7 B2B Ecommerce Strategies to Optimize Online Sales

The digital landscape for B2B businesses continues to evolve, offering new challenges and opportunities for growth. As more B2B companies embrace digital transformation, understanding ecommerce strategies that can optimize online sales is also becoming more important. Below are several B2B ecommerce strategies to consider deploying to increase sales.

7 Ecommerce Strategies to Increase Online Sales for B2B Businesses

Check out our 7 practical ecommerce strategies that can significantly boost online sales for B2B businesses, paving the way for increased revenue and enhanced customer engagement.

Deploy Ecommerce Products on Google Shopping with a Product Feed

One effective strategy to enhance visibility and drive sales is through Google Shopping. By deploying a product feed on Google Merchant Center, B2B companies can feature their products on Google Shopping, allowing them to appear in both organic shopping results and targeted Google Shopping ads. This visibility is substantial as part of the largest online ad network and search engine, which can drive traffic and conversions for specific products. It allows you to promote and advertise hundreds of thousands of ecommerce products with limited setup, plus Google Shopping Ads are one of the best performing Google ad types.

Optimize Products for Manufacturer Part Numbers

Including and highlighting manufacturer part numbers (MPNs) on product detail pages and in page titles can significantly enhance SEO and user experience, allowing more clients to find the exact product you offer. This ecommerce SEO strategy makes it easier for B2B buyers to find and verify products by MPN, ensuring compatibility and meeting specific industry standards.

Optimize B2B Cart Checkout User Experience

Streamlining the checkout process is key to reducing cart abandonment rates in B2B ecommerce. Simplifying this process by removing unnecessary steps and adding B2B shopping features, like auto renewals, bulk ordering, and simplified logistics, can lead to higher conversion rates and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Leverage Key Partnerships to Collaborate on Social Media

Cross-promotion with manufacturing or distribution partners on social media can enhance visibility within niche B2B industries. Building a close-knit community through strategic partnerships and shared social media initiatives can elevate brand presence and drive engagement. Consider how you can do Social Media collaboration with your B2B partners today to improve both company’s visibility and marketing.

Leverage AI Tools to Keep Products Updated

The application of AI content generation helps scale content production, especially for technical products. This technology supports B2B manufacturers in maintaining accurate and detailed product information without significant manual effort. A key issue with product descriptions and SEO is that distributors often have duplicate product descriptions as the manufacturer, which reduces their products ability to rank on search engines because search engines attempt to filter out duplicate results. In the past, writing thousands of product descriptions was not feasible for most businesses, but with the assistance of AI tools trained on technical documentation alongside good copy editing, maintaining a large inventory online has never been easier.

Personalize the Cart and Checkout Process for B2B Clients

Personalization in the checkout process can significantly impact sales performance. Existing B2B customers should experience a different user interface tailored to their buying habits and preferences. ROC Commerce offers tools such as Customer and Sales Portals, which allow for easy order updates, bulk ordering, and re-ordering, facilitating a more efficient sales and purchasing process for your clients and your sales representatives.

Integrate Omni-Channel Marketing Tools with B2B Websites

Integrating omni-channel marketing tools allows for more targeted and effective B2B sales and marketing strategies. Staying in front of B2B clients with an omni-channel approach has never been more important and a B2B ecommerce platform, like Roc Commerce, should easily integrate with your CRM system, analytics tools, and marketing tools. This helps to facilitate omni-channel visibility and provides actionable marketing insights by connecting the different touchpoints of your B2B audience's customer journey. By understanding the various touchpoints a customer interacts with, businesses can create a cohesive and personalized shopping experience across all platforms, devices, and marketing channels that truly resonates with your target audience and leads to more sales.

An Evolving B2B Ecommerce Landscape

As B2B ecommerce evolves, businesses must adapt by implementing advanced strategies to enhance online sales and customer experiences. Whether through optimizing product listings, integrating sophisticated marketing tools, or leveraging AI and partnerships, the goal remains to streamline operations and increase revenue. With platforms like ROC Commerce, businesses are equipped to meet these challenges head-on, promising a robust digital future.

Why Improved Ecommerce Experiences Are Key for B2B Companies

B2B buyers increasingly expect a seamless shopping experience akin to B2C transactions but tailored to their unique needs. Successful B2B ecommerce sites offer easy navigation, bulk ordering, and a streamlined checkout process to their clients. This shift is driving more B2B leaders to focus on providing exceptional site experiences to increase retention and sales.

Customizable B2B Ecommerce Platform

Platforms like Roc Commerce that provide B2B ecommerce storefronts are specially designed to manage the complexities of business-to-business operations and transactions, which can be significantly more intricate than those encountered in B2C ecommerce. The deployment of a robust ecommerce platform can empower B2B businesses to streamline operations, penetrate new markets, and strengthen client relationships. A user-friendly B2B ecommerce platform not only facilitates the acquisition of new customers but also bolsters existing relationships, thereby driving substantial revenue growth through enhanced operational efficiencies and improved client satisfaction.

B2B Ecommerce and Omni-Channel Marketing Statistics

There are compelling reasons for B2B businesses to invest in modern, intuitive ecommerce platforms. Namely that B2B businesses leveraging strong omni-channel marketing retain more customers and have higher order values.

Customer Retention: Companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain an impressive 89% of their customers, compared to just 33% for those with weak omnichannel strategies. (1)
Influence on In-store Visits: Omnichannel strategies are shown to drive about 80% of in-store visits, demonstrating how online engagement directly affects offline behavior. (1)
Impact of Physical Store Experiences: Despite the growth in online shopping, 55% of consumers enjoy visiting physical stores to see and touch products before making a purchase decision, indicating that seamless integration between online and offline experiences can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. (2)
Order Value and Purchase Rates: Brands utilizing three or more channels in their marketing campaigns see a 287% higher purchase rate than those using a single channel campaign. Furthermore, multichannel customers spend four times more than in-store-only customers and ten times more than online-only customers. (1)

What to Look for in a B2B Ecommerce Platform

Choosing the right B2B ecommerce platform is more than just selling online. Consider that the buying requirements of your B2B clients are specific and unique, requiring a better B2B Ecommerce platform with the tools needed for the job. Providing a better buying experience that covers the unique aspects of B2B transactions is key. A great B2B platform should be very customizable, integrating with operational, inventory, and customer management systems. Ideally it would allow for customized product features and variants that can be updated for thousands or millions of products.

The ROC Commerce B2B platform is an option that's engineered to address the demands of B2B commerce by offering:

Seamless Integration Capabilities: Connect effortlessly with ERP systems, payment gateways, shipping, and tax software to unify your business processes.
Legacy System Compatibility: Transition at your own pace from older systems, minimizing disruption in your daily operations.
Powerful Product Information Management (PIM): Consolidate all your product data in one place, ensuring accuracy and consistency across all channels.
Personalized User Experiences: Tailor the shopping experience to meet the specific needs of your customers, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.
Efficient Order Processing: Simplify the reordering process and allow quick modifications to orders to suit the dynamic needs of your clients.

Customizable SaaS Software: Leverage an open-source framework for full customization within a secure, single-tenant SaaS environment for easy updates and customizaton.

If you have any questions on how upgrading to a B2B ecommerce platform could benefit your business, do not hesitate to get in touch with ROC Commerce. Contact ROC today for a free demo.

References

Charlotte Blicher (2023, September 18). 28 Omnichannel Statistics Every Enterprise Needs to Know for 2024. Retrieved from Digizuite Blog.
Statista: B2B E-commerce Market Insights. Available at Statista B2B E-commerce.