5 benefits of having a unified B2C and B2B website
More and more companies are selling products simultaneously in the B2B and B2C channels to increase sales and their market shares. Companies that produce goods or sell it in larger quantities can benefit from economies of scale and generate huge margins sold directly to consumers, not just to companies with a wholesale discount.
UNIVERSALITY OF B2C AND B2B SITES
One of the most obvious sales examples for both companies and consumers is the producer. They usually can not sell enough products directly to the consumer to cover all sales and rely on B2B sales. However, the benefit of the profit margin of cutting the broker with direct sales to the consumer is far too high to ignore.
Traditionally, many companies have divided their websites into B2B and B2C channels, which was to simplify operations due to the differences in these two sales channels. Amazon has even done it with another wholesale URL. Ultimately, the site was closed, and the B2B channel integrated with the flagship Amazon.com, now both companies and consumers make purchases on the same site. Why did the company decide on this type of change? The adoption of this decision by the largest e-commerce company in the world cannot be ignored.
Based on the experience of companies that have had one site or many sites, here are some of the key benefits of having one unified B2B and B2C website:
1. UNIVERSAL MANAGEMENT OF CATALOGS
One site allows you to manage all products in one unified database. You can turn some products on or off for some B2B or B2C users or clients, but it’s a lot easier than managing multiple directories.
2. LESS TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
There is only one code to maintain. It’s much easier to manage one page than two. There may be additional personalization, but overall it’s less work than maintaining and changing two stores.
3. ONE SITE AND BRAND FOR PROMOTION
This is the most crucial factor. You only have one site for customers to remember, one brand to promote, and no doubt as to where to go. This is a significant convenience for marketing and website promotion.
4. POTENTIALLY SIMPLE OPERATIONS
I am speaking here potentially because sometimes there is a lot of technical work to make one site work for both B2B and B2C. However, it is usually easier to start after running. This is because on one page there is only one place to integrate with systems such as ERP, CRM and others. Therefore, you can maintain single integrations and systems instead of running multiple websites that may require separate integration.
5. BUSINESS BUYERS WANT TO BUY AS THE CONSUMERS
As a company, we want to buy quickly, efficiently and at a good price. Time is the most important resource of the employee, and no company wants to waste it on buying the product. We do not want to waste time traveling to the store or talking on the phone if it can be avoided without harming the business. Therefore, having experience that allows us to search, get to know the product and buy quickly, just like a consumer, is usually desirable.
Having one page for both B2B and B2C makes it easier to offer consumers a better shopping experience. Often, you only need to apply additional B2B personalization, such as better prices, paying for invoices and other B2B options.
MOVING FASTER THAN COMPETITION
Something must be at stake when some of the largest eCommerce companies in the world recognize benefits and go forward using only one site. I do not think that companies could ignore such significant operational benefits. It can greatly simplify business and speed up operations in the eCommerce world.
