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eCommerce for Manufacturers: Importance, Benefits, & Best Practices
DynamicWeb
Just about every industry is now shifting to eCommerce - and that includes manufacturers! While the progress in digitalization is exciting, it has challenges.
Even amidst the significant shift to online sales, manufacturers and B2B companies have complex requirements for which most eCommerce platforms are insufficient. To meet all their requirements, organizations too commonly rely on a Frankenstack of mismatched systems that lead to integration challenges, unforeseen costs, operational risks, scaling challenges, security vulnerabilities, technical debt, and slow response times.
At Dynamicweb, we are committed to helping our customers improve buyer experiences in manufacturing with integrated eCommerce solutions. This guide breaks down the importance, benefits, and best practices of eCommerce for manufacturers. We also take it a step further and explain how our eCommerce solution supports the complex requirements for manufacturing. Read on to learn everything you need to know about eCommerce for manufacturers.
Why is eCommerce for manufacturers important?
For the last twenty years, eCommerce manufacturing sales have steadily increased. The global pandemic accelerated the upward curve, and now manufacturers are looking for digital solutions that are more than just tools to tack onto their existing infrastructure. Ultimately, eCommerce is essential for manufacturers because it helps move business models into a rich, digital ecosystem where everything is connected.
Key Benefits of eCommerce for Manufacturing Customers
24/7 Customer Convenience
Nowadays, not everyone purchases between the traditional 9-5 business hours. Dynamicweb eCommerce allows your customers to shop when it is best for them.
Easier Access to Your Full Product Offering
With Dynamicweb, all of your product details are exposed. The easy-to-use search and filter format allows customers complete visibility into product categories. Customers can easily find your products because all of the product details are indexed by search engines.
Self-Service Portal
The eCommerce self-service portal puts the power into the customer’s hands. Customers can check order status, view previous orders, manage re-ordering and recurring orders, access flexible payment methods, and pay invoices online. eCommerce also enables customers to build their quotes, pass back and forth with sales, and convert the quote into an online order.
Real-Time Customer Specific Pricing and Inventory Availability
With Dyanamicweb’s integrated eCommerce, customers do not have to wait on sales representatives via email or phone. Instead, they can see customized pricing information in real time. They can also trust that the inventory on the website is entirely up to date.
Global Familiarity with eCommerce as the Go-To Purchasing Method
In 2021, global retail eCommerce sales totaled roughly 5.2 trillion dollars, and that number is set to grow by 56% by 2026. Additionally, B2B eCommerce sales are expected to grow by an annual compounding rate of 10.7%, reaching a value of 3 billion dollars by 2027. Across the board, customers expect smooth eCommerce experiences and by partnering with Dynamicweb, manufacturers can fulfill that expectation.
How does Dynamicweb benefit YOU (the manufacturer)?
Grow Sales Revenue
In 2021, 87% of B2B buyers reported they would pay more for better supplier eCommerce platforms. Dynamicweb empowers manufacturers to expand sales reach to new customers and markets online, accelerate customer onboarding, widen the sales intake bandwidth with an automated 24/7 channel, and strengthen and personalize customer relationships. With eCommerce best practices, manufacturers are incentivized to purchase more volume and more frequently.
Reduce Costs
With Dynamicweb, manufacturers can reduce transaction costs and overhead by automating sales orders and inventory management and efficiently managing vast product data. Manufacturers can also lower costs by reducing order errors and the time spent fixing them and reducing manual customer service and sales inquiries.
Manage and Distribute Product Data Efficiently
Data management and distribution can quickly get out of hand. Dynamicweb streamlines the process by unifying product information from multiple sources, managing diverse product media, automating product data distribution to various channels, connecting products to marketplaces, and more. Employees are empowered with search, filter, and bulk editing capabilities and access to workflows and dashboards to maintain consistency across channels.
Strengthen Customer Relationships
Customer relationships have always been meaningful but are increasingly critical in the age of eCommerce. Dynamicweb offers built-in marketing personalization and automation tools, precise customer segmentation and targeting tools, real-time web content personalization, and more. While these strategies seem more appropriate for retail scenarios, manufacturers have seen great success replicating these benefits in their own business models.
eCommerce for Manufacturers Best Practices
Here are our 6 tips for best practices for manufacturers who are looking to get ahead by digitizing sales channels:
- Prioritize efficiency and reliability
- Provide custom pricing and discounts
- Ensure that product listings are complete and detailed
- Offer advanced self-service for sales representatives and partners
- Allow customers to configure their own products and receive instant quotes
- Leverage promotions and loyalty programs to grow sales volumes
How Dynamicweb Supports the Complex Requirements for Manufacturing
At Dynamicweb, we recognize the complexity of manufacturing businesses and offer a solution to meet unique operational needs. Our highly robust platform supports more advanced features like quotes, online invoice payment, flexible payment methods like ACH, and integration with Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) tools like Experlogix. The platform is more than just eCommerce – we also include built-in Product Information Management (PIM), CMS, and Digital Marketing modules, which all support the growth and efficiency of your eCommerce strategy as you scale. We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. The Dynamicweb platform is 100% customizable so that we can tailor your eCommerce experiences and processes to the customer or vertical requirements. Furthermore, our flexible API enables us to integrate directly to virtually any end-point in your Dynamics solution to automate any process and enable complete customer self-service.
To learn more about how your manufacturing business can leverage eCommerce, watch this on-demand webinar.
To take advantage of the benefits that eCommerce provides to manufacturers and manufacturing customers, contact Dynamicweb today.