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B2B Ecommerce: Design Principles and Best Practices to Boost Sales
The document outlines principles for designing B2B e-commerce sites with a focus on integrating commercial strategies and user experience to enhance sales. Key topics include understanding customer needs, developing effective online marketing strategies, and simplifying user interactions to facilitate transactions. It highlights the importance of preparing a site based on user analysis and deconstructing existing sales and customer service processes.
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B2B Ecommerce: Design Principles and Best Practices to Boost Sales
- 1. June 12, 2014 SmartB2B Design: Strategy and Experience Principles that Boost Sales Girisha Chandraraj Alex Schmelkin
- 2. Hi, I’m Alex Founder,CEO Founded 2002 Independent Manhattan Transactional Expertise IMA Top 10 Agency End-to-end Ecommerce Design & Development Hi, I’m Girisha Head of Digital At United since 2013 Former Management Consultant Chicago B2B/B2C Digital and Commercial Strategy Fortune 500 Leading Wholesaler of Business Essentials Office, Janitorial, and Industrial Supplies
- 3. Preparing for B2BSite Design B2B Experience Principles Today’s Topics
- 4. Preparing for B2B SiteDesign
- 5. Before site design comescommercial strategy
- 6. Site strategy isa function of your commercial strategyDrivingAwareness Driving Commerce/Transactions Businesses that strictly sell to resellers ! Examples: Distributors (United Stationers, Broder Bros, Alphashirt) Businesses that sell to businesses and consumers ! Examples: Amazon, Staples Businesses that provide services to other businesses ! Examples: Consulting firms, Agencies, Law Firms Businesses that sell to businesses that then sell to consumers ! Examples: Manufacturers (MSA, Stihl), Distributors (Audi USA) YesNo Yes No
- 7. DrivingAwareness Driving Commerce/Transactions Businesses thatstrictly sell to resellers ! Examples: Distributors (United Stationers, Broder Bros, Alphashirt) Businesses that sell to businesses and consumers ! Examples: Amazon, Staples Businesses that provide services to other businesses ! Examples: Consulting firms, Agencies, Law Firms Businesses that sell to businesses that then sell to consumers ! Examples: Manufacturers (MSA, Stihl), Distributors (Audi USA) YesNo Yes NoComplex B2B transactions (quotes, holds, on account ordering, split shipments, etc.) Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy
- 8. DrivingAwareness Driving Commerce/Transactions Businesses thatstrictly sell to resellers ! Examples: Distributors (United Stationers, Broder Bros, Alphashirt) Businesses that sell to businesses and consumers ! Examples: Amazon, Staples Businesses that provide services to other businesses ! Examples: Consulting firms, Agencies, Law Firms Businesses that sell to businesses that then sell to consumers ! Examples: Manufacturers (MSA, Stihl), Distributors (Audi USA) YesNo Yes NoProduct information for businesses or consumers, lead generation for businesses Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy
- 9. DrivingAwareness Driving Commerce/Transactions Businesses thatstrictly sell to resellers ! Examples: Distributors (United Stationers, Broder Bros, Alphashirt) Businesses that sell to businesses and consumers ! Examples: Amazon, Staples Businesses that provide services to other businesses ! Examples: Consulting firms, Agencies, Law Firms Businesses that sell to businesses that then sell to consumers ! Examples: Manufacturers (MSA, Stihl), Distributors (Audi USA) YesNo Yes No B2C in B2B drag Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy
- 10. DrivingAwareness Driving Commerce/Transactions Businesses thatstrictly sell to resellers ! Examples: Distributors (United Stationers, Broder Bros, Alphashirt) Businesses that sell to businesses and consumers ! Examples: Amazon, Staples Businesses that provide services to other businesses ! Examples: Consulting firms, Agencies, Law Firms Businesses that sell to businesses that then sell to consumers ! Examples: Manufacturers (MSA, Stihl), Distributors (Audi USA) YesNo Yes No Intellectual property, lead generation Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy
- 11. Process to preparebefore designing a site 6. Determine appropriate metrics 5. Plan your site experience 4. Prepare for Pricing 3. Determine your online marketing strategy 2. Deconstruct your customer service process 1. Deconstruct your sales process
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- 13. Source: UPS purchasinginsights study In the industrial space Survey of 1,500 - 63% purchase from their suppliers website and over 2/3 prefer going to their supplier website for information The importance of a commercial site
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- 15. Importance of triggersin procurement Visual Search Category No Promotional Banner Featured Products Window Limited Assortment Featured Products Window
- 16. Informational content todrive awareness
- 17. 50% of alltools utilized by marketers to generate leads are derived from the company’s website The importance of digital tools to generate leads Source: IDG Enterprise 2013 Survey
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- 19. • Multiple DCs •Inventory Holds • Bulk ordering • Bulk Pricing / Quotes • Drop Shipments • Split Shipments • On account vs. Credit card • Returns • Previous orders / frequent orders / subscriptions B2B Complexities - transactional sites
- 20.
