Ways to increase your B2B e-Commerce conversions

Regardless of how many products you have available on your B2B eCommerce store and how appealing it looks, if you haven't properly optimised your website for a comfortable user journey or conversions, the likelihood is that you're not going to turn many of your visitors into paying clients.

Whether it's convincing your visitors to take the desired action, be it downloading content, filling in a contact form, or purchasing a product or service, a properly optimised site is imperative. Key, proven front end methods of increasing conversion include: -

• Having a mobile-friendly website - Ensuring the website works effectively, fully optimise and is visually pleasing across all mobile devices, as audiences are increasingly viewing websites on mobile phones, tablets and other devices.
• User experience - When designing a website keep this in mind. Factors like page speed, layout, imagery, relevant call-to-actions, ease of use, content and consistency all contribute to the user experience.
• Secure  connections and trust - Ensure your website has a secure connection is essential for building trust, and demonstrating to other businesses that it is safe to work with you.
• Employing a helpful live chat system - Increase conversions by answering prospects and customer queries instantly. Position yourself or team members so they can effectively help potential clients and give them the final reassurance and push the need to convert.

But what of the back end?

Behind the scenes, methods for improving conversions can be just as important, if less obvious, when it comes to encouraging purchase and improving retention. Here are some of the ideas that help improve e-Commerce conversions:

Inventory management

It's great having a website which suggests you sell all the products under the sun, but if a buyer finds you do not stock a particular item after they have placed an order, they'll quickly go elsewhere. So accurate inventory data is key to maintaining a successful e-Commerce platform.

The solution is to invest in an efficient inventory control system, which will allow you to judge ahead of time when a product needs replenishing. It will also ensure you don't overstock and tie up capital in inventory, allowing you to spend that money on things that will attract more conversions, such as marketing.

But it is not just about accurate stock levels, accuracy in product data such as product size, packaging dimensions and weight, correct image or product descriptions is also important. It is all about clarity, as a B2B eCommerce website is equivalent to a shop window and if the information is not correct or clear it could cost sales. A direct connection between your inventory management system with your e-Commerce site can minimise inaccuracies and improve efficiencies.

Building customer relationships

The aim is not to sell to a customer once - the key to long-term growth is customer retention, which means building relationships. A good customer relationship management (CRM) system will allow you to track your customers' journey, engage with them and record all interactions. You can use it to send an email once they have placed an order, thanking them and informing them on delivery lead times. After delivery, send another email checking if everything is OK with the product - and you should find that you'll be at the forefront of their mind next time.

Marketing 

You're bound to have visitors who browse your site but don't buy anything. Marketing should be an important part of any e-Commerce strategy, to drive traffic, conversions and retention.

Use your customer data to build an accurate picture of your target audience, analyse consumer trends and popularity of different products. Armed with this information effective marketing campaigns can be built with specific objectives in mind - use email drip campaigns to nurture customer relationships, encourage clients to complete purchases, try new products or send promotional offers; it can also be used to develop relationships with new clients. An easy way of managing this is by using either an online marketing platform or an ERP system with e-Commerce and marketing tools integrations.

If you are thinking of ERP and want to increase your B2B conversions on your e-Commerce site, get in touch with WinMan today to learn more about our ERP solution.