How to Grow and Excel in
your B2B eCommerce Niche

eCommerce successfully made inroads into the B2C domain, predominantly with Amazon and eBay. Now, its presence is felt in B2B segment too. eCommerce is creating a shift in the way B2B business is held – from customer acquisition to customer retention, from order fulfillment to building relationship with customers. Thanks to this, there is now a huge rush among B2B businesses to adopt eCommerce. While most B2B businesses are working hard to stay relevant in this rapidly changing environment, some businesses stand out making things look very easy. In this article, we discuss how eCommerce players can grow and excel at the B2B eCommerce niche.

It is from these businesses there is so much that companies can learn. In this article, we will look at two such companies, Findtape.com and Onehandsupply.com. Both the companies made their presence felt in their respective niches and learn from their experience.

Findtape.com
We all have seen our favorite actors and actresses sashay down the red carpet at the coveted Academy Award Night or Cannes Film Festival. We have tirelessly talked about their sense of fashion, the designer they endorsed, and more. But, have you ever wondered what keeps that famous Red carpet firm to the ground, weathering everything that comes its way (or rather comes on it).

The answer is Gaffers tape. This tape is pressure-resistant duct tape with a strong adhesive. However, unlike the traditional duct tape, this is backed by a vinyl material that doesn’t reflect light. The adhesive is designed to stick without leaving traces after being pulled out. This tape is also used for a number of heavy-duty commercial and industrial activities like sealing armaments on the US Navy ships.

Findtape.com operates in this niche and is a name to reckon with. Started in the year 2004, FindTape provides quality gaffers tapes of all dimensions, colors, and strength catering to different segments. FindTape caters to both businesses and individual customers across North America, Europe, and Asia.

It was not easy for FindTape to grow as they faced stiff competition. However, what gave them an edge over their competition was their move to leverage Amazon marketplace, back in 2007. There was a time when they received 100+ orders from their website, while they received 350-400 orders each weekday from Amazon. Kevin Mahoney, the CEO of FindTape once mentioned that nearly 75% of their sales orders come from Amazon.

Onehandsupply.com
Industrial pumps lie at the heart of any industrial complex carrying oil, slurry, food, chemicals, etc. as they are required for everyday operations. Assembling, testing, and shipping industrial pumps is not an easy job – and onehandsupply.com takes pride in making this complex job look easy.

Onehandsupply.com has carved out a strong presence in this niche of manufacturing and selling ANSI centrifugal industrial pumps. The pumps are manufactured, assembled, and tested in China, while the stocking and delivery are handled from the five warehouses spread across the USA.

One hand supply differentiated itself from its competitors by selling through their eCommerce store (powered by Magento), delivering products within 1-2 business days across the USA, and by offering value added services such as trimming and balancing impellers. With nearly half of their sales coming from their eCommerce store, Magento made it easy for them to integrate the inventory levels across multiple warehouses with their eCommerce store.

If you have more than one warehouse you need to be able to track inventory, know where it is and automatically calculate the shipping rate – Jihu Takh, Manager of Operations, OnHandSupply

The President of Onehandsupply.com, Jeff Winkel, was absolutely certain of the role of their eCommerce store in the growth of the company.
“It was pretty clear to me where people’s buying habits were headed,” Winkel says. “95% of people buy personal items on the Internet. These are the same people who go to work and become your industrial customers.”

How can i95Dev help you replicate their success?

FindTape.com Scenario
What helped FindTape gain an edge over their competition was their decision to sell on Amazon marketplace. Amazon and other online marketplaces can act as an amazing partner to accelerate the growth of your business. They give you access to a large consumer base with little incremental effort; which otherwise would require a lot of budget and effort.

i95Dev can help B2B businesses sell on online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon by integrating them with their eCommerce store. We can further automate and streamline this by extending the integration to include the ERP system as well.

We have helped a number of clients go multi-channel with little incremental effort. One of our clients ProAudioStar was able to achieve a top rated seller rating on eBay thanks to Magento, Dynamics ERP, and Online marketplace integration. ProAudioStar has received nearly 17K+ positive ratings for shipping time, a direct result of automating the tracking code creation process.

Onehandsupply.com Scenario
While Amazon was the key differentiator for FindTape, their eCommerce store was what gave Onehandsupply their edge. However, it was not just the online presence, but also the efficiencies they could extract by synchronizing inventory between their eCommerce store and their warehouses.

i95Dev can help B2B businesses not only with their eCommerce effort (we are Magento Professional Partners) but also drive efficiency with our advanced B2B modules (like Multi-warehouse Management) and eCommerce ERP integration products (we are world leaders in Magento and Dynamics ERP integration).

We have helped over 150+ clients across industries (from both B2B and B2C verticals) streamline and automate business processes and drive operational efficiencies with our Magento ERP integration products. We have out of the box integration solution for Dynamics GP, Dynamics NAV, Dynamics AX, SAP B1, Sage 100 and more.

In addition to the integration frameworks with various ERPs, we also provide numerous add-ons for enhancing the Magento functionality.

• Sales Person Module

Sales representatives continue to play a very important role in the growth of a B2B business and the biggest mistake a B2B business could make while adopting eCommerce platform is to ignore their needs. The sales representatives can accelerate your business growth and drive customer experience by leveraging an eCommerce platform.

To help your business achieve overcome the above challenge, we developed a Salesperson module. It extends your ecommerce store to, both, help businesses manage salespersons effectively and to arm your sales representatives with the right information. While Magento 2 Enterprise Edition comes included with the feature, our modules extend this feature to Magento 2 community edition and older versions of Magento. Additionally, these modules leverage on i95Dev’s Magento ERP connectors to synchronize the information back to ERP.

For more information, read our blog B2B eCommerce – Sales Person Module for Magento.

• Advanced Quotation Module

A sales quote is usually the first step of any B2B transaction. Imagine the impact an online sales quotation module can have on your sales cycle and conversions. With the ability to create, modify and approve sales quotation online your customer can now quickly negotiate and convert quotes into orders; a process which could have taken days earlier can now be quickly completed in a few hours.
With this in mind, we have designed an Advanced Quotation module that helps businesses manage, validate, change and approve quotes on the go. While Magento 2 Enterprise Edition comes included with the feature, our modules extend this feature to Magento 2 community edition and older versions of Magento. Additionally, these modules leverage on i95Dev’s Magento ERP connectors to synchronize the information back to ERP.
For more information, read our blog B2B eCommerce: Sales Quote Module for Magento.

• Credit Limits, Net Terms and Bill Pay

Credit purchases, payment terms, and bill payments are at the core of all the B2B truncations. A B2B eCommerce store must support these for successful internal and external adoption.
i95Dev’s Credit Limits, Net Terms, and Bill Pay modules extend your eCommerce store to enable your customers to purchase products on credit and settle invoices online on pre-agreed terms. Additionally, these modules leverage on i95Dev’s Magento ERP connectors to synchronize the information back to ERP.
For more information about i95Dev’s Bill Pay module, read our blog Get B2B Customers on Board with i95Dev’s Bill Pay Module for Magento.
There is more to what we have to offer. For details contact i95Dev here.
“You choose your niche, we enforce your writ”