The global B2B eCommerce market reached a value of almost $15 trillion in 2020, and that number is likely to increase even more in the coming years. As a result, it’s one of the most promising and lucrative markets you could enter, as there’s an abundance of opportunities for launching a successful online store that caters to business clients worldwide.
However, even though B2B eCommerce is becoming a crucial part of B2B sales, finding a way to succeed with your own Shopify B2B store requires a solid understanding of how to sustain growth and reach your best customers through various channels. You must also figure out how to streamline your operations and ensure that you stay on top of how you manage your products and the overall order fulfillment process.
To help you get new ideas for maximizing your Shopify B2B store’s growth potential, let’s look at a few practical strategies you should use in 2022 and beyond.
Revamp Your Inventory Management
It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of good inventory management practices for a B2B eCommerce business. Your reputation depends on your ability to fulfill orders quickly and always have items in stock, as B2B clients will quickly cut their relationship with your brand if they have even a single disappointing experience.
Luckily, you can get comprehensive Shopify inventory management solutions that can help you stay on top of any challenges you might face. You can stay on top of your product inventory using automatic syncing, integrate with your store to automatically receive placed orders, and see the big picture of your inventory using smart analytics that help you discover trends and stay ahead of inventory issues that might arise in the future.
As an eCommerce business, products will always be at the center of what your business is about. And being able to match customer expectations by sending out products quickly can help you build a reputation as a reliable provider that can be trusted.
Use LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful platforms for networking, business development, and sales in the B2B world. And because of that, it’s easy to see why there are countless opportunities for B2B eCommerce stores to leverage what the platform has to offer as well.
Just as B2C businesses can use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to engage their audiences, so can B2B eCommerce stores take advantage of LinkedIn to reach professional audiences worldwide. With the help of LinkedIn for eCommerce, you can identify and get in front of the perfect leads for your business, develop business partnerships that propel your growth, and build niche communities that will help establish your brand’s authority in your field.
To make the most of what LinkedIn has to offer, start by performing in-depth research on who you want to reach, and identifying the key audiences that would be interested in your B2B eCommerce store’s products. You should also create a strong profile for your brand, emphasizing what your business is about and showcasing the benefits of working with you. Finally, engage the people in your audience by creating high-quality content that generates attention and gets people interested in what you have to offer.
Prioritize Sustainability
Both B2B and B2C buyers are becoming increasingly aware of the impact that various products can have on the environment. And because of that, an increasing number of people prioritize sustainability above cost, with 65% of consumers willing to pay a premium to buy sustainable goods and services.
Savvy brands are already taking advantage of this opportunity and rethinking how their products impact the environment, developing better ways of manufacturing, packaging, and delivering the goods to ensure that any type of negative impact is reduced to a minimum.
Whether using recycled materials for production, minimizing the amount of packaging used for products, or reducing steps in the supply chain to control emissions, there are countless ways to rethink your sustainability practices and change for the better.
And once you are able to make impactful changes, you will be in an ideal position to make sustainability a key part of your branding. Your B2B buyers are much more likely to buy from you if they know that your products are produced responsibly because they have to uphold the same values and source products and services from providers who are responsible.
Bottom Line
Even though building a Shopify B2B store can be an incredibly lucrative opportunity, the rising competition in various niches means you have to be creative and willing to innovate if you want to stay one step ahead of the competition.
With the strategies listed in this article, you should be able to improve your internal processes, reach a broader audience, and develop more sustainable approaches that can even become a central part of your brand. In the B2B eCommerce world, reputation is everything, so by being a reliable and responsible provider, you will already be well on your way to becoming one of the leaders in your field.
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