B2B E-Commerce : The Challenges, Solutions, and Opportunities

Rolls in orders, disturbances in supply chains, consumer behavior shifts, store closings, and more – As the COVID-19 pandemic proceeds to grow, it will unquestionably affect your B2B business. And E-Commerce Web Development in Pakistan, particularly, is witnessing a significant influence.

Since the pandemic started, online purchases have grown by 52%, thus, raising the estimate of online buyers by 10%. Even the E-Commerce titan – Amazon, intends to hire 100,000 added employees to acknowledge the growing online purchases. Since we’re a Web Design and Development Company in Pakistan, we’ve noticed that our clients are also impacted. Some of them have even reported an uplift in B2B E-Commerce transactions.

In this article, our E-Commerce experts at Xcentric Services have discussed some impacts that COVID-19 has had on B2B E-Commerce. Though to help you out, we’ve also included some solutions and opportunities that might help you tackle the challenges, and drive your business through this pandemic.

B2B E-Commerce – What can YOU do to battle COVID-19?

Encourage Online Shopping

Limiting physical meetings as much as possible amid this COVID-19 outbreak and to ensure business flow, now is the moment to inspire your shoppers to buy online. And this is something The Vitamin Company and Meeshan – Xcentric’s clients, are focusing on to steer through the pandemic. 

However, not everyone knows how to shop online. And being an E-Commerce business, it’s your efficiency to offer them a helping hand during these COVID-19 times to move your customers online. Here are some tips on how you can support them, all while boosting your sales; 

• Excite your consumers that your web store is live and operational, even if your physical stores are not. 
• Rotate your on-the-road sales agents who can no longer do their usual tasks into inviting customers and managing their online accounts set up process. 
• Navigate your shopper through your web store and help them place their online orders. 

Offer Additional Services

Amid COVID-19, many businesses are watching after their consumers by giving additional services. From streaming providers offering free movies, to banks eliminating the delaying charges, and eateries offering takeaways, you too can put in efforts to inspire your customers and their communities and be the companion they can rely on throughout these challenging times. Need some ideas on how to support them? Read over! 

• Offer buyers in most-affected areas some extra discounts or perks, such as free shipment.
• Save your products for potential buyers rather than new ones who are browsing to place a single-product order. 
• Help customers who are encountering financial crisis by offering added return benefits or extending receipt payment periods. 
• Highlight products that can accommodate your clients and their consumers to drive through this pandemic. 

Meet B2B Buyer Demands

As innumerable shoppers turn to E-Commerce due to the pandemic, it’s not adequate just to possess a web store. You also need to guarantee that your E-Store meets the demands of B2B consumers. This signifies a convenient, stable and comprehensive E-Store and one that influences shoppers to buy from you rather than shifting to competitors.

Though do you know what your B2B customers expect from your E-Store? Counting on our years of experience in providing Magento E-Commerce Development Services in Pakistan, we’ve broken down some to-do’s that might help you meet your B2B buyer’s demands; 

• Publicize Valuable Information – An E-Commerce platform should present accurate, comprehensive and real-time information; From the product elements to its inventory data, and shipment tracking.
• Deliver Optimized Functions – Make sure your consumers can instantly and effortlessly pay and check out, yet also trace their purchases, handle their returns and payment receipts online.
• Manage Complex B2B Orders – Your E-Store should have a precise arrangement in place to process multiple orders, including those based on hidden prices and discounts. 
• Control Order Errors – Carefully publicize product information, pricing, and inventory data on the E-Store 24/7. And buyers should have access to their placed order’s history and account information, to avoid errors and multiple entries. 

Ensure a Stress-free Return Process

Amid the pandemic, businesses are expected to encounter variations and fluctuations in demand for particular products. Being a B2B E-Commerce business, you might also discover that customers who are experiencing financial challenges watch for ideas to gain back some of their spendings. This possibility will result in a surge in returns.

Hence, convince yourself to secure a stress-free returns process for your consumers. If attainable, enable them to return through the web store and let them trace the process themselves. This will not only be comfortable for your buyers, but it will also stop any waves in requests and emails for your customer service crews.

Roll-Out Further Web Stores

If your web store is existent, now is a positive time to consider rolling out more web stores to new areas and markets. This is done to secure income and to sustain current or cut-off consumers.

In the initial situation, you can originate E-Stores for areas where you have a physical appearance, but no digital presence. This will enable your present customers to continue buying from you, even when in-store shopping is terminated. However, this might also mean that you need to reach a new audience. Hence, make sure that you’ve optimized your web store to reach higher on Google’s SERPs with Search Engine Optimization Services in Pakistan, as more than half of today’s consumers look up to Google for product information and reviews.

Deal with Demand Peaks

The pandemic is heading to spikes in demand for particular products. While also disturbing supply chains with transportation constraints and business closures. Here are some elements you can put in the position to deal with such disturbances in both; short term and long term. 

• Make sure that you’ve got the right host to support your E-Commerce Website
• Get the burden off and balance the load by expanding it over a group of devices.
• Delay the loading time of some web page details

Moreover, to deal with the disturbance in the supply chain and to assure the least influence on your consumers and service crews, make certain that your web store empowers you to; 

• Show real-time inventory data and prices
• Let buyers trace their shipments
• Assure that out-of-stock products are identified as such, and allow shoppers to know when to assume them back-in-stock. 

Protect Employees and Shoppers

While going online can benefit you by protecting your consumers and team by decreasing face-to-face communications, this is only accurate to a marked space. After concluding the day, you are usually still required to operate a physical logistics hub and to bodily deliver shipments. Hence, put in measures that ensure the safety of both; your employees and the buyers.

Along with accomplishing these measures, convince your shoppers by letting them appreciate what you are selling and how safely you are selling, including how their shipments will be delivered.

You only have a Physical Store and not a Web Store yet? IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO LAUNCH ONE!

As the demand for E-Commerce rises, today is, of course, a significant time to launch one to secure income and continue serving your customers during COVID-19 times. So currently, if you only own a physical store, don’t worry, it’s never too late to launch an online store. However, for launching one, you might need some help from a Web Design and Development Company in Chicago. Our web development team at Xcentric Services is always available around the clock to assist businesses with Magento E-Commerce Development Services in Pakistan. So get in touch with us today and join the E-Commerce bandwagon!