How to Choose an eCommerce Platform in 2022

Jun 20, 2022 • 10 min read

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Expanding your ecommerce store to overseas markets has its obvious advantages: you’ll reach a broader customer base, increase sales and revenue, and boost brand awareness across markets. However, cross-border ecommerce has its pitfalls. In this article, we’ll look at a few common challenges of multi-regional commerce and explain how to tackle them or avoid them altogether.

Why Your B2B eCommerce Platform Is Important
How to Choose Your B2B eCommerce Platform
Who Should Be the Decision-Maker When Choosing B2B eCommerce Platform
Factors to Think About Before Selecting a B2B eCommerce Platform
What B2B eCommerce Functionality Is Important?
Top B2B eCommerce Platforms in 2022
Conclusion
FAQs

Why Your B2B eCommerce Platform Is Important

Your ecommerce platform is the backbone of your online business. It's what allows you to take orders, process payments, and manage your inventory. In short, it's what makes your ecommerce business possible. That's why it's so important to choose the right B2B platform for your needs. The wrong platform can make it difficult to do business, while the right one can help you thrive.

How to Choose Your B2B eCommerce Platform

There are a few key factors you'll need to consider when choosing your ecommerce platform. Here are the most important ones:

Functionality: What do you need your ecommerce platform to do? Make sure the platform you choose has all the features and functionality you need.
Integrations: Does the platform integrate with the other software you use? If not, it could make doing business difficult.
Customer experience: How easy is it for customers to use your ecommerce platform? The easier it is, the more likely they are to buy from you.
Security: Is your ecommerce site secure? Make sure the platform you choose offers SSL encryption and other security features to keep your customers' information safe.
Cost: How much does the platform cost? Make sure you consider both the upfront cost and the recurring costs of using the B2B platform.

These are only a handful of the variables to consider while choosing a B2B ecommerce platform. Make sure you do your research and make an informed decision - it's crucial for your company's success.

Key factors to choosing b2b ecommerce platform

Who Should Be the Decision-Maker When Choosing B2B eCommerce Platform

The decision-maker when choosing the B2B ecommerce platform should not be a single person, it should rather be a team effort. It's important to get input from all stakeholders, including IT, marketing, sales, and operations. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page and a B2B solution can be successfully implemented company-wide.

Factors to Think About Before Selecting a B2B eCommerce Platform

There are many factors to think about when selecting a B2B ecommerce platform. Here are some key questions to keep in mind:

What business processes will the platform need to support?
How much customization do you need?
What is your budget?
What are your IT capabilities?

Let's take a closer look at the most important ones.

Key factors to choose ecommerce platform

Customer and employee experience of the platform

It is crucial that the B2B platform you choose offers a great customer experience. If it's difficult for customers to use, they'll simply go elsewhere. Make sure the platform you're considering is easy to use and navigate. Also, consider how employees will interact with the B2B solution. Will they need training? How much support will they need? This will determine how easy it is to implement the platform company-wide.

Adaptability of the B2B platform

The platform you choose should be adaptable to your company's changing needs. As your business grows, you'll need a B2B solution that can scale with you. Otherwise, you'll simply outgrow the platform and will have to start from scratch. You won't be able to deliver the immaculate user experience that emerges at a speed of sound. Unfortunately, this can get you in a trap of constant replatforming.

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Business capabilities of the B2B ecommerce platform

What sort of software do you want to use? The B2B ecommerce solution you select should be able to handle all of your company procedures. This includes things like managing inventory, processing orders, and many others, namely:

Corporate account management
Warranty support
Personalized customer experience
Account-based pricing
Invoicing
Personalized merchandising
Personalized catalog
Order management
B2B order drafts & checkout
Infinite integration possibilities

Business capabilities of the b2b ecommerce platform

Cost of the platform

The cost of the platform is an important consideration, but it shouldn't be the only one. Make sure you consider both the upfront cost and the recurring costs of using the platform. Also, keep in mind that a more expensive B2B platform doesn't necessarily mean it's the best one for your company. Choose a platform that offers the B2B features and functionality you need at a price you can afford. Do not forget to keep in mind the cost of innovations!

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Integrations

The platform you choose should be able to integrate with the other software you use. This includes things like your accounting software, CRM, and ERP. Without these integrations, you'll have to enter data manually, which is time-consuming, error-prone, and simply outdated.

Security

Make sure the B2B solution you choose is secure. This includes things like data encryption and fraud prevention. Also, consider how easy it is to recover from a security breach. The last thing you want is to have your customer's personal information compromised.

Deployment on a hosting

You should have the option to deploy the B2B platform on-premise or in the cloud. On-premise deployment gives you more control over your data, but it's also more expensive and requires more IT support. Cloud deployment is less expensive and easier to set up, but you'll have less control over your data.

What B2B eCommerce Functionality Is Important?

The platform you choose should have the features and functionality you need to run your B2B enterprise.

Key B2B features to consider

In addition to the business capabilities listed above, the following can be added:

Quotations
Order management
Content management
Customer accounts
Batch ordering
Returns management
Shipping management
Scalability, adaptability
Mobile responsiveness

The importance of CX in B2B

In B2B, the customer experience is just as important as in B2C. In fact, it might be even more important. After all, B2B customers are usually businesses themselves, so they expect a professional, streamlined experience that meets their needs.

