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How To Boost Your eCommerce Business in 2023

DynamicWeb

eCommerce is a continuously evolving channel, businesses need to stay up to date with the most recent developments and trends of 2022. Learn more.

While eCommerce is often associated with B2C/retail businesses, Business-to-Business (B2B) companies have much to gain from eCommerce investment. B2B organizations can attain many benefits from eCommerce, including improved customer service, increased efficiency, cost reduction, 24/7 sales channel, improved forecasting, reduced burden on sales representatives, automated and digitized business processes, geographical expansions, accelerated quote to cash cycle, and more. Because eCommerce is a vast and continuously evolving channel, businesses need to stay up to date with the most recent developments and trends to access all of the available benefits. 

Trends are shaped by many factors, including changing consumer habits, technological innovations, geopolitics, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more. The ultimate goal of any advancement in eCommerce is to make the shopping experience as smooth as possible and meet the rising expectations of customers, and the eCommerce industry continues to adapt to the changing market. Let’s take a look at what’s on the horizon.

What B2B eCommerce trends are becoming popular in 2022?

Voice-Based eCommerce 

In 2022, worldwide voice assistant eCommerce transactions are predicted to reach a market value of 40 billion U.S. dollars, and voice-based ad revenues will likely increase by 18% in 2022. Over the course of 2022, voice-based search, shopping, and ads are bound to become even more popular. Voice assistance technologies are an opportunity for eCommerce business owners to expand their market reach and impact by ranking for keywords and phrases that match voice-search requests, connect with customers through voice-optimized push notifications, and increase the speed of purchase, make eCommerce interactions more personable, and more. B2B businesses can use voice commerce to improve sales processes, refine warehouse and office processes, and differentiate themselves from competitors. 

Hyper-Personalization

While personalization is not a new idea, in 2022, we can expect personalization to turn into “hyper” -personalization. A recent survey of B2B marketers in the U.S. showed that personalization ranks as one of the top priorities. The supercharging of personalization can be attributed to many developments. For example, the market to direct selling (D2C) is transforming. Customers expect to go directly to the source when searching for products and services or when making purchases from a specific brand. Manufacturers are meeting this expectation by selling directly to consumers, which allows them to gain a better understanding of their customers’ needs and better control their brand and customer experience. Additionally, consumers increasingly prefer advertisements that are optimized for their needs. If businesses do not adequately meet the rising standards of personalization, they risk consumers leaving their business and purchasing from a competitor. 

Omnichannel Selling 

The pandemic pushed many B2B interactions online. Even as in-person activities resume, B2B buyers express a clear preference for cross-channel sales interactions. Omnichannel selling is not a passing trend; it is becoming the standard expectation. Providing an omnichannel experience guarantees that you are available for each customer where they prefer to find you. While in-person shopping still has benefits, a recent report shows that two-thirds of B2B customers prefer a digital self-service option or remote human interactions for shopping. Additionally, many B2B buyers make purchases through third-party marketplaces that cater to businesses. Which channels to include in your sales matrix will depend upon the unique qualities of your business and the needs of your customers, but it is important that each channel you choose presents a consistent brand experience. In order to support and optimize omnichannel selling, you need to integrate all of your data and systems comprehensively. Thankfully Dynamicweb makes integration efficient and effective. 

Diverse Payment Methods

Historically, B2B payments have been made using paper checks. Many companies still use paper checks to purchase materials, goods, and services, but businesses are increasingly switching to digital payment methods. Customer satisfaction lies in little things like ease of payment, so enterprises should allow their customers to pay in the method they desire. B2B eCommerce sites need to be equipped to process a diverse array of payment methods. In addition to expanding the payment methods you offer, you can also consider looking into where and when payments must be completed. The expanding diversity of payment methods also includes installment plans. 

AI and AR

Like B2C customers, B2B customers expect brands to adopt the latest technologies to make their buying experiences better. Artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) are exciting technologies that can improve shopping experiences for B2B buyers by creating online spaces for companies to try out products before they buy. Additionally, AR and AI offer B2B enterprises many opportunities to improve search results, workflows, processes, and supply chain management. AI-based software can give B2B companies access to real-time market data that can help businesses to provide the right prices at the right time, even in the most fast-paced eCommerce environment. 

