B2B and B2C website. In what difference?

Approximately in 2006-2008 among medium-sized and the large trading wholesale companies it became popular to create own websites. Their purpose and the main role - it is simple to take the place in network. Gradually many companies began to see in the websites and technologies and commercial application - filling the website with information on products, and doing advertizing it became possible to find new buyers who will download the price list from the website and will contact the sales manager.

As of 2013 we endure the next technology stage when the companies from a B2B-segment plan and turn the website into means of interaction with the clients. Such approach has a number of indisputable advantages:

• the website works 24 hours, respectively there are no borders on work with clients from other time zones;
• up-to-date information about goods and the prices of online is available to clients - it reduces time for approval of deliveries;
• the client can independently make out himself a bill, create the reconciliation statement and so forth. It strongly reduces load of sales managers of the supplier and so forth.

When the company makes the decision to create on the website similar functionality for customer interaction, there is a question, what technical means to use.

A number of suppliers have quite quite good and effective online stores for sale of goods at retail. As there is already a selling website, apparently, that it can become the base and for wholesale online store or as it still it is possible to call 'B2B-systems' or 'the systems of Internet distribution'. This opinion mistakenly and often leads the company to the fact that the project on creation of a B2B-system drags on at first for months, and then for years. Even if the project is started, as a rule, because of insufficiency of functionality by it only the small percent of clients and consequently the project turns out unprofitable uses.

In what a difference between online store and a B2B-system?

• In a B2B-system in a card of goods and in the list of goods clients should see a stock remainder, often with indication of the name of a warehouse. In certain cases existence and on several warehouses can be displayed. Example:

• Often, in a personal account for clients there has to be an opportunity to select the agreement on which goods prices can depend. Sometimes the different goods are bought under different agreements. When changing the agreement also the prices in the directory should change.

• In the system of Internet distribution existence of function of export of stock balance is obligatory. It helps clients quicker and more conveniently to upload goods to the site.

• Also strongly also the principle of work of the buyer of normal online store differs from the wholesale buyer doing the order in a personal account of the supplier. In online store the user performs the main operations in the directory, and then makes out the order in a basket. In a B2B-system the buyer spends the main time in the section 'orders'. It something similar to a basket of normal online store, but in difference from a basket, with orders in a B2B-system can be operated-integrated, added goods to earlier created orders (if on them there was no payment and implementation), it is possible to trace order statuses and to do to them comments. Example of the orders menu of a B2B-system:

It does not make sense to compare to a basket of normal online store even - there is nothing in common at all though these sections and execute one and a touch function, but for a different type of clients.

• In difference from a basket where the client makes out the order, the wholesale buyer constantly makes changes to structure of the order, issues accounts, can import the list of articles to the order. So work with the order of the wholesale and retail buyer strikingly differ. An example of functionality of work with orders in a personal account of a system of Internet distribution:

• Unlike the retail buyer, the wholesale buyer most often knows what specifically goods he wants to order, and even knows its article. Therefore, for simplification of process of the order, the wholesaler can add goods to the order directly in the order, using context search by the article, the name or sign of goods. The present possibility besides is distinctive feature of a B2B-system and to hardly anyone the similar functionality in a basket of normal online store will meet:

• The next feature of business clients is that they can create orders within a week, and then integrate them in one. It is convenient because it is more convenient to pay only one bill, and respectively at the same time there will be less document flow. At execution of each order the goods are reserved and, depending on the arrangement with the supplier, can be kept in reserve several days. For implementation of this opportunity there is a function of consolidation of orders.

Today the principles of work usual to us online stores were already created also nothing new we, most likely we will see. But wholesale business only begins to apply Internet technologies to sales increase and decrease in resources on operating activities. With the advent of this task there are many questions - how to do a similar system on what platform, at what customer, what functionality it should have and so forth.

The wholesale companies which decided to create a B2B-system first of all should understand that a B2B-system is not online store with adding of several functions at all. It is essentially in a different way the working business system.

Besides, CMS systems existing in the market on which fine online stores turn out are not suitable for creation of a B2B-system at all. Selecting the contractor, the wholesale company, first of all, should look not at experience of creation of online stores, and at experience of creation of B2B-systems working at the market.

Author: Konstantin Trofimov, CEO of CentroBit