Though open-source options, like Magento, provide higher management and suppleness over website customizations, they usually contain a excessive whole 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, you could search to modernize your B2B ecommerce surroundings and shift to an Open SaaS resolution.
Enter BigCommerce.
With the mixed advantages of open supply and SaaS, BigCommerce affords a turnkey resolution 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 personalisation.
However as many B2B ecommerce retailers could know, making the massive change from open supply to SaaS isn’t all the time a stroll within the park.
For steerage, we sat down with Vik Gundoju, Companion at StrikeTru, to find out how their company helps B2B shoppers migrate to BigCommerce utilizing StrikeTru’s Akeneo PIM Connector.
What Are A few of the Deciding Components for Proposing BigCommerce to Your Purchasers?
VG: “We work with a whole lot of small- and medium-sized companies and retailers, and I’ve seen a number of shoppers, together with bigger shoppers, that wrestle with having on-line presence after they have a Magento backend.
“It’s primarily as a result of it’s an open-source platform that isn’t as straightforward to arrange and keep. It has an excessive amount of flexibility and when you have got a platform like that, you want a improvement workforce that’s well-versed in Magento, and your necessities must also warrant the flexibleness and related prices of the platform.
“We additionally felt that for B2B performance, BigCommerce affords 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 telephone and get a [customer support representative] inside a minute, and, in my expertise, they had been very educated. All of these items put collectively make us snug in proposing BigCommerce.”
What Was Your Expertise Growing 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 buildings, knowledge and property within the Akeneo Product Info Administration (PIM) system into the backend of BigCommerce.
“It’s a very API-based system, so I had my workforce take a look at the APIs, they usually had been pleasantly shocked that there’s a lot of useful documentation obtainable in your web site.
“We shortly received a trial website going so we may begin experimenting. Then, we had entry to the help workforce, which we truthfully didn’t want a lot as a result of there was a lot documentation obtainable. We had been already working with some accounts, so we had been aware of the performance of BigCommerce … However what made it tremendous straightforward to construct a connector was the truth that the APIs are so complete and well-documented. We had been form 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 few 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 firms have to remodel to answer the surge on digital channels. There’s no “ifs” and “buts.”
“To rework, it’s important to remedy your core know-how and knowledge points. Finest practices right here embody deploying new tech instruments, implementing agile knowledge administration practices after which making your knowledge very usable and moveable throughout departments and throughout your buyer and companion ecosystems.
“Usually what we discover is firms, particularly SMBs, don’t have experience on these instruments and don’t have the workers who can arrange and function these instruments, particularly at first phases — that’s the place the businesses are available in.
“We herald greatest practices in deploying these instruments. We deliver within the experience on these instruments that the businesses don’t have; we all know the right way to deploy and configure them, and combine them. We’re additionally knowledge architects and know the right way to remedy knowledge challenges. We’re additionally course of re-engineering individuals. We get to know all the consumer’s knowledge and commerce processes and re-engineer them to greatest leverage the brand new tech instruments. We align consumer necessities with the capabilities of those instruments, and in addition present challenge administration and coaching companies to assist keep away from stalled or failed tasks.”
How Does Transferring a B2B Enterprise On-line Impression the Gross sales Crew if They Had been Beforehand Supporting B2B Clients?
VG: “What’s occurred — and that is one thing {that a} wholesale distributor of commercial provides informed me after I interviewed them prior to now — historically, they’d good margins on every kind of product traces, near 30% — and that afforded them the power to have direct gross sales individuals promote these merchandise to their clients.
“However now, due to Amazon and all the value transparency and intense competitors on-line, for sure merchandise which can be commodities, the margins have shrunk to some extent 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 wished to do is actually begin promoting extra of these commodities on-line, corresponding to a set of micro websites or energy instruments — it’s a commodity class. You may stroll into Lowes or Residence 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 generate profits there’s to leverage all their present 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 eager to transition away from relationship-based gross sales and onboard clients 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 will transfer a whole lot of their shoppers in mass.
“I feel channel battle is a key one. They want to verify their present gross sales workforce 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 will aggressively transfer their clients on-line. I might say know-how and knowledge points, in the event that they overcome that, then they will resolve their gross sales and enterprise points. After that’s after they would actually go at it.”
What Recommendation Would You Give to Different B2B Corporations 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 at present’s digital-first surroundings, you could digitize operations and digitize now, in any other case you threat being out-competed and changing into irrelevant. If you’re going via a digital transformation, assess your present state of content material and commerce operations and develop an implementation roadmap and be methodical about that. You may take a crawl, stroll and run implementation strategy with at present’s fashionable instruments. You shouldn’t really feel like you should remedy for every little thing [from] day one. You may all the time remedy some high-priority use instances first and transfer on to others subsequent — that’s the place a roadmap is available in.”
“I’ve had a whole lot of shoppers who’re very anxious about seeing outcomes instantly, and I feel the important thing message is it’s an funding — so it’s important to be somewhat affected person. You must make investments first, after which you must have reasonable 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 at present. So it’s important to do it. Put money into it and do it proper.”
Discover the B2B Ecommerce Answer from BigCommerce
Are you a B2B enterprise trying to make the bounce from open supply to SaaS? Schedule a demo for BigCommerce B2B Version, and our migration specialists might be completely happy to help you within the transition. And for further insights on all issues B2B, take a look at The State of B2B Ecommerce: 2022 Development Report.