To take an even deeper dive into eCommerce trend predictions for both B2C and B2B companies in 2022, read this blog. 

B2B eCommerce Trends To Upgrade Your Business

Self-Service 

For B2B companies, eCommerce is less likely to be a webshop and more likely to be a portal or self-service tool referred to as a “customer portal” or a “dealer portal.” A survey conducted at the beginning of 2022 revealed that 64% of B2B businesses have an eCommerce customer self-service portal. For those companies, 52% of their revenue on average comes from online eCommerce orders. If you are not a part of that group, now is the time to upgrade your business with an eCommerce customer or dealer portal. For B2B companies that have adopted eCommerce platforms, the online sales portals are key revenue drivers. 

24/7 Order Management

The main benefits of having an eCommerce portal are the ability to manage orders 24/7 and the ease of doing business. As companies increase in size and work across time zones, it becomes more and more important for expansive enterprises to be able to conduct business round-the-clock. When you upgrade your business with B2B eCommerce, you can continuously log, track, and process orders from across the globe. This grants companies a distinct advantage in order fulfillment and customer satisfaction. With 24/7 order management, business is not limited to a specific time zone. 

Sales Representative Assisted Selling

In B2B companies, eCommerce platforms are not replacing sales teams. Instead, eCommerce platforms are a vital tool to augment and enhance sales professionals’ capabilities. Assisted selling is a point of sale strategy where a representative can contact potential customers directly to offer advice, mitigate doubts, and answer questions. In B2B contexts where products and services are typically more complex, sales assisted selling can be useful for accelerating and enhancing the customer journey. Furthermore, sales teams can utilize the eCommerce platform to gather insights into customer behavior, purchasing history, and order tracking to customize an approach to courting buyers. 

PIM and eCommerce Integration

PIM and eCommerce are a true power couple. PIM systems provide a centralized repository for all of the information a customer needs to make a purchasing decision, including product information, marketing content, data, specifications, imagery, and more. PIM systems also enrich the use of back-end business systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). Integrating your eCommerce with a PIM solution helps to standardize the customer experience across platforms, ensure a high level of information accuracy, and fully leverage customer insights to make recommendations and encourage repeat purchases. Additionally, a great way to deliver personalized product and customer experience is to combine Product Information Management (PIM) and eCommerce to complete and enrich each other. Combined, these solutions deliver a more streamlined process, and you’ll have your product data to drive the product experience. With PIM and eCommerce integration, you can provide better customer experiences and increase bottom-line profitability. 

Transform Your B2B eCommerce Business With Dynamicweb

Dynamicweb eCommerce is a flexible and scalable solution for expanding your business online and accelerating your digital transformation. Provide personalized online experiences with a unified eCommerce platform that is never limited by customizations or complex requirements. Dynamicweb unifies the critical components of your online strategy so you can innovate faster without complexity holding you back. 

With Dynamicweb, B2B meets B2C eCommerce. Show your customers that you care by integrating your eCommerce store into your ERP and CRM. By leveraging all available customer data, you can provide a customer experience that turns customers into fans. Create self-service portals by integrating with Microsoft Dynamics ERP or other ERP systems. Empower your customers with everything they need in a 24/7 self-service portal, including order history, invoice payments, RMA, custom pricing, and more. Dynamicweb supports your international eCommerce expansion with local languages, currencies, payment providers, VAT/Sales Tax, and shipping methods. Dynamicweb also facilitates integration with third-party online marketplaces. 

More than 4,000+ brands worldwide trust Dynamicweb with digital solutions. Our customers include leading brands like Lego Wear, Vredestein, Unilever, Winnebago, L’Oréal, Flying Tiger, Toyota, Europcar, and Skanska. Built on Dynamicweb, these customers are empowered to gain lifelong customer relations, increase revenue and grow their brands.

To boost your eCommerce business, contact Dynamicweb today. 

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