A look at the common obstacles, and how using enosix Commerce to better integrate with SAP can help
B2B e-commerce sales are hitting all-time highs, and these numbers are projected to accelerate exponentially in the very near future. The last couple of years alone have seen sales exceed the $1 trillion mark, and 75% of businesses who did not have a B2B e-commerce site planned to have one in place by 2020.
Demand is only going to grow, and Salesforce B2B Commerce is an excellent platform to provide the highest standard of online service (one that was named a leader in the field for 2020). However, as with any B2B commerce implementation, it does come with some challenges. Here are the three most common hurdles, and how enosix Commerce can soothe the pain points and give B2B sellers a competitive edge.
Challenge 1: Implementation
Despite the oncoming tide of B2B opportunities, it is difficult to blame those who feel it is simply too time-consuming to catch that wave. Realizing effective time-to-value is one of the biggest challenges for businesses looking to create and execute a B2B e-commerce strategy. High time-to-value is a costly reality for many businesses who face months of implementation time before their B2B Commerce capability is ready to run.
While Salesforce tackles this obstacle by boasting the fastest enterprise B2B e-commerce implementation on the market today, that doesn’t take into account integration with your SAP system. The enosix Commerce solution can make the entire development and implementation process move even more swiftly.
Since we are a Salesforce and SAP partner, you can think of using enosix as constructing a fast lane to connect Salesforce B2B Commerce and your SAP ERP. The enosix integration framework can accelerate your implementation by 70% to 90%. The result is a Salesforce B2B Commerce implementation completed in a few weeks rather than months, and one that your sales team won’t be left stumbling over.
Because enosix seamlessly connects SAP ERP to front-end systems, there is no delay in performance for customer-facing employees, who get an intuitive interface to handle customer queries and accounts. Everything is aligned in Commerce to make both sides — company and customer — beneficiaries of a simple, streamlined B2B service.
Challenge 2: Creating an optimized UX with omnichannel capability
B2B customers are increasingly coming to expect a B2C-level user experience (UX). This presents B2B sellers with the task of presenting a personalized, interactive buying process. Research by Salesforce revealed that customer-centric commerce solutions are a vital part of omnichannel success, and yet as many as 60% of B2B sellers say they do not have the platform or tools necessary to meet that challenge (page 4).
The enosix Commerce approach puts the B2B customer first by providing real-time, customer-specific pricing. Consider a return customer who is visiting a supplier’s website to reorder a product they have purchased many times before. The B2B supplier may have rewarded that customer with ongoing discounted prices as a “thank you” for repeat business.
This perk could easily become an extra chore for both sides of the sale, requiring the customer to input promo codes, submit a request for an invoice or some other time-consuming process. With enosix Commerce, this altered pricing structure will be automatically reflected on that customer’s ordering page. Additionally, should a customer on the B2B site wish to see their order history on the current site or even across all channels, enosix Commerce makes it happen straight away.
This kind of omnichannel capability is vital to differentiate yourself in the B2B Commerce space; especially when it is a challenge that only the minority of B2B sellers are meeting. Omnichannel is one of the driving forces for companies obsessed with providing a stellar customer experience. Improving buyer satisfaction and responsiveness to buyer needs are the priorities of 25% and 23% of such firms respectively (page 3).
Challenge 3: Keeping Commerce current
An accurately presented customer-facing inventory depends on stock changes being reflected quickly. “Quickly” can be a challenging term even for the most diligent B2B sellers since testing, mapping and coding may be required to update any inventory alterations. This time window can mean lost opportunities with B2B buyers who become frustrated (and alienated) by imprecise information.
The enosix Commerce solution allows for instantaneous inventory adjustment that will prevent lost sales and maximize opportunity for new ones. However, keeping Commerce current depends on more than perfect stocktaking. It also relies upon the platform itself keeping pace with the constant progress being made in both the customer’s growth and the B2B commercial space.
We are proud of the fact that enosix Commerce can adapt as businesses expand to remain as powerfully effective in the future as it is today. If your business is squaring up to the challenge of B2B e-commerce implementation through Salesforce Commerce, enosix is here to provide the innovation and expertise to make it a smooth and rewarding transition.
At enosix, we are setting the new standard for SAP integration. Our products are designed to empower customers by creating a full, seamless and bi-directional connection between front-end systems of engagement and the SAP ERP. Request a demo to see us in action, call 844-436-6749, or visit our contact page to send us a question.