Developing a B2B platform: what you must know

A B2B platform is a complete solution for simplifying ordering and customer service. It is also responsible for other business processes related to sales and purchasing. Let’s see about developing a B2B platform: what you must know.

Growing demand

Salespeople today aren’t competing on price. The competition is for better service and a better user experience. The B2B business is no exception. B2B eCommerce development is now trying to create a beautiful design for users, providing quick system response and functionality. The ability to work with smartphones comes to the fore.

Development of a B2B platform: features of the project

When creating a B2B platform, it is necessary to consider the functional features of such a solution. They must ensure the effective operation of wholesale platforms. For the full operation of B2B solutions, the system of a wholesale platform should include:

• User roles with different levels of access.
• Algorithms for calculating discounts.
• Adjustable personalization of content, promo offers, bonuses.
• API integration with different solutions ? the systems for warehouse and financial accounting, customer service and resource management. It also includes payment gateways, logistics calculators, and third-party marketplaces.
• Autogeneration of documents ? contracts, invoices, waybill.
• Sales funnel with a comfortable user journey and maximum automation of all processes.
• Marketing tools, automatic reporting, and collection of information on user behavior. It is important to consider the quality of managers’ work. All of this allows you to keep statistics, manage demand and increase sales.

Elogic makes B2B e-commerce platforms that meet the expectations of the modern customer.

B2B e-commerce applications

The popularity of mobile applications grows every year. This is also evidenced by the fact that most developers create software for iOS and Android. The average person spends 5h a day on a smartphone. Entrepreneurs use it twice as much. What features does a modern B2B service need on a smartphone?

• Registration algorithm;
• Availability of a registered profile;
• Product catalog;
• Cloud storage;
• Search through the catalog of goods;
• Ability to pay within the application (payment gateway);
• Reservation of goods;
• Ordering;
• Order history;
• Access to the history of documents: bills of lading, sales vouchers, payments, etc.;
• Forming reports on sales and mutual settlements;
• Customer feedback is below the product card.

The demand for applications depends on the exclusivity of the supplier and portfolio of customer deliveries. The more exclusive the supplier, and the higher the probability of developing your app.

Conclusions and observations

To fully automated processes, an e-commerce platform needs to be seamlessly integrated with the accounting system. The work involves constant testing and changing functionality. As a company’s processes and customer interaction model change, usability must be improved.

This is a time-consuming process for developers because of the voluminous and complex algorithms that link the interface with functionality. Today, customers in B2B expect a service no worse than in B2C. Experiencing inconvenience when placing an order, the user will leave for another vendor.

It’s not just customers who can resist digital change, but employees as well. Start processes gradually by preparing your team for them. Hire active employees and motivate them to work in an IT-transformed environment. Train your staff. Managers will have to handle objections, overcome skepticism and reluctance to change processes. Only this approach will launch an effective digital platform.

The tips collected in this article may seem rudimentary. But they will be relevant and useful for those who are starting with a B2B online product.