This white paper discusses the need for B2B companies to modernize their ecommerce approach. It notes that traditional sites just putting an online storefront atop legacy systems is insufficient. Instead, companies must view their ecommerce sites as a sales team requiring significant commitment. The paper then identifies common issues as content, platform limitations, integration challenges, and lack of agility. It introduces AlphaZeta's proposed solution - the B2B Ecommerce Ecosystem, an integrated approach combining marketing, customer support and personalized content. This ecosystem aims to segment audiences, deliver tailored messaging across channels, and provide analytics to optimize engagement and sales.

1. ALPHAZETA INTERACTIVE WHITE PAPER SERIES
B2B
ECOMMERCE
ECOSYSTEM
B2B Building Blocks For eCommerce Success
By: Tom Font, AlphaZeta Interactive

2. B2B eCommerce is coming of age
Any company that wants to improve its B2B eCommerce performance, whether by
deepening existing customer relationships, building new relationships, or by lowering
the cost of servicing existing customers, need to adapt to this new reality.

3. The traditional approach to building a B2B
eCommerce site has to change.
It’s no longer enough simply to build an online extension of a legacy ERP
system, slap a logo on top, and call it an eCommerce site. Rather, it is time
for companies to start seeing their B2B eCommerce sites as what they are:
the highest-producing members of the sales team. And, as such, they need
the same commitment and investment any successful business would give to
their sales force.

4. We have identified four primary
reasons for this difficulty:
•
Content
•
Platform
•
Integration
•
Agility
When an eCommerce site cannot resolve these four crucial issues, the
results can be disastrous: wasted marketing efforts, increased
administrative and maintenance costs, dissatisfied customers, and lost
revenue.

5. AlphaZeta has the solution
We call it the B2B eCommerce Ecosystem, an integrated, holistic approach
to eCommerce that integrates marketing, customer support, and
personalized content.

6. How the B2B eCommerce Ecosystem works
The B2B eCommerce Ecosystem works by segmenting and targeting
audience members, then delivering personalized content in the channels,
and on the devices, chosen by that audience. The Ecosystem then provides
measurement for you across all of the different audience touch points to
optimize your content, improve engagement, increase the number of inbound
leads, and develop more profitable relationships with your customers.

7. The B2B marketing Ecosystem enables
marketers to:
MANAGE CONTENT AND
PUBLISH WIDELY
IDENTIFY VISITORS AND
PERSONALIZE
GATHER DATA AND
SCORE LEADS
ENHANCE AUDIENCE
PROFILES
Manage content in the
CMS, then reuse it for
specific devices and in
multiple channels,
including web, mobile and
social media.
By utilizing tools for IP
address look-up, your web
site can deliver relevant,
personalized content from
the very first visit.
Marketing automation
enables behavioral data
tracking and lead scoring,
sending the most qualified
prospects to the sales
team.
Entice your customers
with relevant content
downloads and increase
your knowledge about
them at the same time.
CROSS-SELL WITH
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
BUILD A CONNECTED
COMMUNITY
PERSONALIZE THE
ORDER AND REORDER
Use previously gathered
information to refine your
campaigns and promote
content about additional
products and services.
Market using social
channels and build a
strong social community
to create evangelists for
your brand.
Take what we know about
our customers, their
previous purchases and
contracted prices to
optimize their average
order value and order
frequency.

8. Thank You
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Tom Font
Vice President, Business Development
tfont@alphazeta.com
(312) 263-7028, ext 230
www.alphazeta.com