Setting an agenda to your e-commerce businessA primer to help you take your first steps towards your online store

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Table of ContentE-commerce for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Three initial steps to ride the B2B e-commerce wave

Making your B2B e-commerce customer feel at home

E-catalog software – Opting for the foremost choice

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ability to reach new markets, improved after-sales service capabilities, reduction in communication costs, and improved lead time and sales, have only nurtured this confidence.

A recent research report states that ‘the potential to grow international transactions as an additional revenue stream is driving SMEs to extend or upgrade their e-commerce services to enable easier cross-border transactions.’ As a note, although e-commerce is turning effective for SMEs, it may not be a blanket solution for all SMEs.

Now, to determine whether or not an SME is ready to initiate e-commerce, there are few criteria that need to be considered under strict priority, as these may not be applicable to all.

E-commerce for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are incubators for the growth of innovation and of employment. They not only play an important role in the United States where they account for 99% of all business establishments, and have generated 9.8 Million jobs between 1993 and 2009, but also contribute a chunk of profit to the global economy. In spite of this, SMEs face umpteen challenges like non-availability of suitable technologies, small production capacities, non-availability of skilled labour at affordable costs, and inability to compete with the marketing muscle of larger organizations.

On the other hand, SMEs are the biggest beneficiaries in the following ways:

• They now have opportunities to overcome geographical barriers.

• Wherever they can eliminate middlemen, they can cash in on reduced business costs and incremental profit margins.

• They are able to create added value by producing innovative products and flexibly adapting to new markets and products.

Businesses are now adopting e-commerce due to citeable reasons such as increasing levels of competition, incessant pressure from partners/suppliers, etc. There seems to be an observed growth in adopting this mode of trade which is reflected by an increase in SME confidence with regards to e-commerce benefits. New age adoption drivers such as direct/ indirect marketing, strategic relationship building ventures,

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The next step is to choose the appropriate e-commerce solution. Businesses need to look into the following:

• The solution should be sophisticated enough to monitor customer activity on the site and take action based on the customer behaviour.

• The solution should be technically and architecturally sound so as to provide the business managers with tools such as categorization of products, development of promotions and campaigns, targeted email campaigns etc.

• The product catalogue should be able to handle different kinds of products as well the peaks and troughs in demand.

• The solution should be strong and flexible in order to integrate seamlessly with other enterprise systems in order to deliver a dynamic buying experience.

• The site should not only be able to capture historical and behavioural data but also support a compelling and personal search experience.

Considering that many SMEs will not have an in-house capacity to coordinate e-commerce projects, they would do well to look for a trusted partner who can expertly guide them through key imperatives for the organization and external criteria while investing in an e-commerce platform.

Internal Criteria

Financial resources

Organizational culture

Skilled IT personnel

Appetite for risk

Management support

Organization related:• Business model• Impact on the operations• Integration with enterprise systems• Key performance metrics• Change management initiatives

Technology related:• Solutions available in the market and their assessment parameters• Procedure for handling payments• Privacy and security features

Legal related:• Contracts (new or revised) with various parties in the ecosystem• Rules and regulations applicable

External Criteria

Infrastructure for conducting business

Government policies and incentives

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So how can your business compete in this space? Here are three ways to ensure your B2B e-commerce initiative is on the right path:

• Multichannel and MobileEnable your online content across various devices and platforms. Some of the examples are mobile, tablets and computers spread across operating platforms like Windows, Apple or Android etc. This will improve availability to your customers and they will be more likely to spend on your online platform.

This multichannel enablement must not just stop with your customers and your e-commerce platform, but should be extended to your field personnel as well, so that their mobility is ensured and the data available to them at real-time.

• Self careReduce the phone calls by providing online self-help for your customers. You should also enable chat, email or call back options so that they can communicate with your sales and service teams in case of difficulties while ordering.

This over time will improve your customer’s experience and will also enable them to be familiar with your online portal.

Three initial steps to ride the B2B e-commerce waveWith much of the action in the e-commerce space happening in the B2C area, little attention is paid to how B2B e-commerce has fared and what is the next big thing in this segment?

In the past couple of years, analysts have predicted tremendous growth in B2B e-commerce and the sector did perform well. A survey last year revealed about 57% of the business buyers purchased goods online and about half of them spent over $5000 for their purchase. According to Forrester, the B2B market size is estimated to be $599 billion in 2013. And with more business buyers willing to spend more for their online purchases, it is poised to grow in line with expectations. In fact, if the strategies of B2B vendors are aligned with the trend, it may even exceed the estimate.

Though the market size of B2B is almost double that of the B2C space, it is not mature. There are a few big name entrants in the B2B e-commerce space such as Amazon with their “Amazon Supply” and Google with their “Shopping for Suppliers” who draw their expertise from their successful B2C e-commerce implementations.

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• B2B Merchandising tactics:The B2C segment is more mature in providing personalization and offers to attract customers. Provide product recommendations based on customer’s buying patterns, search and viewing history. Keep your content clean and categorized so that products can be grouped. Sometimes, even unrelated products can be grouped based on the order trends you notice on your system.

Providing bundled deals to your customer will also improve your engagement with them as well as revenues through cross and up-selling.

While all these may entail technology and data driven initiatives in your business which can sometimes be off-putting, the rewards are enticing enough to invest time and money in these initiatives.