- 21. 57% of allB2B buying decisions are made before a person ever contacts a company’s sales force The importance of a B2B Informational site Source: Half a bubble Out
- 22. Marketing budgets atB2B companies expected to rise by 6% in 2014 The importance of the site to drive traffic Source: Forrester and BMA
- 23. 1.How will trafficbe generated for your site? 2.Is your salesforce responsible for customer acquisition? Lead Generation? 3.How much can you afford in digital marketing? 4.Will your site be “open” or “closed” and how will that effect the experience? 5.Is your site aimed at conversion or information? Acquisition Related Questions 1.How will you use your digital tools to drive customers back to your site? 2.How can you drive assortment awareness through a procurement mindset? 3.How will customers respond to traditional site promotions? 4.Will customers using smartphones require different functionality? 5.What content is required beyond product details to keep customers coming back? Retention Related Questions Determine the role of the site
- 24.
- 25. DrivingAwareness Driving Commerce/Transactions Price differentiationbased on preferences, customer size, channel rules, etc. Price Transparency Establishing the value prior to the manual sales/ biz dev process Focusing on retail/list pricing, MAP YesNo Yes No Price Transparency vs. Price Opaqueness
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- 28. Where are B2B ecommercesites spending money in 2014?
- 30. B2B Experience Principles 5.Test & Iterate4. Service Sells 3. It’s All in the Details2. Keep it Simple: Products & Prices 1. Know Your User
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- 32. B2B Users ArePeople Too!
- 33. But even ifthey are a scary dinosaur…
- 34. Learn everything youcan about them. They’re your customer. Commercial analysis Formal personas Mental models User journeys Hire an Agency Surveys 1:1 sessions Pilot group Customer council Do-it-yourself
- 35. Involve users asyou design and build Think Check Make Gather requirements and invent Design the experience in the browser Validate with users
- 37. DROP YOUR SCREEN RIGHTUP IN HERE
- 38.
- 40. Only 5 Participantsare needed.
- 41.
- 42. Prioritize for yourusers.
- 43. Prioritize for yourusers.
- 44. Keep it Simple: Products& Prices
- 45. Fast access to productsand pricing Priority #1
- 48. • search sahoy •asdfhkjhasd • asdfjkhasdf • adsjfh’ Promintne tseach
- 52. Prominent & predictivesearch
- 53. Show exactly whatyou sell in your nav! ? ? ?
- 54.
- 55.
- 56. It’s all inthe Details
- 57.
- 59. Invest in 360sfor key products
- 60.
- 61. Invest in specsand manuals
- 62. Show availability andshipping speed
- 63. • Auto-Forwarding Carousels andAccordions Annoy Users and Reduce Visibility • Reason #1: Human eye reacts to movement (and will miss the important stuff) • Reason #2: Too many messages equals no message • Reason #3: Banner blindness Homepage rotators don’t work Source: JAKOB NIELSEN, Auto-Forwarding Carousels and Accordions Annoy Users and Reduce Visibility
- 64. Create a consistentsystem to establish familiarity and remove the need to relearn things
- 67.
- 68. Payment and orderoptions.
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- 77.
- 89.
- 90.
- 91. Monday–launch a promotion Tuesday–monitor& test Wednesday–deploy site-wide Act like a retailer:
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- 95.
- 96.
- 97. What type ofB2B business are you? Deconstruct your processes Know your user #1 Priority is finding products Service sells Key Takeaways:
- 98. and if youthink you can wait…
- 99. Thank you! United Stationers Headof Digital GChandraraj@ussco.com Girisha Chandraraj Alexander Interactive (Ai) Founder, CEO as@alexanderinteractive.com Alex Schmelkin Come visit us at booth #2116 We’re hiring! We’re hiring!