Boost Your Business With The Best B2B ECommerce Platforms

B2B eCommerce platforms are now an indispensable part of the business success journey. Reaching out to local clients and customers is not enough to grow your business. You need an eCommerce platform that will transform your online shopping experience and improve the overall operations of your business. Here are some of the important aspects that you need to check before making a decision about which B2B eCommerce platforms will work best for you:

Is ECommerce Platform The Need For B2B Businesses?

The growth of eCommerce has been phenomenal in the last few years. The online industry is evolving and B2B businesses are gradually shifting from traditional methods to online marketing tactics. E-commerce platforms have become very popular among B2B businesses because they enable a lot more benefits than they used to offer.

According to the market research:

• According to Statista B2B eCommerce transactions will be approximately $1.8 trillion by the 2023 year-end. This will be equivalent to around 17% of the B2B economy of the U.S.
• In the next 5 years, 75% of the major B2B procurement spending will be supported by eCommerce platforms.

These statistics clearly indicate the importance of choosing the best eCommerce platform for B2B businesses. Moreover, the top B2B eCommerce platforms ensure better sales, higher revenue, customer engagement, improved brand awareness, and increased market reach.

The best B2B eCommerce platforms are the need of the hour for the B2B SaaS market.

Choosing The Best B2B ECommerce Platforms – The Common Challenges

The B2B market is best known for its competition. The competition is even fiercer for choosing the best B2B eCommerce platforms as there are so many factors to consider. Moreover, the numerous choices of B2B eCommerce platforms, each with its benefits and drawbacks, further make the choice difficult.

Below are some of the common challenges faced when focusing on how to choose a B2B eCommerce platform suitable for the business.

1. Use of Old Technology:

With more than 90% of B2B technology being outdated and many organizations relying on cost-effective but low-performance technology, it is not surprising that most B2B retailers still struggle to deliver the best experience to their customers as they still rely on outdated technology. The resistance to change and adopt the new technology is nothing less than a barrier to the success of B2B platforms.

2. High Investment:

As traditional B2B projects require higher investments, startups need to raise more funding to achieve desired results, which can be more challenging in turbulent times. This is especially challenging for startup B2B businesses.

3. Platform Restrictions:

B2B businesses are more complex because of their business-specific requirements, both for the sellers and buyers. Thus, businesses need an eCommerce platform that offers easy and better control over the buyer experience with restricted control to authentic people.

However, the restrictions and certain drawbacks of the platforms sometimes become a challenge to find the best eCommerce platform for B2B businesses.

4. Functionality and Scalability:

While choosing from the best B2B eCommerce platforms, businesses should focus on a platform offering the best possibilities with different functionalities and a scope of scalability. The chosen platform should support the business’s functional requirements and long-term growth.

5. Skill Shortage:

Last but not least, the shortage of the right talent to choose and manage eCommerce digital transformation is one of the most significant barriers. Businesses are even afraid to shift internal talent from the day-to-day operations to the required transformation.

If you are also facing the same challenges to choose the suitable open source B2B eCommerce platform, we are here to help you choose the best B2B eCommerce platforms. Care enough to explore?

What Factors To Consider While Choosing a B2B ECommerce Platform?

How can you choose the right eCommerce platform for your business amongst the best B2B eCommerce platforms available in the market? Below are listed some of the factors you should consider:

1. Type of B2B Business:

The first and foremost thing you should consider while choosing the eCommerce platform is to understand what type of B2B business you are into. Your B2B business can be –

• B2B2C – Business to Business to Consumer
• Wholesale
• Manufacturer
• Distributor

To ensure choosing the best eCommerce platform, you should have all the required insights into your business.

2. Budget for the B2B ECommerce Platform:

The next thing that shouldn’t be missed when choosing the best eCommerce platform for B2B business is the required budget. While you plan to leverage the benefits of the platform, it should never interrupt the day-to-day operations. 

You should have a well-planned strategy to finalize the right budget for the right B2B eCommerce platform.

3. Security:

There isn’t any point in using an eCommerce B2B platform that isn’t secure. Security is amongst the top attractions for every customer when using an eCommerce platform. When and if the customers are satisfied with the safety of their sensitive information, they are more likely to choose your business.

