B2B Customers Are People Too

Fortunately, the user experience in most online retail stores has become quite satisfactory. Navigating to find products is generally straightforward, and you might even enjoy a personalized shopping experience with recommendations based on your previous purchases. Payment processes have also become frictionless, with familiar and easy-to-use options like Vipps or Klarna.

Today's consumers have high expectations for what a digital user experience can and should be. They anticipate that the purchasing process should be intuitive and straightforward.

However, the same cannot necessarily be said for B2B online stores. Businesses that exclusively sell products to other businesses evidently do not prioritize user experience. There are numerous examples of solutions created solely to put their products online, often without images, simply to offer online shopping to their corporate clients.

Frequently, it requires logging in or a registration process that cannot be completed online, necessitating contact with customer service for registration. Once you overcome this initial hurdle, the next challenge is finding the products, which may lack essential information and images, making it difficult to find the right items.

When it comes time to pay, invoices are typically used instead of the convenient digital payment solutions we are accustomed to.

The level of personalization is also quite low, with minimal recommendations based on previous purchases, more focused on sales or other suggestions compared to what we are accustomed to from other online stores.

Flokk is a prime example of a B2B player that truly understands the value of personalization, a great user experience, and smart data utilization.

Together with Forte Digital, Flokk has developed a 3D configurator that simplifies designing one's own chair, allowing users to choose from various models, fabrics, accessories, and other customization options. Once a product is configured, a configuration code is generated to display the specific choices made by the customer. An interior architect, for example, can take this code to a dealer to place an order.

Dealers can complete the entire ordering process digitally. Previously, orders had to be manually registered, a time-consuming process at multiple stages. This new solution has now been launched in multiple markets. They have also adopted a forward-thinking approach, preparing for direct consumer sales whenever the need arises.

Think comprehensively and consider your own customer journey. Who is your primary target audience? How can you streamline or enhance different stages of this customer journey? Reflect on how you can reduce time-consuming and unnecessary manual work or increase sales per customer. Define a concise digital strategy and establish a few simple KPIs to set the direction.

Start by gaining control over your product information using a PIM system where all descriptions, images, keywords, categorizations, and more can reside and be utilized by multiple systems or in catalogs/marketing. Prices, discounts, and inventory status often come from the ERP system.

Customer information can be stored in either an ERP or CRM system, depending on your specific needs.

The e-commerce platform combines data from PIM and ERP, making all information available in the online store. It's also where you integrate payment and shipping methods.

By connecting these systems into a data platform, you can more easily collect data for further analysis and insights, as well as make data accessible to other parts of the organization or partners.

With a great user experience for your business customers, transitioning to selling directly to end consumers becomes more feasible for retailers or manufacturers.

• Establish a digital strategy with simple KPIs.
• Know your customers and understand the customer journey.
• Take control of product information and customer data in your systems: PIM, ERP, CRM.
• Build a digital platform that provides opportunities for future growth and new possibilities.

If you need assistance defining a digital strategy, analyzing the customer journey, or implementing an online store, please feel free to reach out.