The eCommerce space is complex. From inventory updates to sales processing, there are many different hoops your business has to jump through while selling online.
Once you move into the B2B space, those complexities increase exponentially.
With such a great emphasis on client service, it can be easy to neglect your internal operations and the technology that supports them. But investing in your online business with an all-in-one eCommerce platform might be one of the best moves your business can make. Here’s why.
What is an All-in-one eCommerce Platform?
As the name suggests, an all-in-one eCommerce platform brings all of your company’s eCommerce systems together.
As online businesses expand, they come to depend on a wider range of software, and each has to be managed independently. All-in-one eCommerce provides a solution to this dilemma, by integrating these different systems so that they work in harmony.
For example, your B2B platform may use separate software for its inventory management, invoice reporting, and CRM. Insights from these different ERP processes are crucial for your business to run smoothly, but the manual transfer of data between these systems can be burdensome.
With an integrated eCommerce platform, all of this information is synchronized automatically. As such, all-in-one eCommerce reduces labour costs and offers invaluable data that can be used to improve your online business strategy.
What are the Benefits of an All-in-one eCommerce Platform?
All-in-one eCommerce drives growth in many areas. Here are the five biggest reasons why you should consider upgrading your business’ eCommerce platform today.
Reduces human error
With an all-in-one eCommerce platform, you can finally wave goodbye to manual data entry. Automation means that whenever a new order is processed in your online store, the necessary updates to your inventory management system, sales reports, and CRM platform are made in real time.
This also means that data from across the business can be easily accessed from any area of the eCommerce ecosystem. If you’re flicking through sales information, for example, all-in-one eCommerce functionality enables you to zoom in on a specific order and view the client’s full profile.
The main benefit of automated data entry is the reduction of human error. It’s all too easy to enter incorrect product quantities or shipping addresses when processing new orders manually. An all-in-one eCommerce platform eliminates this risk, ensuring that your business partners are left satisfied with your service.
Saves time and money
Automation not only improves accuracy in your business. It also saves a significant amount of time and money that can be used elsewhere. As mentioned above, data synchronization spares your employees the laborious task of adding up the accounts at the end of each month.
All-in-one eCommerce software also enables your clients to interact with your online store independently. Real-time data insights mean that B2B partners can view current stock levels on your eCommerce website as well as track the status of shipments without the input of staff.
All of this means less administrative work for your business. With lower operational costs, resources can be deployed elsewhere in high-yield areas such as marketing or research.
Improves delivery and orders
Order processing and delivery are crucial components of the eCommerce customer experience. With an all-in-one eCommerce platform, you can improve the efficiency of your shipping management and provide a sophisticated tracking service that keeps clients in the loop at every step of the order journey.
When a new order goes through on your online shop, this information is made immediately available to your warehouse staff through eCommerce integrations. Shipping labels are printed off automatically so that workers can focus on getting the order packed and on the move as quickly as possible.
An all-in-one eCommerce platform will also allow you to synchronize shipping data with your chosen logistics provider. Clients can opt in for tracking updates or simply visit your eCommerce site to view the latest status of their order.
Creates personalised experiences
Besides order tracking, all-in-one eCommerce provides a variety of tools that can be used to enhance the customer experience in your online business. By integrating your eCommerce website with your CRM system, you can offer personalised B2B experiences to your partners.
Based on customer data such as viewing and order history as well as inventory information, your eCommerce platform can make real-time suggestions to repeat clients whenever they browse your online store.
Many all in one e-commerce systems also offer CMS integrations that allow you to learn even more about your customers so that you can better tailor future marketing campaigns. Personalisation is the standard that clients expect in today’s market and will help to stimulate brand loyalty.
Offers advanced reporting
With all of your back-house systems linked together, reporting is made easy. Automation means that updates occur instantly, so you can be sure that stock levels displayed by your management software are accurate. If a certain product runs low, you can restock before it becomes a problem.
All-in-one eCommerce functionality also allows you to collate information from different business areas—supply chain data, inventory management, sales reports, CRM insights and invoicing—for analysis purposes. With all of your ERP data available in a single place, you can assess overall business performance and refine your operations.
Data insights supplied by integrated eCommerce software can help to flag up issues that were previously difficult to notice. They are also useful for spotting opportunity areas that will be incorporated into your business strategy moving forward.
Summary
As you can see, the benefits of an all-in-one eCommerce platform extend to virtually all B2B business areas. In today’s sophisticated eCommerce landscape, where many different applications are used to support online businesses, integrated eCommerce ensures that everything is ticking along in unison.
All-in-one eCommerce systems are best served by medium and large B2B enterprises with complex operations, but their benefits are not lost on small businesses. Ultimately, they add scalability to a business and, in doing so, provide a steady foundation for future growth.
If you’d like to find out more about how integrated eCommerce systems can improve your business, get in touch with us today!