Traditionally, B2B digital business sites are not a factor. In most cases, you will encounter B2C. Nowadays, there are more and more discussions about B2B digital business websites. Therefore, application leaders should better understand industry trends and challenges.
The survey shows that 56% of companies that sell products to other companies have launched B2B business websites. In addition, 9% intend to do so by 2021, and 4% intend to do so by 2022.
What to Consider to Launch a B2B Digital Commerce Site
When considering the development of B2B digital commerce sites, companies must also make plans. The plan must first include the specific reasons why the company needs a business site. Some of the criteria you should include in this assessment are customer needs, customer impact, reduced costs, changing product mix or various technological advancements, etc.
It is recommended that you review what is happening in the industry. By 2021, nearly 70% of B2B will have ecommerce sites. If you can’t see yourself in it, please consider seven out of ten of your competitors will be.
Many of your customers or potential customers may be positively affected by customers who own and operate such a site. They can choose their own business, or they can choose a similar B2B digital business site in the organization.
What Are the Challenges of Launching a B2B Commercial Site?
Like every major investment, launching a B2B digital business site requires a lot of time and resources. Among the B2B companies that have undergone the transition, more than 56% said that it took them six months to complete the transition. Another 29% of organizations said 9 months.
The reason for this is the need to integrate with other systems that can provide the key components necessary for the entire business ecosystem. These types of business sites obtain their data from certain systems and provide them to other systems to create a cohesive and comprehensive customer experience.
In these systems, we have functions such as order management, CRM, ERP, contact center or product information management. The lack of internal resources (such as those mentioned here) and projected implementation costs are also key challenges that need to be overcome during the transition.
How to Overcome These Challenges?
To overcome these challenges, you must define the entire ecosystem surrounding the customer experience. Some of the applications and systems that need to be included here are related to sales and lead management, sales efficiency, price optimization, field service support, customer service, contract lifecycle management, or complex product configuration.
After completing this operation, please try to optimize the cost and start-up time of the B2B digital commerce site. To do this, you need to plan key integrations as part of the initial implementation.
By using repetitive, agile “product” methods, other less important systems can be prioritized for subsequent delivery. Compared to treating the entire implementation as a one-off project, this approach is better and not challenging.
In terms of talent, look for people who have the skills needed to implement this skill. It includes product managers, API product managers, and enterprise architects.
Like every new initiative, launching a B2B business website is not without a series of challenges. If you want to learn more about this transition, please feel free to visit our website or contact us directly.