From the impacts of digital transformation, to increasing competition, to a more demanding B2B customer, any wholesale distributor can tell you: the landscape is changing. Today, distributors face having to adjust some of their time-honored strategies to keep their businesses on a growth trajectory and avoid disruptive market forces.
Here are a few tips for distributors:
- Integrate and automate business processes, including inventory management.
B2B customers are swimming in choice and customer loyalty is harder to come by than ever before. Distributors need to take steps to ensure they are servicing their customers effectively, which in the current landscape means prioritizing speed, pricing transparency, real-time inventory visibility, and order management. Using an order management platform that offers ERP integration allows distributors to efficiently manage essential operating functions, from logistics, to fulfilment and commissions. Distributors who can effectively leverage technology solutions like these will find more success satisfying retailers, agencies, and other channel partners. - Invest in revenue intelligence.
Is the time you spend servicing your largest customer really worth it? What areas of customer service will get you the biggest return on investment? Distributors who are still relying on outdated legacy systems for their order management may not have access to the kinds of actionable insights you need to track and measure ROI. Modern analytic sales tools like revenue intelligence, which use AI and machine learning algorithms to track and evaluate customer data and sales operations, can help distributors sell more effectively, minimize inefficiencies, and maximize customer service. - Optimize your B2B e-commerce website for self-service.
Modern B2B customers expect streamlined and seamless shopping experiences on every channel, including distributor websites. Consider these B2B e-commerce stats- 89% of B2B researchers use the Internet while researching a purchase
- 73% of global traffic to B2B company sites begins in a search engine — most on the first page of Google
- 57% of the buying process is completed before engaging with a sales rep or team member
Distributors competing for market share need B2B e-commerce sites that can offer personalized, branded, and interactive shopping experiences to their customers. From frictionless payment processing to automated recommendations engines, give your B2B customers the kind of e-commerce shopping experiences they prefer — with fast loading times, mobile-friendly shopping experiences, and detailed product information. A well-designed distributor website will get noticed, keep customers around for longer, and ultimately scale to meet your needs.
The benefits of creating an effective B2B e-commerce channel outweigh even the most significant challenges. Curious to see what a SaaS sales order management and B2B e-commerce platform can do for your business? Contact us today for a free demo of OneMart.
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