Online spending by B2B buyers is growing at a rapid pace. Amongst them, 77% of B2B buyers will buy through digital channels by 2023. B2B eCommerce platforms have become more important as the backbone of the B2B business, facilitating seamless transactions, optimizing operations, and enhancing customer experiences.
However, finding the best B2B eCommerce platforms for your business is a daunting task with numerous options out there. That's why we're discussing detailed guidance on how to choose the best B2B eCommerce platform.
Essential criteria for the best B2B eCommerce platforms
When it comes to choosing the best B2B eCommerce platforms for your business, several key criteria should guide your decision-making process. By understanding and prioritizing these essential factors, the chosen B2B eCommerce platform will meet your business needs and set you up for long-term success.
Integration
Integration with ERP and CRM systems
ERPs and CRMs integration should be the top priority when choosing the best B2B eCommerce platforms. According to TechTarget and ComputerWeekly, 26% of B2B organizations said that ERPs are one of their top software investment needs for 2023.
Thus, the best B2B eCommerce platforms should seamlessly integrate with existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems in the market.
This integration facilitates the smooth flow of data between platforms, ensuring that information related to inventory management, customer interactions, orders, and payments is synchronized in real-time. By centralizing data and automating processes, integration with ERP and CRM systems streamlines back-office operations and enhances the efficiency of customer interactions.
Third-party apps
In addition to ERP and CRM integration, it's essential to choose a B2B eCommerce platform that supports integration with a wide range of third-party applications.
More than 50% of B2B businesses prefer a platform with an open Application Programming Interface (API), which allows for seamless integration with other apps as it best serves the needs of B2B businesses.
Whether you need to connect to accounting software, email marketing tools, shipping carriers, or analytics platforms, an open API enables you to extend the functionality of your B2B eCommerce platform and create a cohesive ecosystem of interconnected tools. This flexibility empowers businesses to customize their workflows, leverage best-in-class solutions, and adapt to evolving business needs.
Expert tips
✅ Dos: Prioritize B2B eCommerce platforms with strong pre-built connectors or open APIs for your essential business systems (ERP, CRM, accounting, etc.).
❌ Don’ts: Overlook the complexity of custom integrations. While some customization might be necessary, extensive custom development to connect your B2B eCommerce platform can be time-consuming, expensive, and require ongoing maintenance. Evaluate platforms that offer pre-built solutions for your core needs before diving into complex custom integrations.
Customization
Branding and design
24% of B2B business owners consider the ease of customization to meet their needs a priority when choosing B2B eCommerce platforms. Thus, when evaluating the best B2B eCommerce platforms, consider whether you can customize the platform's look and feel to align with your brand identity.
Maintaining brand consistency across all touchpoints is crucial as it can build trust with customers and increase your revenue by up to 23%. Look for platforms that offer a variety of themes or templates that can be easily customized with your logo, brand colors, and typography. The ability to tailor the visual elements of your storefront ensures a cohesive and memorable customer experience, enhancing brand recognition and loyalty.
Reporting and analytics
Data-driven insights are invaluable for making informed decisions, driving business growth by 2% to 5%. Therefore, it's essential to choose a B2B eCommerce platform that empowers you to customize reports and analytics dashboards according to your specific business needs.
For example, beside the basic reports, OroCommerce offers a high degree of customization for reports and dashboards. You can build custom reports using drag-and-drop functionality and a wide range of data points specific to B2B transactions (e.g., customer segments, purchase history, reorder behavior).
By creating reports with the most relevant metrics, you can identify areas for improvement, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and refine your online sales strategy to drive growth and profitability
Expert tips
✅ Dos: Prioritize platforms with a balance between ease of use and customization options. Look for platforms that offer pre-built themes and templates for a quick start, but also provide options for customization through themes, layouts, or APIs.
❌ Don’ts: Assume extensive customization equates to a better B2B platform. Highly customizable platforms often require significant development expertise or resources to achieve the desired outcome. Evaluate the complexity of customization required for your B2B storefront and choose a platform that offers the right balance of features and ease of customization for your technical capabilities.
B2B eCommerce features for transactions
Customer-specific pricing
As 83% of B2B buyers believe personalization enhances their purchasing experiences, your platform should offer robust features for setting customer-specific pricing and accommodating the diverse needs of your client base. This includes tiered pricing structures based on customer segments, volume discounts for bulk purchases, and personalized pricing tailored to individual clients.
By offering competitive pricing that reflects each customer’s unique requirements, you can foster loyalty, drive repeat business, and strengthen relationships with your clientele.
Minimum order quantities
For businesses engaged in wholesale or bulk transactions, selling the products in such small quantities makes no financial sense at all. Thus, setting minimum order quantities is essential for maintaining profitability and managing inventory effectively.
Your B2B eCommerce platform should support the implementation of minimum order requirements, ensuring that orders meet predefined quantity thresholds before they can be processed.
Complex order management
B2B transactions often involve intricate workflows and approval processes that differ from traditional consumer sales.
Hence, your eCommerce platform should offer comprehensive order management capabilities tailored to the complexities of B2B transactions. This includes functionalities such as order approvals, quotation management, and customizable workflows that align with your business requirements.
By facilitating seamless order processing and management, you can enhance operational efficiency, reduce errors, and deliver a superior customer experience.
Self-service options
With over 99% of B2B customers preferring the self-service option, it’s necessary that your chosen B2B eCommerce platform provides intuitive self-service portals, allowing customers to manage their accounts, place orders, track shipments, and access relevant information independently.
