B2B Ecommerce: Design Principles and Best Practices to Boost Sales

June 12, 2014

Smart B2B Design: Strategy and Experience Principles that Boost Sales

Girisha Chandraraj

Alex Schmelkin

Hi, I’m AlexFounder, CEO

Founded 2002Independent

Manhattan

Transactional Expertise

IMA Top 10 Agency

End-to-end Ecommerce Design & Development

Hi, I’m GirishaHead 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

Preparing for B2B Site Design

B2B Experience Principles

Today’s Topics

Preparing for B2B Site Design

Before site design comes commercial

strategy

Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy

Driv

ing

Awar

enes

s

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)

Yes

No

Yes No

Driv

ing

Awar

enes

s

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)

Yes

No

Yes NoComplex B2B transactions (quotes, holds, on account

ordering, split shipments, etc.)

Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy

Driv

ing

Awar

enes

s

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)

Yes

No

Yes NoProduct information for businesses or consumers, lead

generation for businesses

Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy

Driv

ing

Awar

enes

s

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)

Yes

No

Yes No

B2C in B2B drag

Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy

Driv

ing

Awar

enes

s

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)

Yes

No

Yes No

Intellectual property, lead generation

Site strategy is a function of your commercial strategy

Process to prepare before 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

Deconstruct your sales process

Source: UPS purchasing insights 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

Buying vs. Procurement

Importance of triggers in procurementVisual Search Category

No Promotional Banner

Featured Products Window

Limited Assortment

Featured Products Window

Informational content to drive awareness

50% of all tools 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

Deconstruct your customer service

process

• 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

Determine your online marketing

strategy

57% of all B2B 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

Marketing budgets at B2B companies expected to

rise by 6% in 2014

The importance of the site to drive traffic

Source: Forrester and BMA

1.How will traffic be 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

Prepare for pricing

Driv

ing

Awar

enes

s

Driving Commerce/Transactions

Price differentiation based 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, MAPYe

sN

o

Yes No

Price Transparency vs. Price Opaqueness

Plan your site experience

B2B Experience Principles

Where are B2B ecommerce sites spending money in 2014?

B2B Experience Principles

5. Test & Iterate4. Service Sells

3. It’s All in the Details2. Keep it Simple: Products & Prices

1. Know Your User

Know Your User

B2B Users Are People Too!

But even if they are a scary dinosaur…

Learn everything you can 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

Involve users as you design and build

Think

Check

MakeGather requirements and invent

Design the experience in the browser

Validate with users

DROP YOUR SCREEN RIGHT UP IN HERE

Paper prototypes help identify content and functionality.

Only 5 Participants are needed.

Mobile isn’t optional.

Prioritize for your users.

Prioritize for your users.

Keep it Simple: Products & Prices

Fast access to products and pricing

Priority #1

• search sahoy

• asdfhkjhasd

• asdfjkhasdf

• adsjfh’

Promintne tseach

Prominent & predictive search

Show exactly what you sell in your nav!

? ? ?

Robust filtering

Shop by brand

It’s all in the Details

Great photography increases sales

Invest in 360s for key products

Videos demonstrate authority

Invest in specs and manuals

Show availability and shipping speed

• Auto-Forwarding Carousels and Accordions 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

Create a consistent system to establish familiarity

and remove the need to relearn things

Focus on the Transaction

Payment and order options.

Service Sells

Shipped

Shipped

Shipped

Shipped

Customer Service

Use your humans!

Test & Iterate

Monday–launch a promotion Tuesday–monitor & test

Wednesday–deploy site-wide

Act like a retailer:

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Microtransaction Analysis

Good ‘ole analytics

Key Takeaways

What type of B2B business are you?

Deconstruct your processes

Know your user

#1 Priority is finding products

Service sells

Key Takeaways:

and if you think you can wait…

Thank you!

United StationersHead of Digital

GChandraraj@ussco.com

Girisha ChandrarajAlexander Interactive (Ai)

Founder, CEO as@alexanderinteractive.com

Alex Schmelkin

Come visit us at booth #2116

We’re hiring!

We’re hiring!