The winds of the market are shifting, fuelled by evolving buyer behaviours. In this dynamic market landscape, having a B2B e-commerce website isn’t just a fancy addition—it’s a necessity. Here’s why: A staggering 90% of B2B buyers pore over online resources before locking in their purchases (WBR Insights, 2023). A whopping 68% of buyers prefer to do individual research online, sidelining the traditional sales representative approach (Deloitte, “Close the expectation gap with your B2B customers”, January 2021). And when it’s time to purchase, 83% of buyers choose to do it online (Gartner Sales Survey, June 2022).
In the fast-paced world of commerce, the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) model has emerged as a powerful force, reshaping the way brands interact with customers and conduct business. Unlike traditional retail channels that rely on intermediaries, D2C brands establish a direct connection with their target audience, allowing them to control every aspect of the customer experience. This unique approach provides numerous advantages, from cutting out middlemen to gaining valuable customer insights and fostering direct relationships.
At the core of D2C success are conversions – when potential customers become actual buyers. Conversions are more than just transactions; they drive growth and loyalty. Whether it's a purchase, subscription, or app download, each conversion is a significant step in the customer journey.
This blog introduces some useful tools that D2C brands should think about and implement to supercharge their conversions.
Having your B2B business on the right online platform is more than just a smart move—it's essential for staying ahead in the competitive market. Here's what to look for when picking out the best platform for your enterprise:
A one-size-fits-all solution doesn't cut it when building a B2B e-commerce website. Your chosen platform should offer features that fit your business like a glove and are customised to your business needs, offering a personalised experience for your customers.
Your B2B e-commerce platform should be flexible, ready to evolve and adapt as your business grows and changes. Whether scaling up, branching out or expanding your services to reach customers worldwide, your online e-commerce platform should support your business growth, making it smooth and hassle-free.
Your chosen B2B e-commerce platform should be a haven for your data, protecting it from cyber dangers. It's all about building a trustworthy space where you and your customers can feel secure, and your business can operate without fear of digital attacks.
Your B2B e-commerce website is where your customers connect with your brand. It needs to be a space that reflects their needs, wants, and preferences, offering a user-friendly experience that keeps them coming back. The platform should be easily adjustable to meet your customers' needs, creating positive interactions between them and your brand.
As business landscapes evolve, the dilemma intensifies: Which platform offers the optimal blend of features to elevate your B2B e-commerce business operations? Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, and BigCommerce have emerged as front-runners in this domain, each catering to distinct business needs. It's pivotal to research various platforms diligently and even experience them first-hand through demos. This approach allows you to gauge each platform's capability, flexibility, and usability, ensuring that you select the one that aligns the best with your business needs, goals, and the expectations of your customers.
Through this comparative study, we aim to empower decision-makers to choose the most suitable B2B e-commerce platform, thus ensuring alignment with their business vision. Let's dive into it:
Shopify Plus stands out for its simplicity, diverse add-on ecosystem, and continuous innovation, making it a perfect match for small to mid-sized B2B e-commerce businesses in need of user-friendly and low-maintenance solutions.
Shopify Plus offers a streamlined, intuitive interface that makes operations smooth and offers easy customisation for users. As a hosted platform, Shopify Plus makes getting started on the platform as a new B2B e-commerce business a breeze.
The platform is constantly innovating, regularly introducing enhanced features to meet the changing needs of businesses, helping them stay ahead in the game.
Being a hosted platform, Shopify Plus manages all upgrades and security patches at their end, making the platform hassle-free and convenient.
Shopify Plus has recently introduced many advanced B2B features like:
Due to its non-self-hosted nature, Shopify Plus limits the ability to create tailored user experiences after a point, which can be a downside for those seeking extensive customisation.
Shopify Plus applies additional costs per transaction, charging a small percentage of your revenue but impacting the overall ownership cost.
The table provided below gives a price break down for developing a Shopify Plus store
| Shopify Plus Pricing Structure | Subscription based pricing including platform fees, transaction charges and cost of any 3rd party applications |
| Shopify Platform Subscription Fee | $2000 per month |
| Store Customisation Charges | $20 to $30 per hour |
| Shopify Transaction Fees (% of sales) | 0.15% per order |
| Other Costs | Payment gateway charges, logistics charges, store themes & 3rd party applications required to build your store |
| Final Pricing | The total cost of building & operating a Shopify Plus store can fluctuate, based on the extent of customisation needed. |
Knowing your B2B e-commerce business requirements is crucial before starting to build your B2B store, as it helps add the right features and functionalities to the store.
If you’re starting small or medium and want a no-fuss solution, Shopify Plus is your choice! By understanding the advantages and limitations of this platform, you can make an informed decision on whether it aligns with your needs, operational dynamics, and growth aspirations.
Adobe Commerce is particularly favourable for large businesses that value extensive customisation and seek advanced functionalities to reflect the complexity of their operations. It stands as one of the oldest CMS platforms, renowned for its comprehensive feature list and open-source nature, providing maximum customisation and a slew of B2B e-commerce business features.