4. Customization:

Customization is another important factor that attracts merchants and customers to confirm business success. As a result, it should be a priority when choosing the most suitable platform amongst the top B2B eCommerce platforms.

5. Business Automation Features:

As the shortage of the right talent is one possible challenge for businesses, business automation features are one of the significant factors to consider. Assuring high manageability, the automation features improve customer experience and boost business productivity.

Every business is unique with its specific workflow and functionalities. Thus, focusing on these factors will help businesses choose the best B2B eCommerce platforms with much ease and convenience.

Must-Have Features Of The Best B2B ECommerce Platforms

As businesses focus on how to choose a B2B eCommerce platform, they should not ignore the must-have features. Below are some of the essential features that the B2B eCommerce platform should offer:

1. Time and Cost Effectiveness:

The B2B eCommerce platform can be integrated to sell for either B2B or B2C. Time and cost-effectiveness will be ensured as the management of both selling is done by the same platform, thus ensuring higher time and cost-effectiveness.

2. Global Selling:

The best B2B eCommerce platforms should offer multi-language support, allowing businesses to leverage the benefits of global selling. This feature will help your business explore advanced selling opportunities in new markets and allow you to expand your global presence

3. Multiple Payment Options:

B2B eCommerce platform should ensure multiple flexible payment options to support its large volume flow and recurring orders. Multiple payment options are also important to support the global selling feature of the open source B2B eCommerce platform. Your customers should be able to complete the payment process at their convenience.

4. Order Management:

Well, as you are attracting customers, you are expected to receive a lot of orders. Thus, the best eCommerce platform for B2B business should ensure seamless order management for better productivity and higher sales revenue.

It is better if the chosen eCommerce platform supports additional features like customization, minimum order value, shipping regulations, etc.

5. Catalog Management:

Catalog management is the process of organizing and effectively displaying items. With the help of B2B eCommerce platforms, organize your catalog management data and display it as per your business requirements.

6. Convenience to Add New Channels:

Considering omnichannel experience should be one of the significant requirements to choose an open source B2B eCommerce platform. Using its multi-channel approach, it ensures higher sales and better customer experience.

With more and more B2B businesses shifting towards eCommerce platforms, you should be focused to find a platform that can be personalized to your business needs and requirements.

Top B2B ECommerce Platforms You Can Choose:

Choosing the perfect eCommerce platform for your business’ e-commerce needs can be a daunting challenge. For example, many popular B2B eCommerce platforms out there have both pros and cons to them. Below are the top three best B2B eCommerce platforms that you can choose –

1. Shopify Plus:

Offering its easy, convenient, and user-friendly interface, Shopify plus is one of the best choices for multi-channel businesses. It ensures enhancing the customer experience by offering them a wide range of functionalities and benefits.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Easy customization
• Good for B2B and B2C,
• Better customer experience

Cons

• Little Pricey

2. Magento Commerce, Now Adobe Commerce

Magento is the preferred choice for companies that plan to customize for higher scalability. It offers benefits like high security, multiple languages and currency support, promotions, simple checkout, etc.

Pros

• High Security
• Excellent Customer Support
• User-Friendly Interface

Cons

• Exclusive integrations

3. BigCommerce:

BigCommerce is one of the top popular SaaS eCommerce platforms for corporate brands. Thanks to its highly configurable APIs, this open-source B2B eCommerce platform offers a wide range of functionalities to businesses.

Pros

• High Durability
• Cost Effectiveness
• Support Wide Functionalities

Cons

Limited Assistance

Final Thoughts:

While you plan to choose the best B2B eCommerce platforms, you should find answers to these potential questions –

• What are the needs of these platforms?
• What current goals will be satisfied with these platforms?
• What will be the future potential of these platforms?

Now that you have enough information on how to choose a B2B eCommerce platform, we hope it will narrow your search. The eCommerce platform is surely a profitable affair for your business if you have chosen the right one.

If you still have doubts about finding the best B2B eCommerce platforms, write to us in the comments. We look forward to helping you with all your concerns.