Create Your Winning Sales Strategy for Building The Best Online B2B Marketplace
eCommerce is booming for wholesalers in this advanced age of technology. Today, 65% of business-to-business (B2B) companies in industries are operating online. B2B eCommerce sales are expected to reach about $1.67 trillion by this year.
Thanks to online B2B marketplaces like Alibaba, Seebiz, and Amazon where wholesalers are able to sell easily and enjoy reasonable profits.
For example, Alibaba has set up new trends for wholesale marketplaces. It has enjoyed huge growth and success during the past fiscal year which closed on March 31, 2022. It made a revenue of $32,188 million. The consumers of Alibaba around the world have grown to over 1.31 billion. Other B2B marketplaces are growing as well.
Here’s the strategy to make a successful online B2B marketplace yourself and generate more sales.
Good UI and UX
Sales have much to do with user experience. A blend of good user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design increases the chances of conversion.
Your website design should be attractive, easy to navigate, and should be compatible with any device. A well-designed website has a 200% chance of converting leads into sales more than a poorly-designed website.
Your website’s loading time is one of the most crucial aspects you should focus on. A website that opens within seconds has a 2.5 times higher conversion rate than a website that takes a while.
Once a website loads, the first thing is the home page. Design your home page in a way that leads customers into exploring products. Use interesting call-to-action (CTA) marketing phrases on your home page to trigger sales.
Your UX should be easy and better for both sellers and buyers. Implement user personalization on your website. An example is Amazon. It provides results and recommendations based on user search history.
Good personalized features on an online B2B marketplace should be based on:
Based on these preferences, you should provide them with relevant:
Omnichannel
The growth of technology has led to the development of multiple online channels in eCommerce. An average of 89% of businesses with a strong Omni channel framework retain their customers better. Also, 94% of B2B decision-makers find omnichannel to be the most effective sales model.
In the United States, B2B buyers use 10 channels in their buying decision process. Along with a website, you can expand your online B2B marketplace to multiple channels.
mCommerce
The most important channel is the mobile phone. As of 2022, 6.6 billion people in the world use smartphones. 92.4% of global internet users use the internet on mobile devices.
Your website should be optimized for mobile phones. A mobile-friendly website provides an easy experience for users. In fact, many popular online B2B marketplaces have developed their own mobile applications. Some of them are:
These applications are designed just like websites. Buyers get a similar buying experience in these mobile apps.
Social media
Social media is very popular. Approximately 4.65 billion people in the world use social media. There are many social media platforms to build your online presence on. Popular platforms include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Take Alibaba for instance. It is already the world’s largest online B2B marketplace. It is growing even larger by taking advantage of social media. It keeps engaging its audience with marketing posts on its social channels.
Whether it is its Facebook page, Instagram handle, or TikTok account, Alibaba stays connected with its audience everywhere. Other marketplaces are available on most social media platforms. These are followed by millions of people.
Your availability on multiple channels means that you are going to get traffic from multiple areas. More traffic gets you more sales.
Multiple payment options
When you start an online B2B marketplace you keep a target audience in mind. By using demographics in your research, you’ll know where you want to sell. If you want the location then you need to implement multiple payment options to facilitate buyers from that region.
If we are targeting US buyers, you need to integrate multiple payment methods available in the US. The payment methods include:
Some of the notable trusted payment gateways in the US are:
It is interesting fact to note that some marketplaces have launched their own payment gateways such as:
Subscription models
Several online B2B marketplaces offer subscription models to sellers. The basic or free model usually offers limited features. There are different subscription levels that require users to pay more to get more features.
The mode of transaction could be either daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. Subscription commerce sales are expected to reach about $33 billion by 2022.
Subscription models assist companies in growing. For example, Netflix evolved from a video rental service to a subscription-based streaming service in 1999. The subscription model has led to Netflix becoming a global success in the present era.
