china B2B marketplace

The meaning of a shopper changed over 2000 years ago.

With the revolution in .com, shopping experiences were no longer limited to physical stores or through a catalogue and call center. The B2C industry completely changed over time when the companies like the online b2b marketplace, Amazon, and others depicted the potential of online shopping.

In just a few clicks, customers from any part of the world shops online and order their products to be delivered at the doorstep. From groceries, clothes, books, and even electronics, everything depends on just a few clicks.

B2C has provided an ultimate solution for all consumers around the world.

There is one more thing to consider. Online shopping is not device-dependent. Instead, the consumers get any device from around them to browse the online stores and do the job. Not only this, but online shopping is becoming a vital trend because of the change in advertising as well.

Everything is personalized to a great extent.

But there is a vast difference in a B2B and B2C world.

B2B buyers don’t shop online until their requirements are clear. Also, the existing supplier is enough to make a deal.

Certainly, there are so many reasons that you can tell B2B and B2C differ totally from each other. However, B2B ecommerce entrepreneurs have learned a few important lessons from B2C companies, which you will find below:

The Lessons Learned By B2B Ecommerce Entrepreneurs

1.  Offer People What They Desire

As with any recent development, there are skeptics. Those who say, “What we’ve always done works well for us.” Or, “It’s just a phase, let’s not waste time.” Know that what happened in B2C will happen in the China B2B marketplace.

There was a company Blockbuster which was thriving in the 1990s. People used to catch it while coming back home from work on Fridays. But what happened later? Netflix came into existence. It not only delivered the movies at the doorstep but made it easy for the consumers to watch the shows on any device.

Netflix did it right. Customers’ needs and preferences are integral in achieving success.

So, the first lesson learned by B2B companies is to know your customers’ needs and generate offers that make them satisfied.

According to recent research, some B2B companies are performing research on their online purchases. It will help them analyze the customer requirements so that they can change the way they perform the business.

2.  Personalize the Shopping Experience

The B2C industry has dominated e-commerce personalization. By tailoring shopping experiences to individual consumer tastes, they learned they can not only drive customer loyalty but also increase up-sell and cross-sell opportunities and a higher return on investment.

Almost every shopper experiences this personalization without even realizing it: a “you might like this too” feature, save credit card information to simplify the ordering process, or welcome customers with a personalized welcome message on the homepage.

B2B ecommerce entrepreneurs have understood this personalization differently. In short, this personalization differs from that of B2C practices.

Rather than adapting to individual tastes, you are adapting to individual needs and eventually getting them from point A to point B in the most proficient and simple way possible.

Things like multi-site, multi-brand, user-based permissions, per-user group, or company pricing plans, and streamlined processes characterize some of the customization needs of B2B companies.

According to Gene Alvarez, an analyst at Gartner, “a B2B e-commerce provider should help the customer get everything they need, helping them to be more efficient in their work.” It has forecasted that B2B ecommerce entrepreneurs can have effective personalization if they outperform their competitors without these strategies.

3. Adopt Multichannel Approach

Shoppers expect a similar experience in all corners of the buying cycle. Research performed by MIT Technology Review explained that 80% of shoppers perform pricing information online before reaching out to the retailer. It means that B2C companies have learned how to reach out to potential customers using multiple channels in real-time. This is also done by ensuring them the same experience.

How B2B ecommerce entrepreneurs perceive omnichannel?

They consider all the components in the terms, which are essential in personalizing the shopping experience.

We have noticed that the majority of the wholesalers and manufacturers are customizing optimized online and mobile experiences for each channel: the customer service representative, the warehouse, the sales representative, the distributor, the retailer, and ultimately the consumer.

B2B ecommerce must become part of B2B companies’ sales strategies as part of a broader omnichannel strategy if they want to keep high-potential millennial working for them.

Final Thoughts

The things that happened in B2C will happen in B2B too. Several B2B companies are already switching to effective ecommerce solutions. Entering the digital world is no longer an option. Fortunately, the B2C industry has already found many proven strategies to provide the best possible user experience to the customers. Find an ultimate solution that meets the specific needs of your business and meets the expectations of today’s buyers.

By Anurag Rathod

Anurag Rathod is an Editor of Appclonescript.com, who is passionate for app-based startup solutions and on-demand business ideas. He believes in spreading tech trends. He is an avid reader and loves thinking out of the box to promote new technologies.