Features of a B2B E-Commerce Platform

Online marketplaces have grown over time. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most people shifted their business online to stay relevant. Most customers also opted to shop online, especially during lockdown season.

If you're a business owner, using a B2B ecommerce platform can help you transition smoothly to setting up your online shop. These platforms have some amazing features, which we will review in a bit.

Multiple Payment Gateways

You will need a system that supports different payment gateways if your business is targeting global customers. Different countries use varying currencies, so your system needs to provide real-time price updates depending on Forex markets.

Pricing and payment can be tricky to handle when setting up an online shop. Here is where a B2B ecommerce platform comes in. The platforms available help you customize your pricing and payment gateways to match your customers’ needs.

Cloud-Native Support

It would be best to think about scalability when it comes to hosting services. A B2B ecommerce platform with cloud-native support is easier to deploy and manage. These platforms have automated web services designed to handle feature updates.

In addition, data security is also better compared to using third-party hosting services. As a B2B owner, you will handle a lot of data, including the sensitive credit information of your customers. One of the best B2B e-commerce solutions, Virto Commerce, uses Azure cloud services.

User Experience

Most online shoppers are impatient, and if your site loads slowly, you will lose many potential customers. Your platform needs to be lightweight and responsive. Remember, many people who visit your site do so using smartphones.

Almost all B2B e-commerce platforms are mobile-friendly and responsive. In addition, business owners can customize the storefront to match their brand. Besides customizing the storefront, you can also integrate new APIs to boost customer experience.

It is always advisable to hire a UI/UX designer to help build your storefront. Things such as design, color, and product placement will matter a lot. A good user experience will make your customers return and spend more time shopping on your platform.

Analytics and SEO

A good B2B e-commerce platform should have in-built SEO support. SEO is the backbone of online marketing and creating brand awareness. The SEO tools will help you optimize everything on your site, including product descriptions and images.

Analytics tools are also very important as you will always want to adjust things to boost sales. Most e-commerce platforms use Google Analytics to track customer behavior and website performance. You will also find marketing tools such as email marketing or coupon APIs that will help you run periodic marketing campaigns.

Wrapping Up

Starting a B2B business can be challenging. However, if you have the right tools, the process will be easier. You also need to consider issues such as customer experience and relationships.

We encourage you to do in-depth market research to find the best solution in the market. There are plenty of open-source B2B e-commerce platforms packed with decent features to get you started. However, you will need to hire developers to work on the storefront.