What are we talking about? A B2B portal is an online platform for concluding deals and working with clients. It allows you to speed up the progress of buyers through the sales funnel, simplify document flow, and reduce the risk of data leakage.
What to pay attention to? The B2B portal should have a customer's personal account, which displays individual prices, transaction status and other data. You can develop a platform from scratch or use ready-made solutions.
In this article:
The essence of a B2B portal
Advantages of B2B portals
Who needs a B2B portal?
Types of B2B portals
Structure and functionality of the B2B portal
Stages of B2B portal development
The required technology stack to launch a portal
Examples of ready-made B2B portal solutions
Promotion of B2B portal
Frequently asked questions about B2B portals
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The essence of a B2B portal
A B2B portal is an Internet resource that allows companies email lists uk to interact with each other and enter into agreements. With its help, companies are engaged in promotion in the B2B (business-to-business) sphere, expand business connections, and make sales.
Various sources estimate the share of such transactions on the global market to be between 50 and 80%. Accordingly, B2B portals are becoming increasingly important.
The essence of a B2B portal
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Unlike most sites, B2B portals are used by organizations and individual entrepreneurs. The peculiarity of such platforms is that all published materials are intended for business needs.
Functions of B2B portals:
Search for products and services . Here you can access the most complete product catalogs with prices and descriptions.
Search and verification of counterparties . Special mechanisms help to select a partner or client who is trustworthy.
Online orders . B2B portals usually offer the ability to make deals and send orders directly through the site.
Tenders and trades . Separate platforms for corporate trades and government procurement.
Interaction between companies via B2B portals is greatly simplified by the use of modern technologies. In particular, it is possible to automate standard operations, resulting in reduced costs and faster order creation. Chatbots and virtual assistants are also used, making it possible to stay in touch with customers around the clock.
The essence of a B2B portal
Source: shutterstock.com
The rapid spread of mobile technologies contributes to the development of the B2B sphere. With the help of special applications for this sector of the economy, it becomes easier for managers to select goods, compare prices and place orders remotely, regardless of the location of the company. According to experts, in a few years, many B2B transactions will be made via mobile devices.
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Advantages of B2B portals
Compared to sales to private buyers, the process of concluding transactions between companies includes more stages, is longer and more labor-intensive. Therefore, in the B2B sphere, the convenience and efficiency of the service, the ability to promptly resolve issues, search for and compare products, etc. are in the first place for clients.
A properly designed and launched B2B portal allows you to organize effective work with clients, taking into account their requests and includes the following features:
Reduction of interpersonal contacts, objectivity and openness of decisions . When using an online service, the likelihood that the supplier and customer will not come to an agreement or will be unfriendly towards each other is reduced. To select the necessary goods, you can log into your account and not contact the manager.
Orders can be placed 24/7 from anywhere in the world , including mobile devices (a proprietary application can be developed for these purposes). The mobile version of the B2B platform has the same functionality as the desktop version.
Direct access to supplier inventory information by connecting 1C, SAP and other ERP systems.
Providing various levels of access, creating personal pages for employees . Full control at all stages of the transaction is provided, as well as quick adjustment of settings and connection of required business modules at any time.
Advantages of B2B portals
Source: shutterstock.com
When switching to wholesale sales via the Internet, the company's management also receives market advantages:
Reducing the dependence of the trading process on the relationships of its participants. Also, the confidentiality of the client base is guaranteed, since all contacts with the client are carried out directly through the service. Information about all transactions carried out is also stored here. At the same time, you can set up notifications and automate the execution of tasks in order to avoid confusion and deviations from the plan.
The products are becoming more widely represented in the markets.
The workload of managers is limited while sales increase.
Possibility of testing business hypotheses based on various indicators (average bill, product ratings, order frequency).
In this case, it is most appropriate to use a low-code platform, in particular, with a B2B portal homepage designer. Thanks to this tool, the administrator can easily and without special mechanisms change the appearance and position of the portal homepage elements: add blocks with information about the offered products and events, customize the main menu items, move page elements, etc. Thus, there are many options for testing various business hypotheses in a short time and without significant investments.
Increased customer loyalty. By establishing close relationships with customers, a B2B company will certainly increase their loyalty.
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