If you are an eCommerce owner you might have invested in several expensive eCommerce platforms. But now the scenarios have changed. The marketing of businesses has shaped up in different forms. And the most prominent are the B2B and B2C.
Although they are different from each other. But choosing the B2B vs B2C eCommerce platform is still the debate. However, if you are thinking of establishing a strong B2B eCommerce platform? Let’s dive in to know more.
What does B2B marketing offer to users?
B2B or Business-to-Business marketing involves where the firm interacts with other businesses. The B2B marketing strategies ensure the powered promotion of goods. And strives to convert those businesses into their clients.
Marketing depends on the sales categories and is operated by experts. However, experts can easily find creative ways to reach their markets. In B2B vs B2C eCommerce platform, the former is more business-focused. As per Statista reports, B2B eCommerce sales will reach $1.8 trillion by 2023.
A fine example of this marketing type is Salesforce. It helps the businesses to make their user relationships. B2B consists of the firm interaction with experts employed by other businesses.
An overview of B2C marketing
It is quite a popular method of marketing. Business-to-customer refers to direct user interaction with the firms. The firms can create, design, and advertise the campaign that boosts their sales. Because the focus is to promote goods to various users.
And the strategies they apply can easily multiple users. The perfect example of this is the eCommerce websites. Such as fashion sites Myntra, grocery sites Zomato, eCommerce sites Amazon, etc. In these cases, the sites can approach their users in their own way. They take into account:
- Customer shopping pattern
- Latest market trends
- Competitors winning strategy
B2B vs B2C eCommerce platform: A comparison to know
Here are some of the basic differences between the two best marketing types.
1- B2B vs B2C: Target Audience
When it’s a B2B vs B2C eCommerce platform, the audience remains the focal point. In B2B marketing an understanding of the audience is crucial for data accuracy. This data will help to efficiently analyze the market and the current demand.
So, it improves the lead generation and conversion flow. Whereas, B2C deals with a diverse and huge market to get users. So, the strategy is to analyze funnel leads. And then employing the SEO techniques for the streamlining. So, you need to optimize web pages, content, UX/UI experience, etc.
2- B2B vs B2C: Customer relationships
After identifying the audience the strengthening of relationships is also crucial. B2B makes up the sales via the niche or common vertical markets. And focuses on boosting long-term relations. It implements business practices that help strengthen the brand image.
You can get an eCommerce web development company in India at affordable rates. However, compared to B2B marketing, the consumer market is far greater. And focuses on the barter relationship with the consumers. So, the strategy in this type is to keep launching the products at feasible rates. Moreover, the fostering of relations remains a crucial part of both types.
3- B2B vs B2C: Decision-making
Deciding to purchase products is quite overwhelming for the users. Both marketing types have different purchase decision processes. In B2B you will notice more complexities, time-consuming, and extensive research. So, it depends on the demands and budgets for the purchase.
The pro tip: You need real motivators for open communication and quick purchases.
But it’s the total opposite in B2C because the purchases are quick. There is a conversion funnel that satisfies the latest user demands. Plus, sales and promotions help in the decision-making process for users.
4- B2B vs B2C: Brand image
Brand identity is the result of strengthening user bonds and empowering decision-making. In B2B vs B2C eCommerce platform, the B2B focuses on relation building. Because they empower lead generation via market positioning. While B2C marketing focuses on adverts and social campaigns. It drives sales or builds images via the emotional connection with the users. Because sentiment connection is crucial for customer success.
Also Read – Top eCommerce Website Development Companies In India 2023
Steps to Create Successful B2B eCommerce Platform Development
Let’s look at some guided steps to follow for B2B eCommerce stores.
1- Understand the user journey
You can’t blindly start the B2B business. eCommerce app development services need perfect understanding. Because you must understand what all buyer journey consists of. So, that you can implement a marketing strategy for the smart purchase.
After the mentioned above differentiators you might know how B2B cycles work. Because it takes quite a longer process to help make a purchase. It starts with nurturing the clients and using techniques for sales.
However, in B2B marketing the user journey is classified into three phases:
- Awareness Stage
Clients understand their needs and look for options.
- Consideration Stage
Research for the accurate solutions for their issues.
- Decision Stage
The final phase is to make a purchase.
So, the buyer journey helps to understand how the firm interacts with the users. This phase helps the businesses to take the next defined step and strategies.
2- Identify your target audience
After understanding the customer journey you must start to identify your audience. In B2B vs B2C eCommerce platform, you should know how to identify your B2B audience. Before jumping straight to the conclusion, include the two suggestions:
- Who uses the user journey
- Who purchases products?
And when you get the answers to these questions, you can identify whom to target. Firstly, think of a B2B company and identify your market. Think about the:
- Firm size i.e., small, medium, and large companies.
- Locations like Asia, America, Africa, etc.
- Type of industry i.e., healthcare, real estate, entertainment, eCommerce, etc.
But why are you looking at these aspects? Because you don’t aim for the businesses, you focus on the people working with the brand. Learning the user personas, personalities, behaviors, age, gender, etc. It helps to understand how to streamline the decision-making process.
3- Conduct a competitive analysis
When you apply strategies, you need to know how to use them. Before investing in winning techniques, you should do a competitor analysis. Study the latest market trend and see how other businesses incorporate it. Try to find out what they integrate on their websites.
See how they performing on other social platforms. Because when you will know competitor products and sales you can easily try them. Plus, understanding them will help you gain better insight.
