Lessons from B2C eCommerce that can help B2B companies Strategies B2B Can Learn from B2C Business-to-consumer, C2C Business, and business-to-business companies vary in many ways. However, they also have quite a few things in common, seeing as they are businesses trying to sell products and services to others and increasingly trying to do that selling online. While B2C companies branched into online commerce first, B2B companies are quickly catching up and opening eCommerce stores. Since B2C businesses have more experience online, there are a few concepts, strategies, and techniques that B2B businesses could learn from B2C eCommerce business methods. 50ms of Viewing They Know Your Reputation A 'Wow' Website Most business-to-consumer eCommerce businesses understand how essential it is to have a wow eCommerce website, one that is easy to use and visually appealing to customers. A Carnegie Mellon Study found that visitors already developed a sense of the professionalism of your company within 50 milliseconds of visiting a page. What reputation does your design showcase? While B2B companies are increasingly coming online and developing eCommerce websites, the sites can be very basic-looking and confusing. B2B companies could greatly improve their eCommerce sales by taking a page out of the B2C cookbook and improving the look and design of their websites. The easier the eCommerce site is to use, the easier it is to buy from. Within 50ms of Viewing, They Know Your Reputation Give 'em Enough Features Your B2B eCommerce site can incorporate some of the features that have successfully created additional sales on B2C marketplace platform sites. A robust set of features not only generates more sales but also gives the customer the impression that your business is running a robust, professional site, an impression the customer will impart upon your business even if they don't necessarily use the features they see. Product pages, for example, can cross and/or up-sell the customer on other products by displaying related or "frequently bought together" items. Returning customers should have access to a page that displays their "frequently purchased items." This feature is especially helpful with B2B customers who often go to a supplier for a few specific items over and over. Be sure to allow the customer to adjust the quantity from this page and add it directly to their cart. Purchasers are Still People Selling to the Customer While it is true that buyers for businesses focus more on facts rather than emotions as consumers do, it is still important to remember that you are marketing and selling to people. B2B needs to focus on improving the online shopping experience. Purchasers for business are also consumers outside of their jobs. They have come to expect the same personal shopping experience that they get when they are buying items for their own use on Amazon.com. Buyers for business may be mainly focusing on facts and how a product or service will help the business but they can’t completely cut off their own personal needs and opinions. When sending promotional material and emails to a buyer, you should take a page out of the B2C playbook and mention how your product can help their position or office specifically. This could help sway the buyer into purchasing your items for the business. Catchy Gains Their Attention Creative Marketing Works B2C eCommerce businesses invest a lot of time, energy, and resources into coming up with creative marketing campaigns and promotions. B2B eCommerce companies, on the other hand, don't seem to put as much energy into the creativeness of their marketing campaigns. While communication between a B2B eCommerce company and its prospective customers needs to remain professional, that doesn't mean that it has to be boring. Creative marketing messages are catchier, more intriguing, more memorable, and more likely to get a response. B2B eCommerce businesses could gain a lot by trying to market like B2C businesses. B2B eCommerce Specialists Clarity Can Help Clarity Ventures has extensive experience working with B2B eCommerce companies. Our team has built and worked on numerous B2B eCommerce websites. Clarity has also developed an eCommerce platform, Clarity eCommerce, which was designed to meet the needs of B2B companies. If you are looking for a B2B or B2C eCommerce development or need a trustworthy company to handle your projects, call or click to contact us today!