Successful B2B eCommerce with Integrated Spare Parts Shop
According to the German study "Branchenreport B2B E-Commerce" by IFH Cologne, the entire B2B eCommerce market reached a volume of almost 1,300 billion euros in 2018, accounting for around 24 percent of the total revenue of all economic sectors considered.
According to the German study "Branchenreport B2B E-Commerce" by IFH Cologne, the entire B2B eCommerce market reached a volume of almost 1,300 billion euros in 2018, accounting for around 24 percent of the total revenue of all economic sectors considered.
Most of this eCommerce was realized via automated processes (EDI). However, the greatest growth is generated via websites, online stores, and marketplaces (without EDI).
B2B eCommerce: That's why it works
The biggest drivers are the customers themselves. In their private lives, they are used to making purchases of all kinds over the Internet, having access to self-service portals, and being able to place orders, make complaints, and return goods on their own. This expectation is now being transferred to the B2B world.
This development is reinforced by the fact that B2B buyers are becoming younger and younger. As digital natives, they are accustomed to obtaining information independently online, regardless of time and location, making purchases over the Internet, using customer portals, chatting with chatbots, and much more.
However, B2B eCommerce - if implemented correctly - also offers numerous opportunities and benefits for companies in the mechanical engineering, plant engineering, vehicle manufacturing and equipment manufacturing sectors:
- Reduction of process costs through automation
- Increase in sales
- Differentiation from the competition in industries where eCommerce is not yet widespread
- Increasing customer satisfaction by providing customers with an additional channel
- Reaching new customers and markets
Effortless spare parts sales via the integrated B2B store
Selling spare and wear parts via an integrated spare parts shop system offers great potential for online trading in mechanical and plant engineering.
Why an integrated spare parts shop? Your customers or service technicians search for and find the spare part they need via the digital spare parts catalog or the service information system and then want to order it. It would now be a hassle to make an inquiry by phone or e-mail, wait for a quote, and then place the order.
It would be much easier if the users of your spare parts catalog could see availability, prices, and information on delivery times in the system, place the desired part in the shopping cart and submit the order directly. An integrated spare parts store makes all this possible.