For example, Alibaba has currently five annual seller plans:
Flexible shipping options
It is important to keep buyers’ preferences in mind while deciding on shipping options. Buyers want customized shipping options. Some want to spend less even if they receive their shipments late. Some want quick delivery and are willing to spend more. 93% of online buyers want free shipping.
The popular fulfillment services in the United States for online B2B marketplaces include:
Brand awareness
If you want to attract more traffic to your online B2B marketplace, brand awareness is the key. You need to prepare content that grabs your audience’s attention. Promote your marketplace by producing effective content.
78% of B2B content marketers are successful in building trust with their buyers. 57% have been successful in gaining sales with their content.
There are many examples of your content:
You can produce content in many ways including:
If you want your content to generate sales:
You need to connect with your audience. Use the PAS formula in your content:
Some of the important points in content marketing to note are:
Extensive marketing
Promote your online B2B marketplace through digital marketing. Try to promote it across multiple channels. Here are some of the ways to make sellers and buyers aware of your platform:
Social media marketing
Advertise your marketplace on social media platforms. You need to opt for some paid advertisement and the platform takes care of the rest. You can boost your business page on Facebook to get more audience engagement.
The more you spend on marketing, the more people you reach and the better your chances of generating leads.
Pay-per-click advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) is a marketing model in which search engines like Google promote your website through ads. The ad is shown on top of the search results page.
When a visitor clicks on the link, you need to pay for that click. Many online B2B marketplaces use the PPC model on Google Ads to get the audience’s attention.
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization is the most successful medium of marketing for businesses. In a 2017 survey, it was found that 32% of marketers believe SEO has the highest return on investment (ROI). You need to promote your online B2B marketplace on search engines to make it visible to the maximum number of people.
Your website should have good content for strong marketing. The page which is being optimized for SEO should contain top trending keywords. Tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush are good in SEO to promote your marketplace.
Email marketing
Email marketing is perhaps the most popular and effective method for marketers. Marketers have stated that email marketing has generated a median ROI of 124%. Email marketing software such as Mailchimp assists in:
Design good email marketing campaigns in your email that includes a link to take the visitor to your online B2B marketplace. The page which opens by clicking that marketing link is called a landing page. It should have a good design and CTA to capture the user’s interest.
If a recipient clicks on that link, you should ensure that your buyer is convinced to sign up. Industry experts suggest that addressing and resolving buyers’ fears on the landing page has a conversation rate of 80%. Use software like Unbounce and Hubspot to build the best landing page for your online B2B marketplace.
Social networking
Create a social networking environment for businesses on your online B2B marketplace. A newsfeed or timeline with an experience like Facebook for businesses is a good way for business circles to connect with each other.
Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers are able to share their views, industry news, and products with one another. This social networking specifically the business community is the best and unique feature for online B2B marketplaces.
Encourage customer feedback
Good businesses value their customers. Customers feel confident by reading other customers’ reviews. Display customer feedback on your online B2B marketplace. Whether it is positive or negative, just show it.
This shows visitors that you value your customers. 92% of B2B buyers make a purchase decision after reading customer reviews. So, it is essential to add reviews to your website.
Not just show their reviews. Engage with your customers. Conduct surveys. If customers are facing issues, resolve their issues. Most online B2B marketplaces have chatbots to help their customers with issues.
So, implement such features for a better customer experience. A happy customer brings 17 times more revenue than a dissatisfied customer.
Conclusion
Using these options to build your online B2B marketplace is going to generate more sales. Offering wholesalers and retailers something unique is what makes you different from others. Unique offers with reasonable prices get you more traffic. So, follow these strategies to revolutionize wholesale eCommerce.
Author Bio:
Angela Gray is a digital marketer who helps grow online businesses and boosts their sales leads. She uses a mix of proven and experimental tactics to generate leads and manage marketing that plays a major role in a business’s growth.
Angela enjoys the ever-changing world of B2B business. She’s responsible for dealing with all marketing channels, and managing content and SEO.
