Succeed with your B2B online sales

Art. no. 216462873 24 Apr 2025

We give you the tips!

Succeeding as an online retailer to private individuals is not always easy. Succeeding as an e-commerce merchant with business customers can sometimes seem even more difficult. But, does it have to be so complicated?

Consumer e-commerce, B2C (business to consumer), has exploded in recent years and we are doing more shopping online than ever before. On the business side, B2B (business to business), things haven't moved as fast - yet. But, with the habit of shopping online privately, more and more business owners expect to be able to do the same for work. This both places demands on you as a B2B trader and, of course, offers you great opportunities.

Start small

Launching a full-scale e-commerce for B2B can of course feel a bit overwhelming, perhaps there is neither the time nor the resources to do the whole job from the start. But, as online presence becomes increasingly important, it can be wise to at least start somewhere - albeit small-scale. Just because you have an e-commerce website doesn't mean you have to sell your goods or services through it; instead, it can act as a shop window that showcases what you have to offer in a neat and organized way. However, many web and CMS tools are not particularly suited to showcasing products in this way, often resulting in a jumble of images and text with no logical order. Moreover, it can look even worse if the page is visited via a mobile device. Here it can really pay off to use a real e-commerce platform that is specialized for the purpose. With Abicart, you get started quickly and easily and you choose how much you want to scale up. Of course, our platform is responsive, that is, it works equally well whether you visit the site via computer, mobile or tablet.

Segment your products and services

Another thing to keep in mind is that not everything you sell has to be in the webshop. Perhaps you already have a large and loyal customer base for one type of product, but find it difficult to reach out with another? Why not niche your webshop towards that particular product category and put a little extra effort into reaching out to new customers? One does not necessarily exclude the other. Or why not start by putting out the products you actually sell the most of to try out how it works, learn and maybe scale up later?

Different customers, different price lists?

Maybe you have agreed prices with a customer that you don't want others to see? Or maybe there are parts of your product range that should not be visible to the general public but only to a certain type of customer? No problem! With Abicart, you can give your B2B customers access to specific parts of your range or specific price information through a customer login. By building a well-functioning e-commerce, where your contract customers can place orders themselves and always get the right price, you can save both time and money that you can spend on marketing, development or whatever you need. You customize what a logged-in customer can see versus what a guest sees when they visit your site. Each logged-in customer can also get their own customer number and see the history of previous orders, they can also follow up and track their ongoing orders.

Search engine optimization more!

You probably already know that a large part of today's marketing is about getting as high up as possible in the search results on Google. You may already be familiar with the concept of search engine optimization (SEO) - in short, it's about optimizing your website for search engines. Imagine that your business sells gardening tools, including shovels of various kinds. Play with the idea that you have a website that tells people who you are, what your opening hours are and how to find your physical shop. However, you don't have a specific e-commerce site, but at most a number of sample images showing the type of products you sell. If a person then googles the word "shovel" - who do you think ends up at the top of Google? You, or the competitor who has a webshop containing several products named "shovel"? No matter how much effort you put into making a great website where your company is highlighted in a nice way, the risk is unfortunately great that very few, if any, who do not already know you will find you when looking for a shovel. In short - invest in an online shop to strengthen your digital presence!

Want to know more about how to search engine optimize your e-commerce? Read more here!

The last tip - where you should start

Before you start your B2B e-commerce, you should find out who you are. It may sound like a ridiculous task, but it's actually more important than you might think. It's one thing to have a strong brand for your physical store and for your existing customers, but is
the right brand and identity for your digital presence? If it is - then make sure that the brand permeates all your online communication so that customers recognize themselves and get the right feeling. If it's not, you may need to get help to set your digital brand. Who do you want to be and how do you want to be perceived? What values do you need to push to reach new customers and gain ground online? Spend some extra time doing the groundwork, plain and simple. Think of it as building a foundation to stand on. That way, you won't have any question marks along the way and you'll always have a clear framework to lean on in new situations. You may not know exactly what you need to do yet, but at least you know who you want to be and can adapt your work accordingly for the best possible results. This can be difficult to do on your own so, if possible, seek external help from a brand consultant or agency to guide you.