Always remember that your mission is to create a long-term relationship with your customers. And providing a value-added content is one of the best ways to encourage your buyers to want to interact with your brand.

Now is the time for a change.

If any one of these headaches sounds familiar, there is a big-time sign you need help with your B2B ecommerce platform. Even if you cannot relate much to these signs, it is always better to upgrade yourself every 12 months to ensure online success. Consider a one-stop solution that supports the basic to advanced needs of your online business and also consider the expansion plans of your business. 

So, always choose a B2B ecommerce solution that is modern and scalable to eliminate all your online business hassles and provide powerful features to meet the expectations of your customers. If you have not yet experienced any such platform or advanced B2B ecommerce features, start your free online trial store period and experience yourself.