15 Ways to Deliver the Best Experience to Your B2B Marketplace Buyers

In the world of wholesale ecommerce, delivering a top-notch buyer experience on your B2B online marketplace isn’t just a competitive advantage—it’s a must. 

Today’s B2B buyers expect the same seamless, user-friendly experience they enjoy with B2C brands.        

So, how can you make sure your business-to-business marketplace exceeds their expectations? 

Well, whether it’s streamlining the purchasing process, providing personalized recommendations, or offering reliable support, there are countless ways to impress your buyers. 

If you want to create a B2B marketplace that genuinely connects with your buyers, it's essential to leverage the right ecommerce solutions tailored to their needs.  

Elevating the B2B Buyer Experience: Key Strategies for Success

Before we look into the sure-shot ways to engage buyers, here are few B2B ecommerce trends that you must know:

• 70% of B2B customers prefer remote business
• 44% of millennials prefer no sales rep interaction during the purchase process
• 35% of B2B buyers rated eCommerce as the most effective sales channel
• 97% of B2B ecommerce are comfortable with self-serviced digital purchases 
• $31.19 billion is the estimated GMV of global B2B online marketplaces 
• 4X increase in the number of B2B marketplaces in past 3 years
• 10+ channels are used by B2B customers to connect with suppliers
• 70% of B2B buyers started using m-commerce channels more in the past 2-3 years

Source: Kibo Commerce, Statista, McKinsey & Company, DHL Express 

In light of these evolving B2B buyer preferences, delivering an exceptional marketplace experience is more important than ever. Buyers are increasingly seeking remote, self-service options and seamless digital interactions. This shift not only demands you to meet the evolving buyer expectations, but also requires you to position your marketplace as a leader in providing convenience, flexibility, and engagement. The right approach ensures you deliver the best possible experience, fostering loyalty and setting the stage for long-term growth. 

Wonder what the right approach is?

Lets us find out.

15 Ways to Deliver the Best Experience to Your B2B Marketplace Buyers

When it comes to B2B commerce, providing an outstanding and engaging buyer experience is critical for fostering customer loyalty and boosting repeat sales. Here are 15 effective strategies to help you deliver a seamless, engaging experience for your B2B marketplace buyers.

1. Optimize User Interface for Easy Navigation

Traditional B2B buying is long gone. A user-friendly design is essential for an intuitive buyer journey on your B2B online marketplace. Make sure your marketplace interface is easy to navigate, with clear menus, search functions, and accessible product categories. When you simplify your marketplace design, you minimize your buyer’s frustration and make it easier and quicker for them to find what they need.   

2. Provide Advanced Search and Filter Options

Modern B2B buyers do not like spending time on finding products. They need to locate specific products or services quickly. Offering advanced search and filter options on your B2B online marketplace allows them to quickly narrow down their choices based on various categories, specifications, and price ranges. This saves time and helps them discover relevant products more efficiently, thus increasing satisfaction. 

3. Ensure Seamless Mobile Buying

Customers love the flexibility to shop from anywhere. No wonder 70% of B2B searches begin on mobile. A mobile-readyHaving a  B2B marketplace along with aor a dedicated B2B sales app gives buyers the flexibility to make purchases on the go. Mobile accessibility enables your buyers to check their product availability, place orders, and track their deliveries, etc, enhancing convenience and accessibility on your marketplace.

4. Offer Personalized Product Recommendations

When you offer personalized product recommendations to your B2B buyers, you elevate their shopping experience. Based on the browsing and purchase history of your buyers, you can understand their needs, highlight relevant items, and offer personalized deals. When you build a B2B marketplace, choose a robust ecommerce platform that offers you comprehensive tools to tailor the shopping experience and enhance your cross-sell opportunities.

5. Enable Bulk Ordering and Volume Discounts

B2B buyers often order in large quantities. Offering seamless bulk ordering and volume discounts can significantly enhance your customer’s shopping experience. Bulk discounts add value to your buyers and motivate them to come back for more. You need a B2B ecommerce platform that supports bulk orders and offers real-time communication of any applicable discounts to encourage larger ticket sizes and long-term relationship with your marketplace.

6. Implement RFQ and other B2B Features

B2B buyers frequently require quotes before committing to large orders. A streamlined quoting system on your marketplace lets buyers request quotes easily and receive timely responses, cutting down on the long negotiation cycles. Clear and prompt quoting shows that your marketplace respects the buyer’s time, enhancing the overall shopping experience.

7. Provide Transparent Pricing and Clear Payment Terms

Transparent pricing on your B2B online marketplace is crucial for your buyers. Since B2B buying is all about bulk orders and involves large amounts, displaying prices clearly and offering flexible payment terms, become crucial to avoid confusion. When you provide multiple payment options and flexible terms and ensure that B2B buyers can choose what suits them best, you not only offer a smooth payment process, but also offer the best shopping experience. 

8. Integrate Secure, Versatile Payment Options

Security is critical in B2B transactions. Integrate a reliable, versatile payment gateway to provide a secure payment experience on your B2B online marketplace. When you enable your customers to pay in their preferred payment options like credit cards, bank transfers, and digital wallets, you enhance their confidence and make transactions more convenient for them.   

