Top 5 Reasons Your Buyers Aren’t Using Your B2B E-commerce Portal

You've spent time, energy and money into building a B2B e-commerce portal, but you don't have any traffic. Or, perhaps you do have some traffic, but not nearly as much as you had anticipated. Rather than sit back and hope for the best, it's time to face the facts and decipher what's causing your low results. It may not be pleasant at first, but you'll be glad you put in the effort.

Keep reading to understand five possible reasons your buyers aren't using your B2B e-commerce portal.

#1 Your Buyers are resistant to change

Not all buyers are early adopters. Some buyers are actually more comfortable with your previous ordering process and may not want to attempt ordering via your online ordering portal. In order to capture this segment of buyers, it is critical to provide adequate education and training on your B2B eCommerce portal to give them the opportunity to feel comfortable with the new processes and also to see the value of online ordering. Often times once a buyer sees for themselves how simple, easy and productive the B2B portal is, then they are much more convinced to actively use the new system.

#2 Your product and pricing portal Information is not accurate

Your B2B eCommerce portal should be the source of truth for your customers. Your buyers may browse the catalog in your portal but don’t see the customer-specific pricing they expect. They might be led to believe a product is in stock only to find out later it was on backorder. A portal with inaccurate information will not be adopted. It’s like the old adage says: you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and it’s important that you set up and maintain your portal with this in mind.

#3 You are not providing a good buyer experience

Online ordering is meant to be easy and convenient, that’s what buyers want. Using fax machines, phone or email are considered outdated forms of placing orders. Buyers using your B2B portal should be able to easily find answers to product questions and seamlessly create and submit orders on the web or a mobile device. If your buyer experience is not intuitive or familiar, they will either revert back to their previous submission methods or order from a competitor with a more compelling user experience. Audit your current buyer experience to determine some quick wins: make sure your data is accurate, your product and marketing collateral is comprehensive, and that your buyers know where to go when they have questions or feedback.

#4 Your competitors are offering a better buying experience

Have you observed what your competitors are doing in the world of B2B E-commerce? It’s wise to be aware of what’s happening in your industry, and the best practices corporations like yours are practicing. Chances are, if your competition is offering a better buying experience, then you’re going to be left with a decrease in clients. This is especially true in distribution, where competitors are often selling the exact same products and customer experience is one of the best ways to differentiate. So complete a full review of your buying experience, then determine you’re your site is lacking and make the necessary changes to win back customers.