Q&A with Brilliance: How do you find the best B2B Ecommerce Solution?
B2B businesses were slow to adopt ecommerce in the past. A eMarker report predicted that only 9% US B2B product sales would be made through an ecommerce website.
The pandemic was a catalyst for many B2Bs in their digital transformation. eMarker, for example, reports that the average company’s revenue share from ecommerce increased by 23% compared to COVID-19.
Complex requirements can make it difficult to sell online.
These fears shouldn’t be a hindrance to your success. Lori McDonald (CEO at Brilliance) was kind enough to share her insights on how to find the perfect B2B eCommerce solution.
What are the biggest objections for those who have never used an ecommerce B2B solution?
Lori McDonald:
While this is becoming less common, but I hear it still from B2B businesses, one reason is that their customers don’t buy that way. Because products can be very complex, customers need to speak with a sales representative. They are not likely to place orders online. This logic is changing.
Other obstacles include the fear of ecommerce becoming a competitor to their sales team. Many distributors and manufacturers built their business around their sales team. They have been successful because of their sales team.
Another issue is that many of these The anything store online organizations lack the digital expertise needed to succeed online. They don’t have previous experience using B2B ecommerce software and they’ve never sold online. From this perspective, there are many strategies and ecommerce features that can ease the transition.
What would you suggest they do to overcome the challenges and get started selling online?
Lori McDonald:
For organizations that have never tried selling online, I advise them to start selling online. This could be an initial part store or you might find a section of your products that you are going to start selling online. This will give you the opportunity to gain experience within your company that you can build upon and learn from.
That’s the beauty of BigCommerce’s B2B Ecommerce Solution. This platform allows you to start and test out some of the features; then, you can scale up your investment over time.
A related point is that sales team buy in is crucial. Some sales teams or owners believe that ecommerce is a way to replace salespeople, or that they won’t be needed anymore. This is a myth. Ecommerce doesn’t replace salespeople. When done correctly, ecommerce supports salespeople. Your salespeople matter. Online stores are a great tool to aid your salespeople in their work and increase sales.