The Complete Guide to B2B eCommerce Platforms for Manufacturers in 2022

1. WHAT IS ECOMMERCE FOR MANUFACTURERS?
2. THE TREND OF B2B MANUFACTURER BUYER
3. BENEFITS OF ECOMMERCE SITE FOR MANUFACTURERS
4. EFFECTIVELY USE ECOMMERCE TIPS FOR MANUFACTURING
5. HOW TO START AN ECOMMERCE STORE FOR MANUFACTURERS
6. BEST ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS FOR MANUFACTURERS
7. EXAMPLES OF MANUFACTURERS USING ECOMMERCE
8. CONCLUSION
9. FAQS

As a B2B manufacturer, the use of accurate market entry strategies conducted surveys and researches will put your organization forward to evade breakdowns that webs of competitors might cause. Online marketing gives many opportunities to have direct access to targeted markets, with the availability of numerous channels and sales platforms all focusing on a wide range of customer-based hideouts.
Direct customer feedback enables more development, increment of product or service potentials to break through market holds over time and create immunity to obstacles that might exist from the non-usage of online business platforms.
Opportunities for innovation: With current daily advancements in all producers' markets, prioritizations are important to business owners for efficient service satisfaction. This prompts more initiatives and innovations to outmatch potential competitors and avoid basic trade barriers.

In opposition to physical trade and customer engagement, where you need more forces or intellectual specialists when you have more demands or tasks greater than your capability, online selling offers scalability to maneuver obstacles during demand peaks and provides a rising strategy when demands go down the reel. With precise data obtained from customers, online sellers can estimate solutions to the needs of their organizations' growth.

Automation and chatbots also reduce the workforce needed and bring on a more simplified yet friendly interface for effective customer service representations and interactions with potential markets or customers. Around 40% of U.S.-based consumer respondents in a survey in 2019 stated that they had used chatbots to engage in businesses, and they have a more satisfying user experience.

Most B2B manufacturers need profound strategies to cut down production costs and bring about positive commendable increments in ROI. Online selling helps to organize sales management effectively with less stress and makes provision for reduced workforces, thereby offering solutions to the needs mentioned above. Automation, AI, and other sections of online selling enable customer service fulfillment with ease, and time procurements on activities will be optimized.

In 2020, over two billion people purchased goods or services online worldwide, and the U.S. had an ecommerce penetration rate of 77 percent in the same year. With this level of online business growth, there is a wide range of digital possibilities for B2B manufacturers if publications and advertisements are based on the promotion.

Brand recognition and awareness mainly evolve from more active buyers leaving good reviews about your services and search engines optimization system suggestions of your brand to a larger crowd of potential customers who search keywords related to your brand.
This can also be achieved by initiating precise audience targeting, showcases of your brand uniqueness, and a more coordinated connection through social media to network your brand to more buyers.

eCommerce provides an opportunity to figure out sales managerial issues. With access to customer info and data, the suggestion of effective in-depth digital strategies can be utilized to boost sales conversion rate and lead generations. 

Analytics also help personalized customer recommendations, innovations and upgrades suggestions, and relevant sales precautions to build more accountability and strength in a B2B organization. In the setup of online stores or channels, there is a need to activate analytics, search engine optimization, and digital feedback generators. These serve as key performance indicators (KPIs) and are of tangible use for productive insights and survival guidance in your targeted market.

As a B2B manufacturer, you can make provision for channels that enable your customers to configure, customize and discuss their wishes, requirements, or recommendation for the product or service which you will offer, without direct physical meetings or time wastage. Your role in administering effective sales experience to your buyers is to optimize your store to make sure they have no choice but to come for your brand or organization.

• Investigating products that are a bit complex (61%).
• Getting some information about unusual prices (61%).
• Asking about some unclear terms (58%).

Your company should provide your customer with valuable data to guide them while trading. According to records, clients who are given data to assist them while making their purchase are liable to end the purchase on a more remarkable note.
Subsequently, ensure that all project supervisors:

• Have profound qualifications and industry information. Put resources into preparing and upskilling if important.
• Are well-acquainted with the purchase cycles in your industry.
• Were given sufficient helping sales material.
• Can counter your opposition's upper hand in the general market.
• Have a continuous view of clients' purchase history.
• Can access progressive information on stock levels and distinctively estimate prices.
• Are satisfied with providing pre-sales/after-sales support across channels (online store, social media, and so on)

Considering that all-around 76% of B2B clients get modified offers, you shouldn't hold back on customizing your customer's list as well.

You can do that in more ways than one:

• Set up an on-location test-styled survey that would assist clients with making decisions.
• Make an Amazon-style online product description that will aid product orientation.

Maintenance, examination, and repair are perhaps the most frequent problems for assembling a business. A slight delay in fixing a faulty part can cause an unhealthy downtime and ensuing creation delays.

The big help of present-day business solutions is their capacity to serve as a solitary wellspring of truth. They can serve as a portal, merging information from various retail locations and showing clients where and when they can purchase their goods and services.

Likewise, the current advances in tech and network permit online marketers to configure stock administration systems dependent on availability. Utilizing prescient calculations, you use data to estimate when certain parts are expected for substitution. In light of that, you can impress your clients with the prompt supply by guessing the re-ordering period.

The current price, product information, and process within a single interface.

• Address normal client inquiries with accommodating pop-ups and links to manuals to diminish the volume of help requests.
• Enable your buyers to gather completely customized products that are not available from other merchants.

Superb CX is a significant attractor for present-day B2B clients. To catch a greater audience, focus on the following 4 steps when assembling your online business store.

