B2B Ecommerce Challenges by Tracey Drain, INVOPAK

1. B2B Ecommerce Challenges
…and out-of-box solutions that solve them.
Tracey Drain
Digital Marketing Manager
@karate_barbie linkedin.com/in/traceydrain/

2. Invopak Sales Model
• Employ a salesperson
• Give them a VW Golf
• Give them product samples
• Give them an order pad
• Send them off door knocking
round industrial estates

3. Catalyst for Change
• Existing customers are time-poor
• Days of ‘Deals done on the Golf
Course’ are dying out – BUT people
still buy people in this industry
• Increase in out-of-hours calls and
emails
• Lack of new business opportunities
due to poor online presence
• Amazon Business B2B Marketplace
• High support costs in sales and
customer service
Do not send a f***ing kid
in a BMW, I don’t have
time…I just want a quote!

4. Aligning Ecommerce with Existing Sales
Model.
• B2B Customers create shopping lists/wish lists of suitable products
and ask for quotes on them all.
• Bespoke pricing depends on size of opportunity
• Long term business relationships rather than one-off purchases
• Lead generation rather than traditional ecommerce for prospects
• Ecommerce/online ordering for convenience of existing customers

5. Solution: Cart2Quote
• Turns Magento into a Quotation
Management system
• Allows prospects and customers to
request prices for products from
frontend
• Sales Reps can respond to RFQ in
backend with proposal.
• Sales Reps can raise price
proposals directly from backend.
• Prospects can convert quotes to an
order from frontend

6. Deciding NOT to display prices.
• New business pricing fluctuates based on raw materials, such as
tinplate and polymer.
• Competitor threat.
• Pricing is unique to each prospect – market trader mentality.
• Long standing customers paying higher prices.

7. Solution: Not2Order
• Hides prices at product level.
• Prices can be hidden from
logged out customers or specific
customer groups.
• Can disable add to cart button
for logged out or specific
customer groups.
• Controlled by store owner in
Magento admin.

8. Bespoke Products for Selected Customers
• Custom printed items is a
lucrative element of out
business
• These products can only be
purchased by the individual
customer and all have their own
SKU
• We do not want these visible to
general public or competitors.
Solution: Aheadworks Catalog
Permissions

9. Bespoke Pricing
• Every customer has a negotiated
unique price for products.
• Once price is agreed, they place
re-orders based on agreed price
• In addition to unique price, they
have tiered pricing
Solution: Customer Group per Customer
with Tier Price

10. Order via Part Number or Product Code
• Ordering via part number or
product code is common
practice in B2B
• Many customers have their own
part numbers for our products in
their supply chain
• Many customers have their own
names for our products which
makes search by part number
more common
Solution: Searchable SKU Product
Attribute

11. Ordering in Wholesale Quantities
• Customers can only purchase in
pack or pallet quantities.
• Splitting packs of food-grade
storage containers makes
remaining products in a pack
unsellable due to contamination
risk.
Solution: Quantity Increments

12. Credit Limits and On Stop Accounts
• Customers over their credit limit
or with accounts on stop, would
use the old online ordering site
to bypass colleagues and get
goods delivered.
Solution: Customer Activation

13. Data Sheets and Compliance Certificates
• B2B buyers need access to
technical data sheets in order to
make purchasing decisions.
• Existing customers need access
to product related compliance
documentation in the event that
they are audited or have an
inspection from Food Standards
Agency.
Solution: Amasty Product Attachments

14. Enhanced Delivery Options
• We have our own fleet of 14
delivery trucks
• Calls regarding delivery
expectations are the biggest
stress on Customer Service
resource
• B2B requires additional
information such as premises
access issues and booking-in
procedures.
Solution: Amasty Delivery Date

15. The Benefits
• 4 weeks post launch: 12 new business
opportunities of which 4 were
immediately converted into sales
• 77 Customer Account Registrations –
Only 150 users from 2011 to 2017
• Reduction in Customer Service issues
• Happier staff - UK and European
Employee Engagement Award Winner
• Feefo Trusted Service Award, E3
Customer Service Award and Pride of
Tameside Large Business of the Year
• Cost savings from order processing
efficiency

16. Thanks for Listening!
Tracey Drain
Digital Marketing Manager
@karate_barbie linkedin.com/in/traceydrain/