Personalization and omni channel for better b2b e-commerce results

Let’s dive into the term “personalization” first. And then specifically what this term means in relation to e-commerce. Personalization in e-commerce means creating personal interactions and experiences for (potential) customers online. This personalization can be based on several factors. For example, the customer’s previous purchases, surfing behavior, geographical location, language and other personal information.

While B2C e-commerce has already made great strides in this area, B2B e-commerce is still lagging behind in this area. That is a missed opportunity, because personalization works. And with more and more B2B buyers expecting the same online experience they get from B2C companies, providing personalization for both business models is essential.

At Acorel, we distinguish five maturity levels of personalization in e-commerce:

• Show personalized prices: Customers can see their prices directly online and do not have to call to request them.

• Show personalized products and recommendations: You know what customers ordered in the past, what they clicked on and what interests them. You show products that fall into the same product group.

• Show personalized content: Different information about the product is often required per industry. The most relevant content for your customer is at the top.

• Offering a digital platform: Customers log in to this platform and can indicate their preferences here.

• Implementing the omni-channel personalization: This point needs more explanation. That is why we will tell you more about the term ‘omni-channel’ below.

What is omni-channel and how does it affect online results?

Your customers want to buy products on their own terms: when, where and how they want. Applying a multi-channel strategy is not enough for this, because then you create separate, independent channels. What does work? An omni-channel strategy, where marketing, sales and customer service provide one consistent and optimal customer experience.

And what is the influence of an omni-channel experience on the online results? We would like to illustrate this with two examples. In the first example, there is no question of an omni-channel experience:

Dirk is a facility employee and he discovers that the security cameras around the business premises are outdated. He goes online to orientate himself on new cameras and soon finds a camera that meets all the requirements. He decides to seek approval for the purchase from his manager.

Dirk has actually already forgotten about the cameras when, a week later, he suddenly receives an email with approval from his manager. He is working at home and types in the address of the webshop. When he wants to pay, he realizes that it is more convenient to make the purchase immediately with a business debit card – which he does not have at home.

The next day he is at the office and goes back to the webshop to pay. He is disappointed when he sees that his data has not been saved and the order is no longer in the shopping cart. He fills everything in manually again and orders.

That afternoon he suddenly comes across an online advertisement: a ten percent discount on the cameras he ordered this morning. Frustrated, he clicks away the ad and decides not to order from that web shop in the future.

And in this example there is an omni-channel experience:

Here too, Dirk orientates himself online on new cameras and finds a camera that meets all requirements. He again asks his manager for approval.

When he scrolls through LinkedIn a day later, he sees a discounted ad on that camera. He registers for the discount code, but waits for a response from his manager. In the days that follow, he comes across the advertisement on various channels.

A week later, while Dirk is working at home, he finally gets permission from his manager. He goes back to the webshop and puts the cameras in his shopping cart. But when he wants to pay, he realizes that it is more convenient to make the purchase immediately with a business debit card – which he does not have at home.

The next day he is at the office and reads his e-mail. He sees an email with the subject: “Did you forget something, Dirk?” He opens the email and sees a link to the security camera. He quickly clicks on it and makes the order.

As you can see in these examples, an omni-channel experience makes your customer’s life easier. The customer also feels seen, in a very subtle way. And you will see that in your online results.

SAP Commerce Cloud: Provide a personalized, omni-channel experience

Are you convinced of the benefits of a personalized and omni-channel experience, but don’t know where to start? We fully understand that. You could personalize everything, but we recommend starting small. For example, look at the five maturity levels and go step by step to the next level, so that the customer experience gets better and better. SAP Commerce Cloud supports you in this.

With Commerce Cloud, you can completely tailor products and services to your industry or target group. In addition, you can use standard options to integrate the platform with other SAP solutions such as Emarsys, Sales and Service. And those integrations add to the omni-channel experience.

Commerce Cloud also ensures that your customers see the correct product data and that your product range is optimally presented on every channel. You can see this as a good basis, which makes a personalized, omni-channel experience even more effective. You can read more about this in our article Get full control over product data.

Achieve better online results with SAP Commerce Cloud

Do you also want to achieve better online results? Read all about SAP Commerce Cloud here and request a demo. Would you rather spar with one of our customer experience specialists right away? Contact us