Selecting the Right B2B eCommerce Platform

However, the primary force in determining which platform to use is really quite simple: How customizable is it? Customizable platforms are scalable, flexible, responsive to design changes, display well on multiple devices and allow planners to integrate vast capabilities based on their industry- or company-specific needs. 75 percent of Internet users prefer mobile-friendly sites — including B2B customers — and 96 percent have found sites that didn’t function well on mobile devices. Such a platform allows B2B companies to build a solution for now and the future, address evolving digital trends and customize Web abilities based on the device that each person uses to visit a website or Web page. The obligation to provide better user experiences, more features, better tracking and personalization will continue to grow in importance as competitors adopt these processes and B2B platforms increasingly become multichannel resources for their customers.

75 percent of Internet users prefer mobile-friendly sites — including B2B customers — and 96 percent have found sites that didn’t function well on mobile devices.

Google reported in 2020 that more searches now come from tablets and smartphones than stationary computers. The United States and Japan lead this trend, but other countries are quickly gaining ground. Managing mobile marketing, developing customized profiles for customers, simplifying B2B ordering, enabling mobile payments and integrating with back-office software from anywhere are just a few of the long-term benefits of customizing a sales platform.

The right platform should have a robust API layer that allows new customizations and features to be added. This integration layer can add more features than any software currently offers out-of-the-box. Building a strong brand requires strong solutions, and if a company’s software isn’t up to the job, it’s time to consider a major overhaul that begins with platform choice. Customizations can generate sales leads, shorten sales cycles, offer mobile price quotes, move backlogged or out-of-date inventory, connect with customers to build long-term business associations and eliminate ordering errors.

Making a Business Case for Change

Making an organized business case for changing platforms might not be popular among staff members and executive decision-makers who worry about the economy, development costs, planning problems and temporary upheavals that could argue for keeping the current system, but time after time, companies have failed or limited their growth by not embracing new technologies and business trends before younger, technologically savvy customers migrate to competitors who better understand what they want. Think with Google offers some persuasive and compelling statistical insights:

Many B2B stakeholders recognize these new realities, however. About 97 percent of marketers admit that more skills are needed in the B2B sector, and 97 percent also reveal that they are doing new things to bolster sales. 62 percent of hiring managers in marketing are focusing on hiring younger staff who better understand new technologies. Although securing a mandate for change and initiating a business case analysis for changing a B2B eCommerce platforms are difficult without the right development partner, there are plenty of compelling reasons to do so. Best strategies for making a business case for platform changes that enable greater customization include:

Proactive Problem Solving over Responding to Problems

It’s really a simple matter of finding a solutions provider instead of a service provider. Thousands of vendors offer service, but these always come with built-in obsolescence. In building a business case for change, it’s important to follow a logical process that includes:

Justifying the need for strategic change is crucial to the strategy, but the best business decisions always fulfill company needs. The first step of building a case for a new B2B platform begins by finding a better solution that offers the following benefits:

The second step involves delving more deeply into the platform vendor’s business psyche or soul. Ask and answer these questions before choosing a platform that will guide a company for decades:

• Does the vendor understand the company’s business model and marketing imperatives and have the data to back up those claims?
• How strongly does it appear that the vendor is just trying to sell software instead of finding a solution?
• Does the vendor’s team work well with others and allow stakeholder input from internal IT teams, marketing departments, design and development staff and outside consultants?
• Does the vendor insist on doing all the building work despite allowing some degree of design input?
• Does the vendor allow internal teams into the nuts-and-bolts processes of building the platform where they can jointly design and build the platform, learn how to operate it and troubleshoot any problems that develop after implementation?
• How comprehensively do the lifecycle and billing processes manage project risks?

Red flags arise when the answers to these questions show reticence for collaborations, reveal proprietary attitudes about the vendor’s software development processes or indicate hidden agendas. Any of these inclinations might mean that the vendor is playing what essentially amounts to the long business con where the vendor makes its services indispensable and puts companies in digital jeopardy. Without a clear collaborative development process, B2B companies can easily be extorted through increased maintenance costs, burdensome transaction fees and expensive training services. The platform might not be fully customizable and have a built-in expiration date in today’s rapidly evolving markets.

Promoting the Value of Customizations

Not all people who are involved in B2B operations are completely convinced of the value of customizations in today’s marketing because many companies still operate with purchase orders, proposals, bids and negotiations. However, building the value of a scalable, customizable B2B platform — regardless of the business model — can persuade even the most conservative stakeholder when the benefits involve his or her particular area of company operations. Customizable and scalable platforms deliver benefits that cross multiple business channels, internal processes, customer profiles and third-party associates. The benefits of implementing a customizable B2B platform include:

Customizations offer something for everyone within a B2B organization, so just as if profiling a customer, advocates for changing the company’s platform can tailor their arguments based on each decision-maker’s vested interests.

Tips For Choosing the Right B2B eCommerce Platform

Clarity Ventures involves your company’s stakeholders at every level and routinely offers transparency, collaborative development, case studies and development work through our trusted business associates like Clarity’s popular eCommerce platform for business. Our team can make building a platform from inception or integrating a new feature into an existing platform a great development experience that provides great user experiences to each customer and stakeholder. Call or contact us today for a consultation, RFI or RFQ to address your concerns about building trust and cultivating a long-term eCommerce development partner.