Important Tips On B2B Omnichannel Commerce

B2B buyers are very powerful these days, especially when it is about the customer experience. In the past year, there has been a migration in the B2B transactions from face-to-face to online. Now, almost 90% of the sales have moved to video conferences, phone calls, or online contracting. 

Two-thirds of all the B2B decisions take place on digital platforms. But not all merchants have adapted to online channels. That is why businesses need a solid omnichannel strategy for them to grow, earn more revenue and profits over the long term in the ever-changing business environment. Believe it or not. The future belongs to omnichannel commerce.

Let us Understand its Basics

Commerce started from single-channel marketing to cross channel and now omnichannel. The reason for the shift from single-channel commerce to omnichannel is the digital adoption in the B2B industry. Most companies are now moving to self-serve models and remote sales by following the customer's lead. That is why digital-enabled B2B omnichannel marketing is the most crucial aspect for B2B companies.

Approach to Building Your Omnichannel E-commerce Strategy 

Many times the omnichannel efforts are hampered because the businesses lack clarity. It can happen because of: -

• Not a clear understanding of what parts of omnichannel to prioritize.

• More focus on tech rather than providing value to the customers

• Not able to sequence investments in line with a solid strategy

To fulfill the gap between the omnichannel approach and your business expectations, you will need a considered approach. These tips can help you with that.

• Start Small and Scale Up – Getting into the omnichannel universe must not be hurried. There is no need to change all the business processes in one go. Your goal in the long term must be to merge your processes into one to provide a unified experience to the customers in all fields. You can achieve it using the right approach where you take small steps but implement continuous and iterative changes. As you move on with the strategy, you measure the impact of the changes and then level up.

• Put Your Sales and Customer Service in the Centre – While digital solutions play a crucial role in B2B businesses, sales staff should also play an important role in the customer journey. Adding a human touch to the digital sales consistently outperforms the peers. Your omnichannel strategy must know how to use the digital tools that help the sales rep perform at their best. But remember not to sideline the digital tools entirely.

• Make Use of Qualitative and Quantitative Research to Understand Your End-Users - With qualitative and quantitative research, B2B companies will be able to transform the buyer insights into buyer-centric and specific value propositions. That means they will get immediate conversions.

• Use the Buying Journey and Experience of the Customer to Map Your Channels - Your company's B2B omnichannel commerce platform and strategy should map your customer's purchase process. By noticing and working on the customer's buying journey from their point of view, you will know how the channels line up with the customer's touchpoints. Also, you will know how your customers interact with each one of them. You can use the information is positioning the channels according to what works the best in serving your customers.

• You can not Improve Something You Can not Measure - You need to define the processes of all the segments of the omnichannel strategy. Set KPIs for measuring the progress right from the beginning. Do you need to measure the conversion, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and the increase in sales over time? Then make sure to measure the progress with KPIs through tools like survey tools and e-commerce analytics. Every step of an omnichannel strategy must collect meaningful and useful data for your B2B business. 

• Use the Collected Data to Create Personalized Experiences for Your Clients - Whether your B2B company is a small enterprise that sells not so many products or a business dealing with thousand of products, your B2B business will depend on how to personalize your approach for your customers. People generally forget that even if they have a B2B company, they deal with people.

To deliver a personalized approach to your customers and clients, you can make use of the data collected from the touchpoints to measure their needs, interests, and behavior. You can also invite your customers to leave their reviews and comments on your social media platforms and website.

Conclusion

The structure of your omnichannel strategy for your B2B business depends mainly on the customer's needs and requirements. Are you looking for ways to perform better in your B2B business and want to see it grow? Visit MarketTime. It is one of the most powerful B2B omnichannel commerce platforms in the market.