While eCommerce is a huge investment for a B2B company, it can return some very measurable benefits, such as increased profits, increased efficiency and customer loyalty. But did you realize there are additional benefits an eCommerce site can offer, ones that may not be as easy to measure, but that can still provide great value to your company.
Your eCommerce site is developed for your customers, right? Its goal is to provide a better experience for them so they can search for and purchase products from you easily and often. If your site is designed well and offers the technology and functionality needed to create a great user experience, then why not have other users – your employees – take advantage of it, too? Consider how these job functions can reap the rewards of your eCommerce investment:
- Customer service– While many customer service representatives (CSRs) rely on their ERP system to look up a product, place an order or provide other services for a customer, many systems don’t offer a user-friendly interface. Your CSRs may find that working directly on your eCommerce site is an easier, more efficient and enjoyable alternative for them. And we all know that a happy CSR makes for a better customer experience.
- Sales reps– Because your site was designed to be easy to use, with valuable product information only a couple of clicks away, it can be a great go-to tool for your sales reps. They can pull up the site on their mobile tablet or phone to answer questions, suggest products and check inventory right on the spot. Gone are the days of sales reps dragging huge paper catalogs around on calls; their only “heavy lifting” should involve building strong customer relationships.
- Product managers– The analytics you can obtain from your eCommerce site give you valuable insight into how your buyers search for and purchase products, whether it’s through the search box, or by the pages they click through. Collecting search and order data gives your product managers the ability to make their products easier to find, and to create promotions and product bundling offerings that better suit customer needs.
Many times when a B2B company creates an eCommerce site, employees feel threatened it will eliminate their jobs. It’s important that your employees know that your eCommerce site was created to not only benefit your customers, but them as well. Encourage internal adoption of your site by showing employees it’s the best place for product information and ordering. Once they realize its value, you’ll see an even bigger return on your investment.