When Baart Industrial Group, a manufacturer of high-performance industrial components for industry-leading OEMs and distributors, launched their eCommerce website in late 2021, they barely had time to take a breath before they saw their efforts to pay off—their site nearly hit its overall sales goal while still in the beta testing phase.

“We were surprised at how quickly the site took off!” the strategic parts manager said. “We’ve been really pleased with the way our business is growing online, and we haven’t had to hire anyone on the sales side. It’s all growing faster than we thought, thanks to the website.”

What the manager realized then is what is becoming more and more apparent every day to the rest of the manufacturing world: people (and B2B buyers are people, after all) want the convenience of being able to research, shop, and buy online.

Or as Baart’s manager put it, “There’s an increasing expectation in the B2B world that customers can buy easily from your website, and that they can find out which products you have, the prices, and place an order without having to talk to someone.”

He was right. The question now isn’t if manufacturers should implement eCommerce, but when. Because the current landscape is such that B2B buyers are expecting a B2C-like experience in the professional aspect of their lives. It's up to manufacturers to deliver that experience.

Consider the following numbers:

94% of B2B buyers use online research. For 62% of them, it's their first step. And they use it a lot. By the time they've engaged with a particular brand, they've done an average of 12 searches, which amounts to about 57% of their buying decision. Further, they aren't looking for brands when they research. 71% are doing generic research.

The takeaway? Your products need to be findable online if you want to be competitive. And you want to be competitive online because that’s where sales are moving: while industrial sales overall remained flat last year, online sales increased 17%.

Not only do B2B buyers expect to be able to shop online, but they also expect the experience to be smooth, the transaction to be accurate, and the product to be as advertised. Take heed because the online world has also conditioned buyers to know they have options, and they will use them. Put another way, in a recent survey, McKinsey found that most B2B buyers will look for another supplier if five core needs aren't met:

1. Nearly 80 percent of B2B customers say that a performance guarantee is critical for brand loyalty, including a full refund if the product or service fails to reach the agreed-upon performance level.
2. showing product availability online,
3. enabling purchases over any channel,
4. providing real-time customer service, and
5. offering a consistent experience as buyers toggle between channels.

Daunting? Maybe. But as Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty." It's a reminder that the most rewarding endeavors often require us to face and overcome challenges. The thing is, the opportunity for manufacturers is enormous should they embrace B2B eCommerce in a strategic manner. Take a look at these findings from Forrester:

• Average B2B companies saw increased revenues of 49% by launching eCommerce
• 54% of B2B companies report that their websites provide the highest ratio of their overall sales
• eCommerce technology boosted B2B sales productivity by 45%

While there are challenges, the benefits of eCommerce are many. Manufacturers stand to increase their sales (as shown above), strengthen relationships with distributors, improve customer service, gain efficiencies, and boost their brand awareness—if they do it and do it right. (Hint: there are plenty who aren't doing it at all and of those who are, there are plenty who aren't doing it right.)

So, the fruit is ripe for the picking. Consider:

• Just 13% of industrial OEMs offer their customers a digital experience
• Only 36% of B2B buyers rated their B2B eCommerce experience as excellent
•  37% of B2B buyers experience order errors on a weekly basis

Imagine how good things could be for your company with a strategic, successful implementation of eCommerce. Maybe your company, like Baart Industrial, could see your website hit it out of the park.

Let's break down how to get you there.

7 steps to a solid eCommerce strategy for manufacturers

STEP 1: You need a plan

This may be obvious, but having a detailed, well-thought-out plan, a roadmap if you will, is critical. B2B eCommerce isn't just an add-on. It's best to think of it as a shift. It will affect virtually all aspects of your business, from sales to supply chain to customer service and administration. Systems and people will need to change. And we all know that change can be difficult…

So, a comprehensive plan from the top-down will not only solidify goals and identify technology and staffing needs, but it can help shift the collective mindset and company culture to adapt to the changes to ensure the smoothest transition possible—and provide the greatest reward for your efforts.

The primary questions to consider as you make your plan are: 1) how will incorporating digital commerce affect our core processes, and 2) how will it create new avenues for growth?

To answer these questions, you’ll need to look at your current technological, shipping, and staffing capabilities, and you'll want to assess customer demand and behavior. That way you can estimate needed resources and consider partnerships to help you succeed. For example, you may seek the input of key distributors, asking them about any issues they foresee or brainstorming ideas to improve your customers’ experiences.

