Defining Your Piece of the B2B Ecommerce Pie

Greg Kihlström of the Agile Brand podcast sat down with OX’s Carlos Manalo and Znode’s Tom Flierl and Will Goodman to talk B2B ecommerce strategy. As you’ll learn from the podcast, the phrase “B2B ecommerce strategy” can mean so many different things depending on where you fit in the flow of purchasing and selling, as well as your specific category of ecommerce.

Carlos, Tom, and Will broke down how manufacturers and distributors should be thinking through their ecommerce needs so they can find the right platform and partners to grow. It’s a great place to start for any business wanting to ensure they make the right choices as they launch or revamp their B2B ecommerce site.

Click here to listen to the half-hour podcast. Keep reading for our main takeaways.

B2B ECOMMERCE IS NOT ONE THING

B2B is often presented or talked about as if it’s a single thing. It’s not. “B2B is a massive, massive plot of land for everybody,” explained Carlos, “but in reality it actually breaks down into some very specific use cases.” The first important distinction is manufacturing vs. distribution. Just that simple split contains so much nuance that greatly impacts the ecommerce setup that you need.

What nuances are we talking about?

• As a manufacturer, do you work with distributors or dealers?
• How large is your operation?
• Are you selling directly to the end business?
• How do your sellers engage with the different distributors you work with?
• Do you let everyone see inventory and pricing, or is that information gated?
• Are you a distributor that offers value-added services (e.g., cutting raw product into parts)?
• Are you selling a commoditized product, or is it being customized for the end user?

The answers to all of these questions help dictate exactly the kind of platform and capabilities you need. And we haven’t even talked about your industry! Healthcare? Food and beverage? Office supplies? What specific needs do you have based on the industry to which you sell? Suddenly “B2B ecommerce” feels like a much less useful category on its own.

YOU MAY ASK YOURSELF…

So, based on your specific needs, you want to be sure you choose the best platform and partners you can, but how do you know what and who that is? You don’t…yet. A digital consulting agency can help ensure you’re making the right decision. Choose an agency that has experience working in your field. They will have a much better idea of what you need out of your tech stack. And once you choose an agency, be prepared to answer the following questions (also, if they aren’t asking you these questions, choose another agency):

What capabilities do you need out of the gate?

Different platforms have different capabilities out of the box. That means that in your ecommerce journey, you won’t get everything at once. That’s why it’s important to know what you need right away vs. in three months vs. in a year.

How do you currently go to market?

Understanding the details of your current go-to-market strategy will help ensure you are matched with the right platform. You should never have to change your business strategy for a platform, so someone needs to understand the ins and outs of your approach to ensure a platform is flexible enough for your needs.

What are the different roles that will be using the platform?

Each group that interacts with your platform does so differently. It’s critical that the needs of each of these groups are met.

Where do you want to be in five years?

Be sure you choose a platform and partners that not only meet your needs right now but will continue to meet them into the future.

What are your three most difficult use cases?

“If you’re going to make a big investment in replatforming,” says Tom Flierl, “I would also say to find your three most difficult use cases or your three most difficult things you need to manage in ecommerce and ask for a native demo of that functionality.”

What needles are you trying to move?

What are the things about your current strategy that you are trying to change? How will you be measuring success? Every platform has its strengths and weaknesses, so knowing your priorities will help you choose the right one.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES

Speaking of how you plan on measuring success, look beyond adoption and conversion into the operational efficiencies you’ll gain. Will, who started his career working for a $1B+ medical distributor, understands the importance of automation in B2B ecommerce well. He was in the position of constantly being pummeled with phone calls and questions.

“‘Hey, Will, get me pricing. Will, what did I order this time last year? Will, can you get me a quote for this?’ Every single one of those calls that I received,” he shared, “is one less proactive outbound call I could make to find the next large project. So, when we look at the return on investment, automation is key.”

We’re at a point right now when a lot of companies are reconsidering their B2B commerce platforms and tech stacks. Tom Flierl told us why. “COVID hit,” he explained, “suddenly every distributor, every manufacturer doubles down on ecommerce because their salespeople can’t get into offices. They want to start automating things. People are working from home, and the connection to the ERP is slow, and suddenly, sales transactions are slowed down by tech stacks. So, a lot of decisions were made in haste to get through the pandemic.”

“As we move into 2025/26,” Tom continued, “I think a big trend is going to be, ‘Did we buy the right platform and the right tech stack during the pandemic? Is it flexible enough? Is it easy to integrate? We’re updating our ERP now. Does the ecommerce platform work well with the ERP? Can we present the data that we want easily? How many people do we need in our customer service team or our call center or our IT staff to support the platform?’ ”

In 2020, businesses were forced to make quick decisions on what to use for their ecommerce. As their digital maturity continues to improve, these businesses are able to revisit these decisions and adapt. By understanding the nuances of your own B2B position and asking yourself the right questions, you’ll be able to find the right platforms and partners for your B2B ecommerce needs.

To learn more, you can listen to the full podcast here.