E-commerce in a trade focussed business

For many manufacturing businesses, their website can work harder for them. It is often the case that these websites are just digital catalogues, where staff and a handful of external visitors use them to access product data, drawings and diagrams. Traffic is invariably coming from branded searches or from those that have bookmarked the site, meaning that they are not serving as a shop window to new users, customers, and clients. For firms looking to grow their brand awareness, the website is a critical tool in doing this.

Fundamental questions need to be answered around the purpose of the website – what is it there to achieve for the business? Finding an answer that provides value can be difficult for B2B, trade focussed companies. Adding an e-commerce facility is often seen as a red line not to be crossed. However, there is a balance that can be struck here, and it can serve as a solution to what the website is there to achieve.

E-commerce is not necessarily about cutting out the wholesaler to go direct to the contractor or end user. It can be used as a means to service the current customer base far more effectively. Our research shows that having an online ordering platform is the number one requirement for service improvement amongst the wholesale channel customers. They want it and most will not require any means of incentive to use it, except for a good training session.

Having e-commerce targeted exclusively at the trade customers provides several benefits to them and to the supplier. For the customer, it is a more convenient method for working with the supplier. Instead of emailing or phoning, they can view all they need on their own dashboard login. Stock levels, specific special pricing, order tracking, and proof of delivery can be viewed at an instant. The things that are a source of pressure for a wholesaler can be answered immediately.