B2B buyers use anywhere from three to ten sales channels and expect a consistent experience as they move across them. Managing this omnichannel buying journey can be complex. That’s why it’s so important for leaders who understand these channels to launch a company-wide initiative that supports all relevant touch points. It’s too easy for customers to open a new browser tab and find one of your competitors to leave it to chance.

STEP 2: Decide on product offerings and pricing

When first getting started with selling products online, it's best to start small. Focus on a few key products and/or customer categories. This way you can test, experiment, and optimize your processes without overwhelming your staff or risking bad customer experiences. You may choose to start with strategically significant products and/or standardized products that are easy to sell without the customer requiring guidance. As another common approach, you might begin by launching your online store with products that have the most up-to-date and complete information.

In terms of pricing, B2B transactions often involve negotiated pricing, payment terms, volume discounts, and tiered pricing based on customer segments, which can be complex and challenging to automate without seamless ERP integration. A decision needs to be made with respect to displaying prices, and there are pros and cons to each scenario. For example, if you show no prices and require customers to log in, you may deter new customers who are in the research phase. One option would be to establish standard prices based on quantity prior to login. You could also allow customers to negotiate prices through an automated approval process or send some pricing questions to offline sales.

Other ways to accommodate pricing include offering tiered pricing structures and custom quotes, or implementing dynamic pricing rules within the platform, allowing automatic discounts based on order quantity, customer type, or other criteria.

To simplify the purchasing process, you can integrate with payment gateways that support various B2B payment methods, offer real-time credit approval, and/or adopt electronic funds transfer (EFT) or wire transfer while also supporting a range of digital payment options.

STEP 3: If you ever want to aim for perfection in your life, seek it in your data

Your customers' experiences and first impressions will depend almost entirely upon the accuracy, completeness, and readability of your data. An error in the data will propagate through your entire system like a bad penny and throw a wrench in the best laid plans, sending your customers scurrying into the welcoming websites of your competitors. When it comes to data, the devil really is in the details.

According to a recent survey data about B2B buyers from Sapio Research:

• 53% order something that turns out to not be in stock
• 49% must contact customer service because of inaccurate or missing information
• 48% are given an incorrect order status by their supplier's website
• 45% often find that product information is incorrect
• 40% cite inaccurate pricing and shipping costs as their main frustrations when making purchases
• 28% of buyers cited the lack of product information as a primary problem

Yikes.

"Good clean data is the foundation of any successful digital undertaking," says John Altenbernd, Director of Engineering for Channel Software. "It's a house of cards if you don't do it right."

So what is "clean" data? Think of data that is free of typographical errors, that follows a proper and consistent naming convention, that is up to date, that is complete, that is readable, and that doesn't contain junk information, like extra spaces or characters. This data can be found in your ERP, CRM, and OMS systems. Product descriptions and details, including products that relate to one another for upsells and cross-sells, as well as prices, contracts, terms, addresses, phone numbers, ZIP codes, etc., are all areas where you want to make sure your data are in pristine condition, standardized and mapped for a smooth data exchange. Incorrect or corrupted data are to be avoided like the plague they will surely become.

STEP 4: Decide how you're going to fulfill product orders

You'll need to create rules for product fulfillment, whether you fulfill the orders on-site or through a third party, such as through a marketplace or a distributor. You can also consider drop-shipping or other fulfillment models for optimized efficiency.

Managing large orders, complex shipping requirements, and diverse delivery needs can be challenging for manufacturers selling online. Here are some tips to overcome those challenges:

• Partner with reliable logistics providers experienced in B2B shipping.
• Offer flexible shipping options and real-time tracking information.
• Integrate the eCommerce platform with real-time inventory management systems.
• Offer transparent shipping options and accurate delivery estimates.

STEP 5: Build a strong team 

As you move into the digital sales space, you'll want to be prepared to provide sales and customer support at the moment your customer needs it. Customers expect to transition easily across all channels without redundancy. One way to handle this is to either hire or move one of your best players into the role of quarterback; often this is a Digital Marketing Director or Director of eCommerce. The point is, someone needs to own and oversee the digital experience, preferably someone who understands the digital buyer journey and hybrid sales roles.

Since this tends to be one of the most challenging undertakings for companies that are new to B2B eCommerce, it's important to be ready to invest in this area and plan to experiment as you optimize your processes. But your efforts should pay off. A recent study by McKinsey found that companies who increased their hybrid sales teams by more than 10% were 79% more likely to win market share.