4- Choose your marketing plan
Now after collecting all the crucial data of users, places you can start the main process. Building the marketing strategy. And for this you should define your marketing aspects:
- Product: About the products you deal with
- Price: what cost do you sell these products
- Place: the location of the selling
- Promotion: advertise to most of the users
These 4 P’s of marketing stand as the strong pillar of marketing strategy. Plus, the precision offers a wider view of the marketing plan. After the conclusion of this plan, you can easily work towards market goals. You can easily design social strategies to promote your brand. Such as content marketing, social marketing, SEO optimization, etc. Plus, you can easily streamline the channel strategy.
5- Cover the marketing bases
Jumping onto some technicalities of B2B marketing. Although this stage contains the technical aspects of building websites. But we ain’t going that deeper for the website. However, we’ll talk about the industry understanding and how it performs.
In B2B vs B2C eCommerce platform, you should know the technical ins and outs. It starts with the deployment of the website in the market. Then updating the email marketing for traction. This remains the essential step for every B2B industry that starting a new online sphere. But you need to keep a close eye on some strategies.
Such as:
- Content marketing for website on social media
- Social media marketing for user retention
- Email marketing for newsletter signups
- Event marketing for event management
6- Determine your brand identity
Last, but not least. And at the most, the crucial step is to position your brand in the market. You should define your brand position as how you want your brand identity. It will help to boost the user retention, sales, marketing, etc. But you should also know about the marketing channels you can use.
Study your competitors and then integrate these channels. Ideate about the marketing strategy of picturizing your brand. Because your B2B eCommerce platform development should have uniqueness. So, that you can explore new channels and strategies for lead streaming.
Popular B2B eCommerce platforms
Here are some big names in the B2B industry.
1- BigCommerce
This B2B has a bigger name in the eCommerce market. Especially for their extensive support to the vast market. It has two main offerings:
- BigCommerce Essentials
- BigCommerce Enterprise
You can easily follow the guide to set up your eStore. Add the products and build your website. BigCommerce offers clear instructions on setting up the eCommerce store. You have the freedom to add up multiple products via its capabilities.
BigCommerce is an easy and quick-to-use platform. As you can keep an eye on the backend and frontend with two separated areas. You can get an Omnichannel commerce solutions development company for assistance. They offer a simple store design tool to customize your store.
Pricing
You can pay as per your needs:
- Standard: $29.95/month
- Plus: $79.95/month
- Pro: $299.95/month
2- Shopify
You may call it the trailblazer of the B2B eCommerce platform development. Shopify has a strong reputation in the market to support businesses of various sizes. There are divisions of its versions:
- Shopify Lite- for the existing websites
- Shopify Plus– companies with a huge budget
It is way too simple and easier to set up a platform for users. You get the in-built CMS, themes, blogging functions, etc. So, it has the best features to support your online store. The features increase the attractiveness and functionalities of your store.
You can easily manage with Shopify eCommerce development company on both ends.
Pricing
You can choose from the below mentioned three plans:
- Basic: $24/month
- Shopify: $79/month
- Advanced: $299/month
3- WooCommerce
Another notable open-source eCommerce platform in the market. WooCommerce helps to update your existing website. Also, support of WordPress offers easy hosting plans and domain names. WooCommece supports the addition of numerous products. You can get a WooCommerce web development company for your help.
Start by installing the plugin and you will get all the features access. However, choose what your store needs the most from all.
Pricing
Only the additional plugins will cost you for the platform.
4- Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce is one of the widely used B2B eCommerce platforms developed for users. It is cloud-based and targets both B2B and B2C businesses. You get the offer to easily get mobile, social digital, and physical products. Along with the store enhancement, you can easily strengthen user interaction.
It has a customizable dashboard to easily set up your store. Plus, don’t worry about storage in this cloud-based platform.
Pricing
You just need the quote for the pricing.
5- Adobe Commerce
A highly popular and reputed eCommerce platform is Adobe Commerce.
You get:
- Magento Open-source
- Magento Commerce
So, the open source goes well with professionals. And even for medium to large established businesses. You will get a comprehensive platform with easy customizations. Plus, you can hire Magento eCommerce development for your assurance.
Because you can get the easy-to-customize pricing for targeted businesses. Magento support has offered a vast solution for user web development.
Pricing
Magento open source is free but for pricing contact sales.
6- PrestaShop
Also an open-source and cloud-based eCommerce platform. PrestaShop has offered the best support to various merchants. Users appreciate its open-source and easy-to-use feature. It has over 5,000 modules to support your online store.
Plus, it offers extensive flexibility and scalability to merchants worldwide. Its core functionality supports various add-ons to enhance your store. You can hire B2C eCommerce portal development services for technical integration. However, the technical integration is the most challenging part.
Pricing
It’s open-source and free!
Conclusion
B2B marketing has a huge impact to make in businesses. Because it expands the capabilities to sell products to various locations and people. However, the above mentioned pointers will help you establish a winning B2B eCommerce platform. For more consideration, consult the B2B eCommerce platform development service for your projects.
FAQs
1- What are the main difficulties that B2B eCommerce faces?
- B2B interactions are intimate.
- There are numerous players in the B2B purchasing process.
- B2B purchasers go through intricate procurement procedures.
- Buyers require many payment options.
- Data silos for several channels could exist.
2- What impact has eCommerce had on B2B transactions?
Tools for B2B eCommerce speed up the sales process for buyers by streamlining it for sellers.
3- What variables affect the B2B market?
Explaining the B2B Purchasing Process: 9 Stages & Factors that Influence
The B2B buying process can be impacted by even the personalities and traits of the people in the buying center.