• Research the intensity of the online competition.
• Dissect the shopping experience they offer their customers.
• Decide the needed sales/marketing channels for your image.
• Dissect the standard deals cycles in your industry.
• Recognize the critical stages in the client lifecycle.
• Map the critical stages in the business cycle.
• Layout the primary trouble spots your target customers encounter at each stage.
• Conceptualize ways for easing these through advanced methods.
• Then, at that point, get to the virtual planning phase and begin planning how clients will navigate through your site. It's great to have a UX/UI creator now. It's best to imagine how a potential buyer will move from the landing page to the shopping page — and figure out what could assist them with advancing quicker.

• Available for instant ordering.
• Sold face to face by the use of sales reps.

For the main product class, you can make a B2C-like shopping experience online that incorporates:

• Online product postings.
• Simple surfing and search.
• Visible price tags.
• Point by point product description.
• Alluring photographs or potentially 3D models.

It is noteworthy that some clients will want to be addressed by an agent before buying on the web. So make solid plans to have the right hands that serve as your store agent.  They help online request handling, just as custom statements and huge volume bargain exchanges.

You may require an internet business advancement partner available to work to assist with minor site upgrades, investigating, and new augmentations. However, If you decide on a B2B online business stage like Virto Commerce, a large portion of the specialized site support work is performed by the platform.

B2B manufacturers are always on the lookout for new solutions to increase their customer base and sales. In order to stay ahead of the curve, B2B ecommerce platforms need to provide their customers from the manufacturing industry with the latest technology and trends. B2B ecommerce platforms that enable their customers to connect with other businesses and purchase products online are the most successful. 

We at Virto Commerce are excited to be included in the G2 rankings in April 2022 because our B2B ecommerce platform allows manufacturers to engage with other businesses and purchase products online. 

The fact that rankings on G2 reports are based on multi-criteria surveys, which are rooted in vetted, verified, and authentic reviews, attests to the overall success of Virto Commerce's B2B platform. By including Virto Commerce in the G2 rankings, manufacturers now have an industry-respected, independent review about Virto’s B2B platform, which will help us increase our customer base and sales.

Therefore, in order to compile an overview of the best ecommerce platforms for manufacturers for this post, the platforms with high ratings in G2 were listed for this section:

1. Virto Commerce

2. Shopify Plus

3. Sana Commerce

4. GOb2b eCommerce

5. Acenda

6. Salesforce Commerce Cloud

7. Magento

8. BigCommerce

9. CommerceTools

10. Elastic Path

The platform's technological excellence has elevated Virto Commerce to the leading position in ecommerce platforms for manufacturer portals and manufacturer marketplaces in today’s software market. Featuring nearly every hot new trend you read about, Virto Commerce is built on top-notch technology that will help your business grow with a rich, evolving customer experience and more.

Infinite adaptability and replatforming are the future of ecommerce software. Accordingly, the Virto Commerce platform is headless, composable, and built to last a long time from initial implementation in manufacturing companies. Easy real-time integration with ERPs, CRMs, CMSs, PIMs, loyalty systems, and other back-office and third-party applications allows you to create a multifunctional ecommerce software ecosystem to support your online sales.

Virto Commerce is the best when it comes to managing large volumes of SKUs and providing clear product catalogs with unlimited products. The Virto platform integration capabilities maximize your opportunities as a manufacturer in content marketing, SEO, and promotions for your online store and marketplace. With an excellent order processing performance—thanks to the Virto FastOrder module, which handles 100+ orders per second—placed onto your website, you won't have any concerns about being overwhelmed by customer demand.

Additionally, Virto Commerce’s professional service team is always online to help you learn more about how to take your manufacturing business online, whether for a branded online store, a B2B marketplace build, or both.

A popular ecommerce platform, Shopify Plus offers capabilities for both small businesses and enterprise-grade organizations. Shopify Plus is a powerful platform designed to support huge businesses with enterprise-level needs. As such, the pricing plans for Shopify Plus start at $2,000 per month. For high-volume businesses, there is a variable fee option available. Overall, this ecommerce platform is known within the trade and manufacturing industry for its affordability and versatility.

Shopify Plus deserves consideration as an ecommerce solution by manufacturers looking for an affordable, versatile platform to support their business as it grows. With nearly unlimited products and categories, a customizable checkout process, and advanced reporting capabilities, Shopify Plus has the tools you need to run your manufacturing business smoothly and efficiently.

Sana Commerce is the ecommerce solution for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers who want to build lasting relationships with their customers. Sana Commerce Cloud eliminates system silos, unnecessary complexities, and compromises caused by mainstream ecommerce solutions. This unlocks three key benefits that enable you to offer a convenient total customer experience:

• Personalized self-service – Give your customers the ability to view their account details, place orders, and track shipments, all in one place.
• Streamlined order management – From quotation to invoicing, the Sana Commerce Cloud platform streamlines your order management process so you can focus on building relationships with your customers.
• Improved customer service – With all your customer data in one place, you can provide a higher level of customer service, improving loyalty and growing your business.

EcoEnclose. EcoEnclose produces and sells easy packaging solutions for many enterprises and goods. Their business site has a B2C-like shopping experience with the capacity to pick eco-packaging by industry, use, or type.

Clarion Safety Systems. Clarion Safety Systems produces wellbeing signs, labels, and tags. Aside from selling their items on the web, they additionally give a scope of additional administrations, for example, signage hazard assessment, translation services, and customizations.

Manufacturing pioneers are in a puzzling position today. They can stay with the old method of getting things done and depend on third parties. For how long will such a model stay feasible? That is an intense inquiry thinking about the fast speed of digitization across business sectors. Or they can easily set up online shopping systems that improve their business and ensure more profitability.