Some of the other steps you can take for your e-commerce store front are explained in our whitepapers ZMOT and Omni channel.

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Personalized

B2B e-commerce stores need to be highly personalized for each customer. Here are some ways personalization can be brought in:

• Pricing and contractsMake your online pricing and contract customizable, just as you would when dealing with physical B2B customers.

• User groupsLet organization create user groups so that their entire purchases department can have access to their specific needs.

• EngageInteract with the customers through social media or your own forum. Make it simple for them to reach you.

• Purchase supportLet customers interact with your sales staff, just as they would at your physical location. Make your sales representatives available through live chat.

• Payment optionsYour customers can come in any size, a small run-from-a-garage start-up or a global conglomerate, make sure you have payment options that suit all of them.

Making your B2B e-commerce customer feel at homeB2B E-commerce Must-haves: Improve the Customer Experience

B2B e-commerce is the buzz today, but not every vendor knows what he’s doing. While some vendors have adapted their stores to the modern B2B customer, however, there are others who remain woefully behind. The following are some of the key pointers to make sure that your store is all that it can and should be:

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Intuitive

In making an e-commerce site intuitive, a vendor makes it simple for a customer do what they need to. Here’s what should be done:

• Call-to-actionWhen the customers are on the website, the call to action buttons should catch their action. They should know they can find similar products, compare, add-to-cart, and purchase at the click of a button.

• InteractionInteraction buttons are those that either help the customer contact you or the supplier of the product (if you’re the distributor), and get their queries answered. There should be a contact supplier button for every product, and a button to contact you, the vendor on every page.

Easy

B2B customers are people in organizations doing their jobs, and as the person who wants to do business with them, it becomes your job to make it easy for them to work with you. The easier you make it for them to do their job, the more they’ll love working with you:

• SearchWhen a customer starts searching for a product, your auto-complete feature should save them the effort of typing things out. When they type in the name of a product, you need to start selling with the search results – provide images/listing of variations, types, same-brand products, similar products, and related products. Of course don’t flood

their search results either, strike a balance between at least three of these elements.

• ToolsProvide the customer with tools to make their product searches easy. Tools include comparison features and filters. Remember that your customers have almostas much technical knowledge of the product as the manufacturer, so give them many more filters to work with.

• NavigationYour customer wants to search, find, evaluate and order as soon as possible, so make it easy for them to move around. Make your website’s user interface simple and clean, and let customers move from category to information to comparisons seamlessly. Try to follow the three-level site architecture rule, i.e., no more than three clicks to reach anywhere on the site.

• Product visualizationsWith organizations wishing to look up to date with the latest trends in both technology and design, there will be customers who will value the aesthetic appeal of a product on par with its functionality. Give the customers plenty of product pictures to work with, and have at least one video for each product.

Innovation is still the name of the game, at least partly, so think like your customer would and you could come up with your own ideas to improve your customer’s experience. Make your B2B store as easy to love as a B2C store.

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But again, with a heap of options available on the e-catalog software front, companies must be able to pick and choose the most optimal fit. How does one do that? Here are some points to ponder when contemplating an e-catalog solution:

• Of course, it must be easy to implement and easy to use and supple and resourceful enough to help customers find products quicker and in real-time and able to channelize customers to marketers, adding value to both sects in doing so.

• Shoppers must be able to download product brochures and specification sheets from web links and have access to detailed information pages on items. They must be able to control the number of items that they see in one view to avoid clutter and segregate products by best match and price differentiators.

• Options must be there to put items in a shopping cart for future references, have access to a recently viewed toolbar, make filtered searches with product drill downs and access to the closest marketer in the vicinity.

• Sales and marketing should be supported with website branding with images, colors and descriptions, incorporated price descriptions, detailed information pages on items and product brochures and specification sheets.

E-catalog software – Opting for the foremost choiceAs a shopper, turning over printed catalogs is tiring and cumbersome, isn’t it? But then, technology ensures that we don’t have to anymore with online catalogs. E-cataloging is revolutionizing the e-commerce sphere; with organizations universally incorporating e-catalogs as part of their selling and marketing strategies.

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• There must be seamless integration with ERP, MRP, CRM and SCM applications, security from encroachment and theft, data enrichment and cleansing options to erase obsolete data, and a supplier portal to have a real-time picture on the suppliers.

• Ultimately, it must embrace web-enabled and cost-effective deployment technologies like the Cloud for ubiquitous presence due to the increasing mobility of customers.

If this checklist has all ticks marked in the right hand column, do not hesitate, buy immediately!

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About UnilogUnilog is a global technology and services company that specializes in Big Data Analytics and Product Data Management for e-commerce. Headquartered in Bangalore, Unilog is an ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 8000 certified company that employs over 300 people in its local offices at Mysore and Philadelphia. Unilog’s comprehensive, end-to-end data management services cater to the requirements of leading brands across industry verticals including Retail, Telecom, IT, Manufacturing, MRO and Electrical & Electronics among others.For more information, visit us at www.unilogcorp.com

Contact UsCorporate Office:Unilog Content Solutions Pvt. Ltd.,#11, 15th Cross, 20th Main, Outer Ring Road, J.P. Nagar, 5th Phase, Bangalore – 560078.Tel: +91-80-26590721.Fax: +91-80-26710590

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