Achieving the same level of service and ease of website navigation as found in the business-to-consumer model is imperative for any distributor looking to grow online revenue, says Michael Nagrant, principal consultant at Codifyd Inc., in 7 Key Investments to Grow Online Revenue.
According to the Acquity Group 2013 State of B2B Procurement Study, 71 percent of corporate buyers would purchase more products online if it were easier and more convenient to browse and buy from a distributor’s website.
“Online revenue is a cheaper transaction for your organization relative to inside sales,” Nagrant says. “That’s not to say that those things shouldn’t go hand in hand, but there’s a great opportunity for you to earn higher margins in your business and more revenue as you move online.”
Focus e-commerce investment in seven key areas for the greatest impact and highest return: product categorization, product characteristics, product data gathering, data normalization, merchandising through product images and copy, establishing a single source of truth and keyword search.
Read more about growing online revenue in 7 Key Investments to Grow Online Revenue.