It’s Time to Expand What Your B2B Ecommerce Platform Can Do

B2B ecommerce is far more than a digital storefront. In today’s digital world, business buyers expect fast, intuitive experiences that mirror the relationships they have offline – complete with transparent billing, negotiated pricing and immediate access to support.

To meet expectations and reduce operational friction, your ecommerce platform must deliver secure self-service across the full customer lifecycle: purchasing, billing and service. NetSuite helps organisations modernise their B2B experience by automating and accelerating billing, simplifying support and making online buying effortless – enhancing essential capabilities to help you scale with confidence.

B2B Ecommerce that Goes Beyond Purchasing

A successful B2B commerce strategy requires far more than a polished storefront. Business buyers expect digital experiences that streamline their workday, help them purchase quickly and give them control over their account. A modern B2B ecommerce platform therefore needs to go well beyond a shopping basket. It should provide secure, self-service tools that allow customers to manage the full scope of their relationship with a supplier.

To meet these expectations, ensure your B2B ecommerce solution supports three essential areas of the buyer-supplier relationship: purchasing, billing, and customer support.

Make Online Purchasing Effortless

Going online can make the buying process easier – but customers still expect online channels to honour the same pricing, discounts and service levels they receive from sales reps. Unlike consumer buyers, B2B customers typically order in bulk and purchase the same items repeatedly. Your ecommerce platform must therefore replicate – and improve – traditional processes by supporting:

• Pricing, terms and credit limits: Deliver the same contract pricing, negotiated terms and credit arrangements that customers are accustomed to offline. Set tiered prices, volume breaks and channel-specific discounts as required. You can also restrict pricing visibility until customers log in.
• Product lists: Let buyers create personalised lists of frequently ordered or favourite products for fast repeat purchases. These lists should support ordering individual items or adding the full set to the basket in a single click for quick bulk orders.
• Quick order functionality: Enable buyers to reorder straight from past purchases or enter product SKUs to build a basket instantly.
• Quoting: Digitise the quote workflow. Allow customers to submit Requests for Quote online, enable internal teams to amend pricing where necessary and let buyers convert approved quotes directly into orders.
• Private sites: Restrict access or pricing visibility behind customer logins to protect confidential commercial information.

Automate and Accelerate Billing

Offering online account management allows customers to review balances, invoices and payment obligations without contacting your team. This not only frees internal resources but also demonstrates that you value buyers' time. A strong B2B ecommerce platform should support:

• Account visibility: Show consolidated views of outstanding balances, available credit, deposits and credit memos, including applicable payment terms.
• Invoice review and payments: Provide a straightforward interface for customers to view invoices and make partial or full payments against individual or multiple bills.
• Multiple B2B payment methods: Support common B2B payment options, including invoice billing, credit limits and ACH processing.

Make it Simple for Customers to Get Support

Customers expect rapid, self-service access to answers and your teams need tools that help them work efficiently. Enhance your B2B ecommerce website with support capabilities that improve satisfaction and reduce operational load:

• Returns: Allow customers to self-serve and initiate return authorisations online, reducing manual back-and-forth.
• Case management: Provide a structured way for customers to submit queries or issues directly to your support team, helping you resolve cases quickly and consistently.
• Order history: Offer complete visibility into past orders, including fulfilment details, invoices, shipping information and payment records. Make it easy to reorder previous items.
• Order status tracking: Embed tracking links so customers can follow their shipments without contacting support.

Deliver the Modern B2B Experience Buyers Expect

If your B2B site was launched several years ago, chances are it no longer reflects how buyers want to engage digitally. First- and second-generation ecommerce tools lack the agility needed to support today’s demand for personalised experiences, real-time account management and integrated self-service.

A unified, cloud-based B2B ecommerce platform gives organisations the flexibility to evolve quickly, and equips them to manage every stage of the customer lifecycle online.