How effective B2B eCommerce strategy drives customer loyalty and revenue growth

This post was originally published in January 2022 and was updated in September 2025 with additional information on B2B ecommerce strategy, FAQs, and more.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve witnessed B2B digitization rapidly accelerate across industries as a variety of factors have increased the need to shift business online. This digital embrace has allowed organizations to eliminate brick-and-mortar barriers while replicating the ease of consumer digital experiences. It also opens the opportunity to provide greater value with data that helps their buyers do their jobs better.

Lassen Sie uns die drei wichtigsten Säulen untersuchen, die für den Aufbau einer effektiven E-Commerce-Präsenz erforderlich sind, und wie Teams sie nutzen können, um stärkere Beziehungen zu ihren Kunden aufzubauen. Aber lassen Sie uns zunächst einen kurzen Blick auf den heutigen Stand des B2B E-Commerce werfen.

While consumers around the globe have welcomed online shopping, the B2B world has been slower to adopt. There are a number of reasons for this, including inertia, as well as the anxiety that can be present when making large orders online. Additionally, sales teams can have concerns about the potential impact that adopting an ecommerce strategy will have on their roles. This includes questions such as “Am I really needed if my customers are making purchases online?” or “How can I maintain these long-established relationships through ecommerce?”

However, the truth is that an effective ecommerce platform can not only accommodate the unique needs of buyers at scale, but it can also strengthen the role of sales teams. This is exactly why the B2B ecommerce space is experiencing such rapid growth today, with some projections that global B2B ecommerce could reach $20.9 trillion by 2027.

Für Lieferanten und ihre Marketingteams ist die Schaffung eines digitalen Schaufensters nur die halbe Miete. Die Förderung der Akzeptanz und der Ausbau des Marktanteils ist der Schlüssel zum langfristigen Erfolg. Mit dem richtigen Ansatz können Teams ihren Online-Shop zur Zentrale für ihre Kunden machen.

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Der Wettbewerb im Internet ist hart. Eine der besten Möglichkeiten, sich von der Masse abzuheben, besteht darin, durchgehend qualitativ hochwertige Inhalte bereitzustellen. Qualitativ hochwertige Inhalte sind eines der wichtigsten Signale, anhand derer Google Ihre Website für die Suche einstuft.

For distributors, quality content can include everything from product descriptions and real-time inventory updates to helpful blog posts or videos that empower your customers to make the most of what they purchase from you. A secondary benefit of producing this type of content on your ecommerce presence is SEO (search engine optimization). Effective SEO means more people will see your content, increasing awareness of your product offerings and ecommerce capabilities. SEO is a powerful tool, which is why 70% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising.

Ein entscheidendes Element, um diese Vorteile zu nutzen, ist eine Plattform, die eine schnelle, einfache und flexible Veröffentlichung von Inhalten ermöglicht. Die Möglichkeit, Inhalte zu erstellen und diese mit Produkten und Dienstleistungen zu verbinden, stellt sicher, dass Kunden und Interessenten auf Ihre Website als Ressource zurückkehren, wo sie leicht die Antworten, Produkte und Dienstleistungen finden können, nach denen sie suchen.

At the end of the day, quality content that conveys a deep understanding of your products and how they solve the challenges your customers face not only increases their confidence when making a purchase, but it also shifts their perception of you from being simply a supplier to being an industry thought leader and partner in their business.

Your ERP data can jumpstart your eCommerce strategy and accelerate your webstore maturity. Learn how to build a thriving online store with this guide: Webstore Maturity: Using Your ERP Data to Shortcut eCommerce Success

2. Create a personalized buying experience

When purchasing as a business or a consumer, customers want to feel seen, heard, and understood. This is why 67% of B2B buyers reported switching to vendors that offer a “more consumer-like” experience. Just as Amazon serves up recommendations based on its understanding of customers, to be truly effective, B2B ecommerce platforms should replicate this type of personalized customer experience. Great B2B solutions help you identify customer segments and understand them even better. To meet these ever-evolving expectations for personalization, teams should identify a digital ecommerce platform that provides the following:

• Multiple storefronts: For enterprise accounts that may have various buyers with different needs, providing multiple storefronts will give each buyer a personalized experience for everything from recommended products to content.
• Search functionality: Customers should be able to easily search for products and helpful content. If different customer segments use different words or terms, ensure that each “language” can be easily searched so every customer can find what they are looking for.
• AI-powered product recommendations: Automating personalized recommendations creates a frictionless experience for customers and sales team members. An AI-powered platform will “learn” about each customer through their interactions, making it easier for them to do business with you every time.

3. Maintain the human connection

Traditionelle Verkaufsprozesse beinhalteten in der Vergangenheit Interaktionen von Mensch zu Mensch, die auf über einen langen Zeitraum gepflegten Beziehungen beruhten. Und obwohl sich dieser Prozess weitgehend in den digitalen Bereich verlagert, ist es immer noch möglich, das menschliche Element zu erhalten.

Mit verteilten Teams und einer Fülle von Informationen und Ressourcen, die es zu sichten gilt, wird das Einkaufserlebnis immer komplexer. Bei einer so großen Auswahl an Berührungspunkten kann es leicht zu Reibungen beim Käufererlebnis kommen. Die Integration menschlicher Verbindungen an diesen Berührungspunkten schafft Vertrauen und stellt sicher, dass sich Ihre Kunden nicht wie eine weitere Bestellnummer fühlen.

Here’s how your marketing, sales, and support teams can help elevate the customer experience:

• Mobile communication: Today’s buyers are constantly on the go. Your ecommerce presence should provide a mobile experience that gives them easy access to your offerings and services whenever they need them and wherever they are. This is also where you can reach them more immediately with alerts and notifications.
• Chat functionality: When a customer has a question, you need to be able to address it quickly. A live chat function that connects customers and prospects to real people reduces the risk of customer churn while strengthening your relationships.
• Sales process integration: Successful sales teams know how to navigate the in’s and out’s of their ecommerce presence. They should be able to quickly access information to help customers whether on a phone call, email exchange, webstore communication or on the sales floor.

Die heutige Geschäftslandschaft entwickelt sich ständig weiter. Aber eine Sache, die sich nie ändern wird, ist die Notwendigkeit, starke, langfristige Beziehungen zu Ihren Kunden aufzubauen. Durch den Aufbau einer E-Commerce-Präsenz, die Ihren Kunden einen Mehrwert bietet und gleichzeitig die Rolle Ihres Teams stärkt, können Unternehmen Loyalität aufbauen und gleichzeitig ihren Gewinn steigern. Eine echte Win-Win-Situation.

Read the blog → ERP eCommerce integration: Fast-track success