After a supply chain stretch and market disruption that extended over several years, distributors are enhancing their e-commerce growth strategies and adapting to the demands of their clients. In doing so, they focus on providing more value and ensuring a better experience for careful buyers. Today’s world is moving at a fast pace, and in such an environment, convenience becomes essential for customers – this is particularly true after the pandemic, which shifted in-person interactions to the digital realm, leading B2B procurement teams to navigate digital services. As a result, they still expect a streamlined personalization in a post-pandemic world.
But with these greater expectations comes a more significant risk because distributors can’t afford to take their customers for granted anymore – making a mistake could be costly, causing them to lose valuable customers for good. Therefore, it becomes essential to go above and beyond to ensure a solid customer base, which will keep your business thriving in the long run. Distributors are well aware of these things and are taking the necessary actions to step up their game and meet customers’ shifting expectations as much as possible. Let’s further take a look at the tools they are employing in the process.
E-commerce personalization
E-commerce personalization has become popular not only in the B2C space but also for B2Bs, with customers expecting distributors to offer a tailored experience. But is this achievable? And if so, how? First and foremost, it has a lot to do with customer segmentation, namely, defining who the customers are. This can be challenging at first, but it’s all about splitting customers into market segments and then deciding how to implement a sales approach that offers a certain level of personalization at a larger scale. Let’s say that an industrial customer logs into a distributor’s website. In this case, they expect to see specific categories and promotions or find an extra business value benefit unique for this particular customer. One essential aspect of this segmentation could be the integration of ERP data, but there are other ways you can add a personalization touch, like using the customer’s name to greet them or incorporating their brand’s logo on their login screen.
All of this may sound complicated, but personalization is essentially about understanding your customers and serving them effectively with your services and products. However, since customer interactions are so varied, it can be challenging to provide tailored experiences by relying on traditional data analytics only, which is why many distributors have turned to AI – specifically, Machine Learning algorithms, which can provide richer insights and enhance the customer experience through customizable pricing, and tailored content.
Third-party e-commerce
The adoption of B2B e-commerce has increased along with buyers’ expectations, and 51% of ventures that make at least $1 billion in revenue showcase ecommerce capabilities. But it’s worth noting that the scale of ecommerce isn’t the only one that grows – the actual order size does so, too, and in this context, relying on third-party sellers becomes an essential step to take, as it allows distributors to extend their product catalogs effectively and without exposing themselves to the inventory risk. When you feel like you don’t have enough time to grow your business, it makes sense to choose a third-party e-commerce solution, and a fulfilment center is a great way to get started with outsourcing your warehousing and shipping. Monta Services is one such company that will help you get orders correct and on time, eliminating the hassle of managing a complex supply chain.
Dropshipping and marketplaces are two main models that bypass significant distribution costs, inventory, logistics, etc. Simultaneously, ventures can expand their offerings and build long-lasting relationships with suppliers by securing product discounts and lowering the cost of goods, which will ultimately enhance their profit margins. In fact, studies have shown that launching a marketplace has helped distributors experience a 42% revenue growth and a 44% growth in customers, as well as a 36% increase in Average Order Value. Fortunately, dropshipping and marketplaces don’t necessarily have to be used separately – if it makes sense for your venture, you can take advantage of both models and experience all the great benefits.
Shipping and delivery based on consumer style
Traditionally, B2B fulfilment is about delivering bulk orders on an established schedule, but it’s worth noting that this may not be as effective today, as buyers now seek the same convenience and flexibility they get from B2C online stores. Consumers are accustomed to last-mile delivery and shipping providers bringing a package to their doors, while B2B relies on third-party logistics that provide less than truckload or full-truck load carriers.
Luckily, solutions for last-mile delivery are becoming increasingly innovative, allowing B2B businesses to meet customers’ demands, while LTL carriers are enhancing their processes as well, offering consistent updates on the status of their deliveries. As a result, B2B distributors can extend their shipping offers, providing expedited delivery, often achieved through reliable logistics partners such as Monta, real-time updates and tracking, multiple carriers at various price points, and scheduled deliveries that allow customers to choose different locations and dates.
Product data cleaning through generative AI
Generative AI is an innovative technology that has gained a lot of attention in the B2B sector, and while it’s still in its infancy – after all, ChatGPT was only launched in 2022- it’s hard to overlook its role in business, particularly regarding product data. Among distributors, only 7% report being extremely satisfied with their product data’s quality and completeness, and this happens mainly because expansive product catalogs make it challenging to guarantee data quality and consistency. Moreover, when it comes to marketplaces, a common challenge is that each has a responsibility to provide and maintain their product data with multiple vendors. This leads to inconsistent labels, inaccuracies, missing information, and duplicate listings, to name just a few.
Lackluster data negatively impacts customers’ experience—for example, a buyer could place an order based on inaccurate product dimensions. Fortunately, AI can mitigate these risks in different ways, as it can generate product descriptions, titles, and attributes, reference specific guidelines, and apply metadata to offer more context and enhance search results’ relevancy. Overall, generative AI is a helpful tool that supercharges the functionality of the entire marketplace search.
Takeaway
As highlighted in the blog, buyer expectations have evolved significantly, making it essential to adopt a consumer-centric approach – especially in an overcrowded market. Innovating will be critical to meet the changing demands of customers as if you don’t provide them with top-notch experience, someone else will. Fortunately, many solutions are available – you just need to be quick to adopt them, and if you do so, you will position yourself for success in the e-commerce landscape.
