At some point, developing B2B companies will have to choose an e-commerce platform that will effectively serve their e-sales needs. Of the many available options, it is worth considering one of the most popular online platforms, PrestaShop - valued for its flexibility and ease of customization. So let's analyze whether PrestaShop will be the right choice for your B2B business. Let's take a look at the key features that determine success in online sales.
PrestaShop – a good choice for the B2B channel
In the constantly developing e-commerce industry, depending on the offline business we run, we can choose from B2C and B2B platforms. As the company develops, we can choose, for example, a SAAS platform, such as Shoper or Idosell, which enable the efficient opening of an e-store (B2C).
However, if we are interested in the B2B segment and providing customers with tools tailored to their specific needs, it is necessary to use more advanced solutions. In this context, PrestaShop may seem at least an interesting solution. Thanks to extensive modules and functions, the platform enables not only effective wholesale sales, but also customer education in the best practices in this segment. PrestaShop is the perfect extension for your business, allowing you to create a personalized B2B platform tailored to the unique needs of your wholesale customers.
In PrestaShop, the introduction of the B2B (Business to Business) mode in the recent version 1.5 opens up additional possibilities for online stores. This mode allows you to treat customers like businesses, which means adding new features. The customer profile is expanded with additional fields. We also have the option of masking prices, which allows you to manage prices at the customer level for the entire catalog or a selected category. Another new feature is the ability to manually generate invoices, which gives you additional control over the process. Activating the B2B mode is a step towards professionalizing the online store, enabling you to tailor the shopping experience to the specific needs of business customers. It is a tool that can help increase customer loyalty and sales effectiveness. You might want to consider turning it on to offer a more personalized and professional approach.
The latest trends in e-commerce – marketplaces and B2B platforms
Two significant trends have been emerging in the "e-commerce" landscape for a long time - the growing number of specialized marketplace platforms and the dynamic development of the B2B sector. In the context of the first trend, there is a noticeable increase in the number of niche marketplace platforms in various industries.
On the other hand, the B2B segment is becoming a good direction for entrepreneurs avoiding absorption by large marketplace platforms that dominate the B2C market. However, competition in the B2B segment is also growing, which makes promoting your store more and more challenging.
Fortunately, B2B tools developed on marketplace platforms have still not reached the expected level from the customer's point of view. This opens up new opportunities for smaller B2B companies that can effectively reach their customers and serve them as expected.
It is also interesting that for many B2B companies, unlike B2C companies, an online store is not intended to acquire new customers online. Many of them decide to hide prices and assortment, making them available only after registration and conversation with a sales representative. Why? Because the goal of these companies is not to compete in the area of online visibility or advertising, but to provide professional tools for customers to place orders and exchange information.
PrestaShop advantages that will benefit the B2B segment
PrestaShop, although initially not intended to offer solutions for the B2B sector, as it later turned out, also proved to be excellent in this segment. The enormous possibilities of adapting the store to the needs of B2B companies, thanks to integration with ERP systems and module implementation, put the platform at the forefront of e-commerce.
The platform offers unlimited possibilities of adaptation to business needs thanks to full open code and extensive modules. The open architecture of the software allows for modifications, which gives you independence in adapting functions to the company's requirements. It not only efficiently handles wholesale sales, but also serves as a customer education tool. Open code allows not only effective sales management, but also active participation in customer education in the latest industry strategies.
Implementing PrestaShop B2B opens the door to a number of functions that allow for effective service of wholesale customers. Some functionalities worth paying attention to when planning a B2B store:
- Adjusting the discount system to the company's business model:
- threshold discounts;
- Loyalty program;
- manual adding of the customer to a specific discount group by the account manager;
- verification of new customers by the administrator;
- visibility of selected products for customers from specific e-commerce segments;
- option to access selected products only after logging in and verification;
- showing users net and gross prices;
- identifying the customer's country and displaying appropriate prices without logging in;
- facilitating the ordering of products;
- shopping via a list form (adding multiple products from one view);
- quickly adding additional products using SKU or name;
- integrating the store with ERP;
- possibility of ordering a set of goods based on an Excel or CSV file;
- the customer prepares an order file according to the store format; vdropshipping in the PrestaShop B2B store;
- having several user accounts;
- different access levels for different users;
- logistical minimums and the need to order a specific quantity of goods to obtain a better price or free delivery;
- automation of the registration process.
The B2B e-commerce platform is easy to adapt to the most demanding business needs. Continuously developed functions provide effective and individualized solutions for customers.
What functionalities in the B2B online store are particularly appreciated by our customers? Here is the list:
- manual client activation after registration - activation of the client to the requirements, ensuring control over the registration process,
- NIP validation upon registration - ensures the accuracy of customer data through automatic validation of NIP numbers during registration,
- downloading data based on the Tax Identification Number - making it easier for customers to go through the registration process by automatically downloading data based on the Tax Identification Number,
- EU VAT validation - verification of the correctness of VAT numbers for transactions within the European Union,
- price thresholds - flexible price thresholds to reward customer loyalty, e.g. by offering discounts on a specific quantity of goods purchased,
- easy adding to cart from the product list view - optimized ordering process, enabling customers to quickly add products to the cart without having to go to a separate product page,
- division into warehouses - organization of effective inventory management, enabling customers to choose different warehouse locations,
- visibility of availability in warehouses – customers are informed about the availability of products in various warehouses to increase the transparency of the ordering process,
- PIM (Product Information Management) - product information management system, for example Akeneo, for precise product data management,
- multiple accounts within one company divided into roles - giving different company departments individual authorizations within one organization,
- trade credit - flexible payment terms, enabling customers to benefit from delayed payments,
- multi-stage order verification - securing the ordering process by introducing multi-stage verification, tailored to the specific nature of the business,
- order export - exporting order data in formats enabling easy analysis and reporting,
- integration with external ERP – in particular requesting orders, customers, products and invoices,
- WMS (Warehouse Management System) - a warehouse management system (WMS) that optimizes logistics operations.
The introduction of these functions will make PrestaShop not only an e-commerce platform, but a comprehensive tool supporting the efficiency and development of B2B business.
Ask if you are interested in a B2B store on the PrestaShop platform