9. Make Buying Seamless For International Customers

If your marketplace serves international buyers, or you want to expand your business to new geographies, you need to localize your B2B marketplace. Well, you need to engage with the customers in their native language to convert better. It provides a localized shopping experience on your B2B online marketplace and ensures that buyers from various regions can understand product descriptions, pricing, and payment options in their native language and preferred currency.

10. Focus on Reliable Customer Support

Investing in strong customer support ensures that your buyers feel valued and get quick solutions to their issues. To deliver the best shopping experience, implement multi-channel support options, such as live chat, email, etc when you build a B2B marketplace. Fast and effective assistance to your buyers shows how committed you are to your buyers satisfaction. 

11. Utilize Detailed Product Descriptions 

Detailed product descriptions and high-quality images of the products help buyers make informed decisions. When you include videos and 360-degree views of products, you enhance the shopping experience. Buyers can understand the products better, increasing the likelihood and reducing the uncertainty of shopping on your marketplace. 

12. Facilitate Easy Reordering and Subscription Options

For buyers who frequently order the same products, easy reordering and subscription options streamline the buying process and improve the overall shopping experience. When you build a B2B marketplace, implement a “reorder” button that simplifies purchasing for repeat buyers, saving them time and building loyalty. 

13. Offer Real-Time Inventory Updates

Accurate and real-time inventory updates prevent buyers from experiencing stock issues. When you integrate your inventory management with your B2B marketplace, you can seamlessly display up-to-date stock levels. This ensures that the buyers can place orders with confidence knowing the items are available.  

14. Streamline Order Tracking and Notifications

Order tracking is essential for buyers today, they like staying informed about their shipments. When you offer real-time tracking and automated notifications on your B2B online marketplace, you give your buyers visibility into their orders, reducing uncertainty and enhancing their overall experience

15. Gather Buyer Feedback and Act on It

Encourage buyers to share feedback about their experiences and then implement their suggestions. By listening to buyer feedback, you can make informed improvements to your marketplace, ensuring it continuously meets their needs and expectations.

How StoreHippo Helps Deliver The Best Experience To Your B2B Marketplace Buyers

StoreHippo B2B ecommerce platform is built on MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architecture which gives B2B brands better creative freedom to implement unique business ideas and deliver the best buying experience. With a host of features and tools, you can build a B2B marketplaces that engages, attracts and converts better. 

StoreHippo comes with a host of B2B features to help you build a B2B marketplace. You can use enterprise-grade features like price overrides, IP or locations-based pricing, RFQ, inquiry generation forms etc. from StoreHippo. You can also add detailed product descriptions and multiple images to help your B2B clients make informed decisions. The robust inventory management feature from StoreHippo helps you manage and plan your inventory automatically. You can seamlessly get your inventory updated automatically after each new order, return or order cancellation.

StoreHippo B2B solutions are built on mobile-first principle helping you leverage mobile commerce to offer a seamless buying experience to your buyers. You can seamlessly create multiple Andriod or iOS mobile apps right from your admin dashboard at zero additional costs. All B2B online marketplaces built on StoreHippo are PWA stores that look, feel, and work like mobile apps even on entry level devices. Your buyers can seamlessly shop on their mobile devices with B2B sales app.

Using the decoupled headless architecture from StoreHippo, you can add multiple new customer touchpoints and go omnichannel. StoreHippo offers a central admin dashboard to help you manage multiple touchpoints from a single dashboard. With StoreHippo you also get rich customer insights from all the sales channels to help create data-driven business strategies. StoreHippo also offers the white-labelling feature for wholesale B2B brands. StoreHippo also offers faceted search features to help your B2B clients find products seamlessly on your marketplace. 

You can manage multiple distributors on your B2B online marketplace with StoreHippo’s multi vendor marketplace solutions. StoreHippo also offers separate vendor login and a unique dashboard for each vendor/distributor which helps them manage their businesses easily. You can also launch multiple B2B online stores with StoreHippo’s multi-store ecommerce solutions. Other features by StoreHippo like location-based currency and language selection, location/vendor-based taxation, pricing, etc. help in taking your B2B business beyond borders.      

You can create a frictionless payment process on your B2B sales app and marketplace with 60+ pre-integrated payment gateways. StoreHippo also comes pre-integrated with 30+ logistics partners to help you streamline a seamless supply chain. StoreHippo also offers built-in delivery boy solutions to help brands manage their fleet of delivery boys. StoreHippo is designed for seamless integrations for enterprise B2B brands to seamlessly integrate with the best in breed ERP, CRM, accounting, marketing, and any other software or service of choice.  

Conclusion 

Delivering an exceptional shopping experience for B2B buyers is key to building trust and loyalty in today’s competitive landscape. When you focus on the unique needs of B2B buyers and offer them exactly what they want, you’re not just meeting their expectations; you’re exceeding them. 

StoreHippo B2B ecommerce platform empowers you to create a B2B online marketplace that is user-friendly, reliable, and tailored to the dynamic needs of your buyers. StoreHippo offers a 360-degree solution for the diverse needs of fast-growing B2B brands. Prioritizing buyer satisfaction not only strengthens relationships but also lays the foundation for sustainable growth, setting your marketplace apart as a leader in B2B ecommerce.   

Are you ready to deliver the best experience to your B2B marketplace buyers? Explore the wide range of features by starting your 14-day free trial now.