So what are the components of the smooth CX for B2B clients?

Seamless omnichannel experiences
High level of personalization
A focus on the entire customer journey, not just on individual touchpoints
An engaging and informative self-service portal
Continuous improvement. Anticipation of customer requirements!

Components of the smooth cx for b2b clients

Top B2B eCommerce Platforms in 2022

If you're looking for a B2B ecommerce platform, there are many options to choose from. Here we will look at the top B2B ecommerce sites and compare the best platforms.

Examples of B2B ecommerce sites

Virto Commerce

Virto Commerce is a powerful, scalable, headless B2B ecommerce platform. It offers a wide range of features and functionality, including corporate account management, warranty support, personalized customer experience, account-based pricing, invoicing, order management, third-party integrations and much more. Virto Commerce is a cloud-based B2B ecommerce solution that allows superior extensibility to build other modules on top of the existing solution.

Magento

Magento is a widely used, open-source B2B ecommerce platform for enterprises. Open-source code allows for enormous versatility owing to its modular nature. Customizability with Magento's agile features, extensions, and plugins lets you add functionality to your website in a flexible way.

SAP Commerce

SAP Commerce Cloud is a BaaS (Business as a Service) ecommerce platform that offers all the features and functionality you need to build a successful online store, including order management, customer segmentation, personalized product recommendations, account-based pricing, and much more.

Elastic Path

The Coretex API technology enables the Elastic Path platform to provide consistent transaction data that may be delivered in real-time to all of your customer channels. Advanced features such as tailored marketing, product information management, and a native website builder are included.

Salesforce

Premium features that set it apart from other platforms include channel management and multi-store management in Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Another benefit of this technology is that it's a SaaS platform, so you won't have to worry about maintaining the infrastructure. This software is a simple and straightforward tool with exceptional customer service and a lively community.

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B2B eCommerce Platform Comparison

Now that you know what to look for in a B2B ecommerce platform, it's time to compare some of the top contenders. Here's a table with an overview of each platform, including their key features and pricing:

	Virto Commerce	SAP Commerce	Salesforce	Magento	Elastic Path
License cost	$20k-$100k	$200K-1M	$450k-$700k	$120K-$500K	$22k-$400k
Time to market	Quick	Longest	Quick	Longest	Average
Average implementation cost	$250K	$800K	$400K	$800K	$400K
Easy to modify	Yes	No	No	No	No
Cloud strategy	Strong	Monolythic app	Good	Monolythic app	Monolythic app
New capabilities release cycle	Short	Long	Long	Long	Moderate
Affordable extensibility	Strong	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor
Out-of-the-box B2B capabilities	Strong	Strong	Improving	Weak	Weak

Conclusion

When choosing a B2B ecommerce platform, there are many factors to consider, such as the features and functionality offered, the pricing model, the quality of tech support & customer experience, cost of innovations. We hope this guide has helped you narrow down the options and find the right platform for your business.

FAQs

What is the difference between a B2B ecommerce platform and a B2C ecommerce platform?

The main difference between B2B ecommerce platforms and B2C ecommerce platforms is the functionality and features offered. B2B ecommerce platforms typically offer more robust functionality, such as corporate account management, warranty support, personalized customer experience, account-based pricing, invoicing, order management, and third-party integrations. B2C ecommerce platforms, on the other hand, tend to be more focused on providing a simple and easy-to-use shopping experience for consumers.

What is the difference between a B2B ecommerce platform and a B2B marketplace?

A B2B ecommerce platform offers a wide range of features and functionality for businesses to build their own online store, whereas a Bb marketplace is an online platform that enables businesses to sell their products and services to other businesses

Which factors should I consider when choosing a B2B ecommerce platform?

When choosing a B2B ecommerce platform, you should consider the features and functionality offered, the pricing model, the quality of tech support & customer experience, cost of innovations.

Which platform is the best for B2B ecommerce?

The best platform for B2B ecommerce will vary depending on the specific needs of your business. However, some of the top platforms include Virto Commerce, Elastic Path, SAP Commerce, Salesforce, Oro Commerce, Spryker, Mirakl, Magento.

Which B2B ecommerce platform is best for my business?

The best B2B ecommerce platform for your business will depend on a number of factors, such as the size of your business, your budget, your tech requirements, tech skills, and more. Contact our sales and see how Virto Commerce Platform can help your business thrive!

How much does a B2B ecommerce platform cost?

The cost of a B2B ecommerce platform will vary depending on the provider you choose and the features and functionality you require. Generally speaking, subscription-based pricing models start at $499/month.

How to deploy a B2B ecommerce platform?

The deployment of a B2B ecommerce platform will vary depending on the provider you choose. Some providers offer cloud-based solutions that can be quickly deployed, while others require more complex on-premise installations.

What are some common features of B2B ecommerce platforms?

Common features of B2B ecommerce platforms include order management, customer segmentation, account-based pricing, personalized product recommendations, warranty support, and invoicing.