Though open-source options, like Magento, supply larger management and suppleness over website customizations, they usually contain a excessive complete price of possession (TCO) by way of software program, internet hosting, implementation and help charges. And as your corporation outgrows your open-source know-how, chances are you’ll search to modernize your B2B ecommerce setting and shift to an Open SaaS answer.
Enter BigCommerce.
With the mixed advantages of open supply and SaaS, BigCommerce provides a turnkey answer that permits ecommerce companies to answer fast-changing buyer calls for. Even with an increasing product catalog, B2B companies can enhance how they merchandize with out worrying about platform upkeep complications and considerably scale back the necessity for personalization.
However as many B2B ecommerce retailers might know, making the large swap from open supply to SaaS isn’t all the time a stroll within the park.
For steerage, we sat down with Vik Gundoju, Accomplice at StrikeTru, to learn the way their company helps B2B shoppers migrate to BigCommerce utilizing StrikeTru’s Akeneo PIM Connector.
What Are A number of the Deciding Elements for Proposing BigCommerce to Your Purchasers?
VG: “We work with quite a lot of small- and medium-sized companies and retailers, and I’ve seen a number of shoppers, together with bigger shoppers, that battle with having a superb on-line presence once they have a Magento backend.
“It’s primarily as a result of it’s an open-source platform that isn’t as simple to arrange and keep. It has an excessive amount of flexibility and when you’ve got a platform like that, you want a improvement staff that’s well-versed in Magento, and your necessities must also warrant the pliability and related prices of the platform.
“We additionally felt that for B2B performance, BigCommerce provides out-of-box performance at a really compelling value, and it comes with such good help.
“We knew that with BigCommerce, we [could] choose up the cellphone and get a [customer support representative] inside a minute, and, in my expertise, they have been very educated. All of this stuff put collectively make us comfy in proposing BigCommerce.”
What Was Your Expertise Creating the Market Connector App and the Ease of Integrating Akeneo PIM with the BigCommerce Platform?
VG: “Based mostly on [advice from BigCommerce], we developed an app that synchronizes all of the product knowledge constructions, knowledge and belongings within the Akeneo Product Data Administration (PIM) system into the backend of BigCommerce.
“It’s a totally API-based system, so I had my staff take a look at the APIs, and so they have been pleasantly shocked that there’s a number of useful documentation accessible in your web site.
“We shortly acquired a trial website going so we might begin experimenting. Then, we had entry to the help staff, which we truthfully didn’t want a lot as a result of there was a lot documentation accessible. We have been already working with some accounts, so we have been conversant in the performance of BigCommerce … However what made it tremendous simple to construct a connector was the truth that the APIs are so complete and well-documented. We have been type of self-servicing ourselves, which is nice. We by no means ran right into a wall creating the Akeneo PIM connector with BigCommerce — and that’s massive.”
What are A number of the Benefits of Working with an Company like StrikeTru?
VG: “Particularly throughout COVID, we’ve seen that most individuals at the moment are shopping for merchandise on-line — so corporations have to remodel to answer the surge on digital channels. There’s no “ifs” and “buts.”
“To remodel, you must resolve your core know-how and knowledge points. Greatest practices right here embrace deploying new tech instruments, implementing agile knowledge administration practices after which making your knowledge very usable and transportable throughout departments and throughout your buyer and associate ecosystems.
“Usually what we discover is corporations, particularly SMBs, don’t have experience on these instruments and don’t have the employees who can arrange and function these instruments, particularly to start with phases — that’s the place the businesses are available in.
“We usher in finest practices in deploying these instruments. We convey within the experience on these instruments that the businesses don’t have; we all know deploy and configure them, and combine them. We’re additionally knowledge architects and know resolve knowledge challenges. We’re additionally course of re-engineering individuals. We get to know all the shopper’s knowledge and commerce processes and re-engineer them to finest leverage the brand new tech instruments. We align shopper necessities with the capabilities of those instruments, and in addition present venture administration and coaching companies to assist keep away from stalled or failed initiatives.”
How Does Transferring a B2B Enterprise On-line Influence the Gross sales Workforce if They Had been Beforehand Supporting B2B Clients?
VG: “What’s occurred — and that is one thing {that a} wholesale distributor of commercial provides instructed me after I interviewed them up to now — historically, that they had good margins on all types of product strains, near 30% — and that afforded them the flexibility to have direct gross sales individuals promote these merchandise to their prospects.
“However now, due to Amazon and all the worth transparency and intense competitors on-line, for sure merchandise which can be commodities, the margins have shrunk to a degree the place the enterprise can’t all the time help a direct salesperson. So, they’ve to go surfing with these merchandise.
“Now, what the distributor needed to do is actually begin promoting extra of these commodities on-line, similar to a set of micro websites or energy instruments — it’s a commodity class. You’ll be able to stroll into Lowes or Dwelling Depot and get these merchandise. You don’t want a high-end gross sales man to promote these to you.
“The margins are low, so the one approach to earn cash there may be to leverage all their current relationships and entry to product and distribution, after which promote on-line and survive even on these decrease margins as a result of they’re scaled. Then, get rid of the salesperson out of the equation as a result of they’re excessive fee.”
What Methods Did Your B2B Purchasers Use to Onboard Clients to Purchase On-line?
VG: “I’ve had some B2B shoppers desirous to transition away from relationship-based gross sales and onboard prospects to purchase on-line, and infrequently they’re slowed down in know-how points and getting all of it working correctly for B2B. In addition they have channel battle to fret about. So there are different challenges that they need to account for earlier than they’ll transfer quite a lot of their shoppers in mass.
“I feel channel battle is a key one. They want to ensure their present gross sales staff is introduced into it, even when it means they’ve to regulate their gross sales compensation, no matter it’s. As soon as these discussions occur, I feel they’ve a wholesale purchase in, then they’ll aggressively transfer their prospects on-line. I’d say know-how and knowledge points, in the event that they overcome that, then they’ll resolve their gross sales and enterprise points. After that’s once they would actually go at it.”
What Recommendation Would You Give to Different B2B Firms Trying to Shift Their Enterprise On-line?
VG: “If I can say one factor: Don’t wait. You don’t have time, so get began now.
“In in the present day’s digital-first setting, it’s essential to digitize operations and digitize now, in any other case you threat being out-competed and changing into irrelevant. In case you are going by means of a digital transformation, assess your present state of content material and commerce operations and develop an implementation roadmap and be methodical about that. You’ll be able to take a crawl, stroll and run implementation strategy with in the present day’s trendy instruments. You shouldn’t really feel like you’ll want to resolve for every thing [from] day one. You’ll be able to all the time resolve some high-priority use circumstances first and transfer on to others subsequent — that’s the place a roadmap is available in.”
“I’ve had quite a lot of shoppers who’re very anxious about seeing outcomes immediately, and I feel the important thing message is it’s an funding — so you must be slightly affected person. You need to make investments first, after which you must have lifelike expectations on what this funding is doing for you, whether or not it’s commerce or content material. Don’t be impatient, since you may get disillusioned and transfer on. It’s steady stakes in the present day. So you must do it. Put money into it and do it proper.”
Discover the B2B Ecommerce Answer from BigCommerce
Are you a B2B enterprise seeking to make the bounce from open supply to SaaS? Schedule a demo for BigCommerce B2B Version, and our migration consultants will probably be comfortable to help you within the transition. And for additional insights on all issues B2B, try The State of B2B Ecommerce: 2022 Pattern Report.