Adobe Commerce allows for the creation of unique user experiences with its extensive list of features, enabling B2B e-commerce businesses to tailor their websites to meet their specific needs.
It scales operations adeptly to keep pace with business growth, ensuring it can meet the evolving demands of expanding enterprises.
The integration of Adobe Experience tools provides a seamless experience and augments the platform's capabilities.
Adobe Commerce is equipped with features specifically designed to address the unique needs of B2B e-commerce businesses, such as:
The richness in features and complexity of the Adobe Commerce setup results in higher initial costs.
Given the intricate nature and extensive customisation options Adobe Commerce offers, it generally necessitates engaging experienced developers and undergoing an extended development cycle. To fully optimise the B2B e-commerce website, thorough testing of complex functionalities and configurations is crucial, both before and after launch.
Here’s a snapshot of the broad pricing structure offered by Adobe Commerce for B2B businesses
| Adobe Commerce Pricing Structure | Tiered pricing based on Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) |
| Platform Subscription Fee | Starting from $22,000 for self-hosted option Starting from $40,000 for hosted option |
| Store Development Charges | $25 to $35 per hour |
| Other operational expenses | Payment gateway charges and logistics charges |
| Final Pricing | The total cost of owning an Adobe Commerce store can vary depending on the extent of customisation, cost of extensions, maintenance and support required etc. FutureSoft is here to assist in obtaining a personalised quote tailored to your business needs. |
The final pricing will be contingent on the specific needs of your business. Therefore, we highly recommend leveraging FutureSoft’s expertise to facilitate a customized quote from Adobe that aligns with your requirements.
If your business has outgrown the basics and you need to upgrade to a robust platform that can support enhanced complexity and layered functionality, Adobe Commerce is your best match!
BigCommerce emerges as a balanced contender for businesses of diverse sizes, offering a harmonious blend of extensive features and SEO benefits. Its versatility makes it a sought-after choice for small to large B2B e-commerce companies that require well-rounded solutions.
BigCommerce, a hosted solution, allows for more customisations compared to Shopify Plus, presenting a spectrum of out-of-the-box functionalities tailored to cater to diverse B2B requirements.
This platform is a boon for growing businesses, eliminating additional costs per transaction, and providing a cost-effective solution.
Its robust SEO features enhance online visibility, increasing organic traffic and facilitating online growth.
As a hosted solution, BigCommerce requires minimal maintenance, allowing B2B e-commerce businesses to focus more on their core operations.
BigCommerce is currently enhancing its B2B capabilities, adding features like:
BigCommerce offers only 7 free themes. This means that if your requirements are not met using the limited set of themes available, you will need to pay more to buy paid themes. This will increase the overall cost of ownership.
BigCommerce’s pricing is based on annual sales value. Once your online sales cross a certain threshold, BigCommerce automatically upgrades your store to the next higher value plan. This may lead to unexpected cost impact for your business and therefore it is important to keep this in mind while planning your budgets.
The pricing table given below outlines the unique value-based pricing approach of BigCommerce, enabling you to see how the platform aligns its cost to your business performance rather than imposing limits or taxing your sales, API calls, or traffic.
| Pricing Structure | Linear pricing per order based on assumed GMV |
| Platform Subscription Fee | Starting from $39/month for the standard plan to $399/month for the Pro plan up to $400k per year of online sales. Businesses with higher sales are moved to Enterprise plan which is orders based and the pricing is provided directly by BigCommerce sales reps. |
| Additional Fee for B2B features | $500 |
| Transaction Fee (% of Sales) | None |
| Store Development Charges | $20 to $30 per hour |
| Other costs | Payment gateway charges, logistics charges, store themes & 3rd party applications required to build your store |
| Final Pricing | The final pricing for a BigCommerce store depends upon the extent of customisation needed. |
Please note, for a more precise and accurate quote based on your individual business needs, we recommend getting a direct quote from BigCommerce. FutureSoft is here to facilitate those discussions and help you navigate through the nuances of selecting the ideal CMS for your B2B e-commerce business.
If you are looking for lots of features for your mid-sized business without the transaction fees, consider BigCommerce. With its rich feature set and SEO advantages, it may help you reach your operational goals within reasonable budgetary considerations.
The intricate ecosystem of features, customisation, user experience, and pricing offered by Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, and BigCommerce caters to diverse business needs. By aligning your business vision and goals with the right platform, enhanced with Futuresoft's unparalleled expertise, the journey towards e-commerce success becomes seamless and rewarding.
https://www.wbresearch.com/relationship-between-b2b-buying-content-sales-changed-insights
https://www.deloittedigital.com/content/dam/deloittedigital/us/documents/offerings/offering-20210129-b2b-cx.pdf
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-06-22-gartner-sales-survey-finbds-b2b-buyers-prefer-ordering-paying-through--digital-commerce
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