Nowadays, setting up an online business is very easy. There are plenty of e-commerce tools and solutions on the market. One of the most common solutions on the market is the B2B e-commerce platform.
Most people prefer shopping online, so businesses create an online presence to reach a wider audience. Online companies are also cheap and straightforward to set up compared to physical stores. This guide looks at key features of B2B e-commerce platforms.
Customer Experience
Stats show that most people access the internet using their smartphones. These days, most websites need to be mobile-friendly to deliver a top-notch customer experience. A good B2B e-commerce platform should be lightweight and offer a great customer experience.
Customers will most likely leave the pages that take too long to load. They will also abandon their carts if the checkout feature does not work. B2B e-commerce platforms have social login features and dynamic pricing to offer a quality customer experience.
Headless vs. Non-Headless
Conventional e-commerce platforms are non-headless, meaning both the front and backend features are bundled together. They also have limited features and are not compatible with most third-party APIs or extensions.
Headless e-commerce solutions are currently the in-thing. Headless e-commerce platforms split the backend and frontend. The backend features the database and a host of APIs that process requests. The frontend is the user interface and uses API calls to make requests to the backend. The front end is made using the latest web framework to ensure that customers get the best experience.
Cloud Support
Most e-commerce platforms have native-cloud support. This means that the solutions are shipped with an integrated cloud service such as Azure, IBM Cloud, or Amazon Web Services. Cloud-native support means that you don’t need to look for a hosting service to host your platform.
If you are looking for a B2B e-commerce platform with cloud-native support, browse around here. Self-hosting your e-commerce site has its perks but can be pretty expensive and inconvenient. You will need to update your site manually, and hosting fees can be quite expensive, especially if running a big business.
API Integration
These days, most websites are powered by APIs. APIs are faster, lightweight, and more secure compared to plugins. The idea behind it is to have a lightweight frontend that can load up faster and support many customer requests at once.
A good B2B e-commerce platform that supports third-party integrations will give you an edge over your competitors. You can add new features to your online shop easily.
Wrapping Up
B2B e-commerce solutions can help entrepreneurs boost their income streams. There are plenty of e-commerce solutions in the market. When picking a B2B e-commerce platform, make sure you go for one that focuses on delivering a quality customer experience.
There are also plenty of open-source solutions that are available for free. Most open-source solutions come with out-of-the-box solutions designed to make deployment easy. You do not require plenty of technical knowledge to set up your online shop, either.
Don’t forget to check the customer support team behind the product you are using. A good customer support team will help you sort out any technical issues to avoid unnecessary downtime.