How to Overcome the Challenges in B2B eCommerce Integration

With irreversible changes brought into our world by the pandemic, every sector of the industry has undergone an evolution to grow and thrive in the post-COVID-19 world. The B2B market has also seen similar significant changes. Gone are the days of in-person sales, and in their place, we now have the rise of the B2B eCommerce platforms. B2B eCommerce platforms provide the accessibility and comfort of seamlessly making purchases online from digital stores. However, with the increasing volume of online B2B purchases, businesses require more flexibility and scalability from the platform. With the need for expanded functionalities from B2B eCommerce websites, the need for its integration with other core technology systems of an organization is higher than ever. However, the specialized resources and technical prowess needed for it means most companies fail to implement it successfully. The benefits of B2B eCommerce integration can provide several advantages to a company, but the challenges of developing an integration from scratch are a huge roadblock.

What is B2B eCommerce

Before we delve into the challenges of B2B eCommerce integration and how to overcome them, we need to first understand what B2B eCommerce is. In simple terms, B2B eCommerce is the process of marketing and selling products through online transactions between businesses. Traditionally B2B sales took place through face-to-face sales, but through an eCommerce platform, order processing is digital, which is more convenient for customers and improves buying efficiency and effectiveness for wholesalers, manufacturers, and distributors. With both B2B buyers and sellers preferring the new digital way of doing business, B2B eCommerce is here to stay and will continue to be one of the most booming sectors in the years to come.

If your business is running multiple systems and you want to achieve effortless?B2B eCommerce integration ?with them under a single roof, employ the power of APPSeCONNECT’s robust integration capabilities to accelerate your business growth.

The Benefits of B2B eCommerce Integration

The challenges of implementing an integrated B2B eCommerce platform can steer companies away from it. However, persevering and overcoming these challenges can deliver an ROI (Return on Investment) that not only justifies the cost of implementation but also provides a perpetual cycle of sustainable and scalable business growth. The competitive advantages that B2B eCommerce integrations include:

• CRM integration with a B2B eCommerce website provides a complete overview of all visitor actions on the website and their background data, like the location from where the person is visiting the website. These details can help sales teams to better direct and cultivate leads and offer a faster onboarding experience.
• B2B sales usually involve complex pricing structures. Companies may need to generate item prices dynamically based on changing inventory data or offer discounts according to specific customers or order volumes. Moreover, as a business grows, data on product catalogs, item descriptions, and pricing factors also become more complex. Through the seamless integration with an ERP system, the B2B eCommerce application can rely on a centralized source for contracts, pricing, and invoicing details.
• The integration of the B2B eCommerce platform also helps to maintain accurate information on inventory levels across applications. The transparency of product availability on the eCommerce website allows customers to stay updated on stock levels during order placement. The accurate inventory data provides achievable delivery expectations, thus reducing customer frustrations.
• Through the integration, B2B companies can deliver an omnichannel experience to their customers. An omnichannel experience means a customer gets a unified experience across different purchase channels, such as physical stores, websites, or social media platforms. As any customer-generated data on the eCommerce platform gets instantaneously synchronized with all other databases, providing a seamless purchasing experience across multiple points of sale becomes effortless.

How APPSeCONNECT Helps You Overcome the Challenges of B2B eCommerce Integration

With the power of APPSeCONNECT, your business can effortlessly resolve the biggest challenge to integration, the need for coders to develop them. APPSeCONNECT, as a low code iPaaS solution, allows users of any skill level to create all necessary integrations. ProcessFlow, APPSeCONNECT’s proprietary visual integration designer allows you to graphically design, manage and deploy any integration you may need.

APPSeCONNECT also comes out of the box with pre-designed integration templates for all industry-leading business applications, like Salesforce, SAP ERP, WooCommerce, Amazon and many more. The time-tested integration templates are optimized to industry best practices and provide plug and use capabilities to connect your B2B eCommerce platform with other line-of-business applications. With the ability to get started right out of the box, APPSeCONNECT allows you to cut down time to market significantly.

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