STEP 6: Make it a Win-Win with Distributors

38% of industrial manufacturers surveyed by McKinsey indicated they avoided selling online because they didn't want to harm their relationships with their distributors. This is understandable, but with planning, good communication, a clear pricing strategy and other guidelines before launching your eCommerce site, you can in fact strengthen these relationships.

Ideally, you and your distributors will work together to increase total sales. You can help your distributors by sharing qualified leads, supplying analytics, sales support, and product collateral, such as product images, descriptions, and videos. Develop co-operative marketing campaigns that leverage both your brand reach and the distributor's local market expertise. Team up for joint sales training programs to ensure distributors can effectively sell both online and offline. By evaluating each relationship, you can decide which distributors will be partners on your platform and to what degree. You can make certain products available only through select distributors, for example. In return, you could request that the distributor prominently display your products on their site or require a minimum purchase.

There are many potential permutations as your work out how to incorporate the online experience into your relationship with your distributors. Take some time to work through your buyers’ journeys from your buyers’ and/or distributors’ points of view. The idea is to work with your distributors to craft an experience that increases sales while providing a first-rate experience for your buyers.

STEP 7: Choose an eCommerce platform and partner with expertise in ERP integrations and B2B technology

Once you've solidified your plans, you'll want to choose an eCommerce platform to support your online endeavors. Your eCommerce website should be attractive, configurable, and intuitive to use while also being responsive on a variety of devices like mobile. Your partner should have strong expertise with ERP integration, product information and data, content management for digital commerce and site security.

Let's review these below:

Integrations

The ideal B2B eCommerce platform should integrate with your ERP, OMS, and CRM systems to provide customers with real-time updates. For the best results, work with a technology partner / solution provider who knows or is familiar with your ERP system. They will be able to audit your implementation of your product data in your ERP and give recommendations or help clean your data for optimal functionality of your website.

Your technology partner should have a blend of knowledge that includes:

• B2B eCommerce Mastery: Understanding the intricacies of B2B buying behavior, from complex order structures to negotiated pricing and the importance of self-service options. They're also experts in B2B eCommerce platform functionalities like account management, punchout catalogs, credit terms, and seamless integration with other business systems like CRM and PIM.
• ERP Integration Expertise: A deep understanding of core ERP functionalities, integration with popular systems like Infor, Epicor, SAP, NetSuite, and Microsoft Dynamics, etc., along with data mapping expertise. They can translate data seamlessly between your eCommerce platform and ERP, ensuring accuracy and consistency, and even develop custom integrations using APIs, if needed.
• Integration Architect: The have a knowledge of different integration methods – APIs, EDI, and web services – and the ability to recommend the best approach for your specific ERP system. They ensure safe and reliable data exchange with robust security protocols and have the skills to troubleshoot any integration issues.

An experienced B2B eCommerce partner with ERP integration expertise is the bridge between your online store and your ERP system. They understand the functionalities of both and can ensure a seamless flow of data, optimizing your business operations and delivering a superior customer experience for your buyers.

Ecommerce PIM

As mentioned earlier, B2B buyers start their research online before choosing a supplier. This means your products and company need to be found in a search, and the best way to do that is to make sure the platform you choose can augment your ERP product descriptions with a PIM (Product Information Management). Robust product descriptions that a PIM can provide will improve your search results.

To return to our example, Baart Industrial Group, they discovered that some customers used different names or terms for their products than they did. The manager reported that “Channel Software helped us get the search functionality to be expandable, which helps the customer find what they were looking for.”

Content Management and Marketing

Attracting and engaging B2B buyers online requires creating valuable content and optimizing visibility. Choose a platform that supports content management and marketing. With this, you'll have the ability to create custom content on your site, without having to get a developer involved. Here you can create informative content like product guides, case studies, and white papers. Make sure to use SEO best practices to improve search engine ranking and organic visibility. As your products become findable online, more and more customers will become aware of your brand.

Security

Protecting sensitive customer and business data in the online environment is critical. Choose a platform with robust security features and compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, implement multi-factor authentication and other security measures, and regularly update software and educate employees on cybersecurity best practices.

Next Steps

The B2B eCommerce market, estimated at $18,665.95 billion dollars in 2023, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.2% from 2024 to 2030. As technological capabilities keep improving, more and more executives and B2B buyers are embracing eCommerce. A survey found that 70% of executives are prepared to spend up to $500,000 on a single eCommerce transaction. In other words, this is a good time to expand into eCommerce.

If you're a manufacturer and are looking to explore the possibilities of B2B eCommerce, contact the experts at Channel Software for a free 20-minute discovery call. We’re happy to answer your questions and guide you to the best solutions for your company.