Why choose Hybrid E-commerce over
the typical E-commerce platform
Why Businesses need a Hybrid B2B & B2C E-commerce Platform
A hybrid e-commerce provide Businesses a single dashboard with, a digital infrastructure with shared data, product information, content, and design layout and allows Businesses to deploy sales strategies more efficiently and across multiple markets. Instead of creating a new platform out of scratch, companies can just switch to another platform, begin product configuration, and start selling.
A hybrid e-commerce strategy cancels the problem of content duplication for Businesses ant it is equipped to integrate C2C (Customer to Customer), e.g. eBay for, and C2B platforms, such as an independent seller who sells a product or service to a company.
In B2C the sales process is focused on the individual needs of the customers and prospect thus sales cycles are short and more emotionally driven.
Businesses on the other hand have many factors to take in account and making sales processes complicated and while the sales cycles are longer and driven by logic and rationality.
Reasons to Choose a B2C / B2B Hybrid Ecommerce Platform:
1) Multi-user interface
Although the new E-commerce is a hybrid platform, products, services and brands are visualized with the two different interfaces of B2C and B2B so that both Businesses and Customers can view and purchase the items and services related to their categories.
2) Single Database
The two different market segments on the hybrid E-commerce platform are now managed in one solution with a single database, thus reducing management and administration costs, human resources while increasing the efficiency and the dynamicity of the Businesses.
3) Multi-channel Analysis
With the hybrid E-Commerce platform, Businesses can easily analyze customers’ and Clients’ Shopping Experience, buying habits, and behavior in one database. Businesses can now use this valuable data more efficiently to study which products, services and brands are in the highest demands in order to create customers’ profiles, as well as more efficient and targeted Marketing campaigns etc…
4) Business Optimization
Managing one platform instead of two allows to optimize the entire Business Model by managing everything with one system, saving a huge amount of time as well as financial capital while getting a completed overview of the business results.
Having two different platforms may work for some businesses, but it is always important to analyze and test how the two platform can have synergies and eventually merge them.
Businesses will have an edge against competitors because they will be able to make customized products, services, brands marketing to both Customers and Clients immediately by just changing the interface from B2C to B2C and viceversa.
5) Boosting Marketing and Market Share against Competitors
Normally B2B-only platforms are lacking Consumer features such as rich content and visual merchandising.
A platform vendor with both B2B and B2C commerce will offer a common architecture with shared content and design elements including a customized B2B experience with built in consumer-like features that B2B buyers expect while providing the same Shopping Experience on both interfaces.
Businesses will then expand their Market Share with stronger relationships with their Customers and Clients as well, while tapping into the large B2B space, opening the possibilities to new opportunities.
The unified platform will lead to a new Marketing strategy given that the costs of two Marketing department are managed in one Marketing Budget thus allowing Businesses to implement new and broader Marketing campaigns with fewer costs.
Key Components of a Hybrid E-commerce
1) Order: The ability for Customers and Businesses alike to enter SKU and to select the quantities needed with their pricing in real time will optimize their order instead of calls and e-mails that give time to the users to look to the competitors.
The Shopping experience will be instant, smooth and unified with the same interface and payment providers and it will convince Businesses to finalize their purchase instead of going to other competitors and waiting for an e-mails and estimates.
The Quote Request Button will be always present for B2B buyers who often need customized pricing or shipping options depending on the size and the amount of their orders.
Having a Request a Quote feature integrated into the Hybrid E-commerce will enable Customers and Businesses to create a draft order which will be then updated very quickly providing the final quote which Customers and Businesses can immediately purchase or edit.
2) Accounts Management: Businesses have the same branding and mobile responsive design for both B2B and B2C, but the storefronts and the accounts will have different features: from having specific catalog and pricing structures, messaging, varying promotions, and even B2B or B2C focused articles etc.. to create a unique and customized experience.
3) Inventory Management: Having a single source with a simple way to oversee inventory management is extremely important when choosing a hybrid e-commerce platform. You should have the ability to switch and/or remove products on for users or and markets (B2B vs B2C). This should increase the administration efficiency and transparency for catalog/ inventory management by removing the need to oversee multiple catalogs.