By offering self-service options, you streamline the ordering process, reduce reliance on manual intervention, and empower customers to take control of their purchasing experience. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also frees up resources to focus on strategic initiatives and business growth.
Flexible payment options
91% of B2B buyers had specific payment requirements. If unmet, they would make them switch to other eCommerce suppliers. Thus, catering to diverse payment preferences is paramount in B2B eCommerce.
Your B2B eCommerce platform should support a wide range of payment options tailored to business customers’ needs. This includes traditional methods such as purchase orders and credit accounts, as well as modern online payment gateways for added convenience and security. Additionally, offering flexible payment terms such as net payment terms can help foster strong relationships with clients and encourage repeat business.
By providing flexible payment options, you remove barriers to purchase, improve cash flow, and strengthen partnerships with your customers.
Expert tips
✅ Dos: Focus on functionalities that streamline complex B2B transactions, such as real-time quotes, tiered pricing, MOQ, credit card payment, net payment, etc.
❌ Don’ts: While advanced features are valuable, ensure the platform handles core B2B transaction functionalities well. This includes secure product catalogs with clear descriptions and pricing information, efficient order processing and fulfillment capabilities, and real-time inventory visibility.
User experience
Customer interface
Similar to the B2C model, a seamless and intuitive user experience is paramount for B2B business. 84% of B2B customers believe that an easy and accurate experience in an online store is important.
Your B2B eCommerce platform should prioritize features that enhance usability, such as intuitive search functionalities, streamlined checkout processes, and easy access to order history and product information.
By providing a user-friendly interface, you empower customers to find what they need quickly, place orders efficiently, and manage their accounts with ease. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also encourages repeat business and fosters long-term loyalty.
Employee and admin panel
Behind every successful eCommerce operation is a user-friendly back-end interface that effectively empowers employees to manage orders, customers, and inventory.
Your platform's admin panel should offer intuitive navigation, robust reporting tools, and efficient order fulfillment workflows. By simplifying administrative tasks and providing comprehensive insights into business performance, you enable your team to work more efficiently, minimize errors, and focus on strategic initiatives that drive growth.
Mobile responsiveness
More than 90% of B2B buyers with a superior mobile experience will likely buy again from the same vendor, compared to about 50% of those with a poor experience. And mobile experience also significantly influences revenue of B2B businesses.
Thus, your B2B eCommerce platform should be optimized for mobile devices, ensuring that B2B buyers can access their accounts and place orders conveniently from smartphones and tablets. Whether through a responsive web design or a dedicated mobile app, mobile accessibility enhances convenience and flexibility for users on the go.
By embracing mobile responsiveness, you cater to the evolving needs of your customers, capitalize on opportunities for mobile commerce, and stay ahead of the competition in an increasingly connected marketplace.
Expert tips
✅ Dos: Prioritize B2B eCommerce platforms with user-friendly interfaces for both B2B buyers and administrators.
❌ Don’ts: Neglect the importance of role-based functionalities for different user types within a B2B organization. B2B organizations often have complex buying hierarchies with different user roles. The platform shouldn't offer a one-size-fits-all experience. Look for a platform that allows you to assign user roles with specific permissions based on their needs and to customize dashboards and functionalities for different user roles.
Security
Data security
65% of B2B buyers consider data security when deciding to make a purchase. Hence, protecting sensitive customer data is paramount for any B2B eCommerce platform.
You should look for a platform that employs industry-standard security measures, such as SSL encryption and firewalls, to safeguard data transmission and storage. SSL encryption ensures that data exchanged between users and the platform remains confidential and secure, while firewalls prevent unauthorized access to server resources. Additionally, prioritize platforms that comply with relevant data security regulations, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), to ensure adherence to industry best practices and regulatory requirements.
Compliance
Compliance with industry regulations is essential for maintaining trust and credibility with customers. Depending on your location and the nature of your business, this may include adherence to standards such as PCI-DSS for payment card security or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for data privacy. Ensure that your chosen eCommerce platform abides by relevant regulations and standards, assuring customers that their data is handled responsibly and securely.
Access controls
Granular control over user permissions is essential for safeguarding sensitive data and minimizing the risk of unauthorized access as 33% of data breaches are caused by internal actors.
Thus, the best B2B eCommerce platforms should offer robust access control mechanisms that allow you to define user roles and permissions with granularity.
By assigning appropriate access levels to employees and stakeholders, you ensure that only authorized personnel can access sensitive data and perform specific actions within the platform. Granular access controls not only enhance security but also streamline administrative tasks and minimize the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.
Expert tips
✅ Dos: Prioritize platforms with a layered security approach and compliance certifications.
❌ Don’ts: Solely rely on the platform's security features. The security of your B2B store can be impacted by third-party plugins, payment gateways, or other applications you integrate with. Carefully evaluate the security practices of any third-party tools you connect to your platform.
Get ready to dive into the best B2B eCommerce platforms
In summary, to solve the question “How to choose a B2B eCommerce platform”, you need to carefully consider various factors, from integration capabilities and customization options to transaction features, user experience, and security.
With these essential criteria in mind, you're well-equipped to navigate the landscape of B2B eCommerce platforms and make an informed decision that propels your business forward.
Now that we've established the essential criteria for evaluating B2B eCommerce platforms, it's time to dive into our top picks. In the next section, we'll introduce you to the three best B2B eCommerce platforms that excel in meeting the criteria outlined above.
Explore the top 3 best B2B eCommerce platforms in 2024 now ⇒
