According to Magento research, B2B sales in the US are going to break $1 trillion this year. That’s 2x the B2C market. The research also predicts that the market will reach 6.7 trillion globally. With all this untapped opportunity to increase sales – how do you choose a solution for B2B online retailing?
Magento Commerce, the fastest-growing online retail company has listened to their merchants and incorporated powerful B2B features into their newest September release of Magento 2.
MARKET SHARE
For merchants already running on the Magento platform, almost a third have a B2B sales component – there’s a reason reputable brands like 3M, General Electric, Canon, Rogue Fitness and P&G turn to Magento for the B2B features they need in a platform. Compared to other eCommerce platforms and emerging eCommerce platforms – the market share for Magento B2B retailers is higher than the competitors and steadily growing each year.
Magento has B2B clients in numerous verticals – with partners specializing in each one to help deliver an overall great experience to customers we know. Here are some key verticals that have global clients running on Magento for B2B sales:
- Fashion-Apparel
- Electronics
- Medical Devices
- Food
- Home and Garden
- Metals
- Automotive
- Healthcare
- Pharmaceuticals
- Nutraceuticals
- Services
- Equipment Manufacturers
ACHIEVING EFFICIENCY
B2B executives identified achieving operational efficiency and process improvement as one of the main goals for B2B online retailing. Fulfillment and Warehouse management are often pain points for eCommerce professionals because of disparate or outdated systems that do not efficiently automate the online sales purchase to customer’s door process; wasting valuable man hours and decreasing ship out speeds. Magento 2.2 has robust native features built in to keep track of inventory across multiple warehouses, as well as drop-shipper inventory. Automation and a system that is able to communicate effectively without manual processes are one of the main drivers of efficiency. Customers get their orders accurately and on-time – a crucial component for large business wholesale buys.
The other side of this coin is making sure that your clients business teams are empowered to make buying decisions in several ways. Magento has features built in to manage multiple business accounts, set permissions and roles and create subaccounts with ease and their newest version has a customizable drag-and-drop hierarchy to manage business buying teams.
If you aren’t considering the Magento Enterprise edition, Web Solutions NYC has developed a custom module to add additional functionality to sub accounts. With the extension enabled, an admin can give a sub account a price cap for ordering and give permission to request and modify quotes. The extension expands on the already robust capabilities of Magento sub accounts to customize the workflow for your business.
DELIVERING A B2C EXPERIENCE TO B2B
Mobile Responsive Design is one of the key crucial components for modern B2B selling. With busy professionals in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals – being able to order with ease from a tablet or smartphone is a priority. Magento natively supports responsive design, and all of the B2B online retail features are also available cross-device, ensuring no interruption in sales or bounces because of interface functionality.
MORE MAGENTO FOR B2B FEATURES
Quick Order
Make repeat and first time buying easy for your customers. With the new Magento 2.2 cart, customers can add many products quickly, re-order, and place recurring orders. With multiple supported payment types like Purchase Orders and global payment methods – the new payment system was built with B2B in mind.
Negotiated Pricing Terms
Natively, Magento supports associating sub account and accounts with specific price lists, payment options, and shipping methods. Web Solutions NYC has built onto this functionality with an extension that allows B2B buyers to request quotes directly from the website, if the seller approves the quote, the buyer can place an order directly from the approved quote page. Quotes can also be modified by the seller and sent back to the buyer for approval. Keeping the RFQ process on an easy website interface encourages streamlined communication and customer loyalty.
Want to learn more about how Magento 2.2 can optimize your site for B2B selling? Let’s chat!
