Allow customers to get information they need in a more effective and timely manner. Examples can include custom catalogues, order history, special pricing, new product announcements, specials, etc.

B2B buyers demand personalized self-service, full-service, and hybrid purchase options. A professional B2B ecommerce website offers customers different tracks for their individual purchase path: fast-track for repeat and bulk purchases; standard-track for regular purchases; and advanced-track for more complex, customized solutions.

For B2B Ecommerce sites registration is typically mandatory so that customers get access to custom prices, products, and terms. Authorized users can see products, prices, order-tracking information, and potentially pay for offline orders. Professional ecommerce systems like Adobe / Magento Commerce and WordPress Ecommerce solutions handle this and more right out of the box.

B2B companies typically have different prices for different customers, discount for customer groups, prices for specific product bundles, quantity and volume discounts, or a combination of these methods.

Keeping the prices current for your customers and products can be a challenge. Plan for how you will address this. It’s typically via a system integration or via a file, to bulk upload pricing.

Your checkout process should match your company’s unique rules for payment and shipping.

Examples include:

• Purchase orders available only to certain customers based on their credit limit and approval.
• Integration of the checkout into your customers’ buying and approval process.
• Certain products being restricted from shipping to certain geographic locations.
• Enabling customers to charge the shipping to their accounts.

B2B customers often know exactly what they want, right down to the item number or SKU. Solutions like Magento Commerce provide a direct form where customers can enter item numbers and quantities, to quickly add items to their cart without browsing and searching. B2B customers love the one click checkout from your cart.

For a lot of businesses, many people can place orders under a single account. Account profiles can get complex and must be organized accordingly. Will each user see other users’ orders? How are the user profiles managed? What are the account restrictions for each user?

If a customer is in a rush to get an order, they need to know how much stock is available and ready for immediate shipment. Customers don’t have the patience to receive an email sometime later that states that half of the order is back ordered. This is one of the most sought after pieces of information from B2B customers.

Continuity Orders (aka Repeat Orders or Subscription)

Often a customer places the same order each month, much like a consumer may have a weekly grocery list. They can save a lot of time with a recurring order that automatically reorders items at a set interval. With online self-service, customers can also adjust those orders if something changes.

Many B2B companies are loading their complete product data information, inventory, pricing information, etc. into their professional ecommerce solution. They then password protect the sensitive or confidential information in the and allow easy access for the sales or company representative.

Email marketing is a good way to drive repeat sales from your B2B customers. Integrate your ecommerce system with an email system to personalize and target messages based on customers’ site activity and order history. Customers appreciate emails that inform them of their products journey and delivery and this is a great opportunity to cross-sell and upsell.