Designing the B2B Experience (MageTitans Austin 2016)

I spent the last four years advocating for responsive design as a scalable strategy to beat consumer’s expectations in a multi-device world. The B2C world shifted dramatically from designing for a screen to designing for users, which put tremendous pressure on B2B businesses to keep pace.

My last two years were focused on the B2B space and extending the considerations of RWD to customers that behave differently than a consumer but have the same critical eye.

This presentation details my thought process designing the user experience and services for the B2B customer and what it really takes to beat the curve.

More info: http://gravitydept.com/blog/magetitans-austin-2016

Conference: MageTitans Austin 2016
Speaker: Brendan Falkowski @ http://gravitydept.com
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Date: September 8, 2016

Transcript

2. Brendan Falkowski @Falkowski
3. GravityDept.com
4. Frontend Consulting For GEMAIRE
5. gravitydept.com/to/acumen Acumen Theme Acumen 2 (demo ready…for real) Powers 1400+ stores Supported for 6+ years
6. I help companies solve business challenges with design.
7. Good design puts the business and customer on equal footing.
8. 2009 to 2013: B2C and RWD
12. What I learned designing for B2B
13. B2B Challenges
14. Site traffic Conversion rate Average order value 1. Revenue Growth
15. Buying Selling Growth 2. Complexity Management
16. Simplicity Visibility Personalization 3. Customer Experience Management
17. B2B businesses have more complexity and move slower
18. B2B technology often feels dated compared to B2C
19. B2C escalation is forcing B2B to change rapidly
20. B2B buyer expectations are anchored by B2C experiences
21. Under 33% B2B sites that invested in multi-device support https://www.b2becommerceworld.com/2015/11/23/b2b-e-commerce-sites-have-lots-upgrading-do
22. 18% B2B companies with native mobile apps https://www.b2becommerceworld.com/2015/11/23/b2b-e-commerce-sites-have-lots-upgrading-do
23. 26% B2B companies with responsive websites https://www.b2becommerceworld.com/2015/11/23/b2b-e-commerce-sites-have-lots-upgrading-do
24. B2B businesses need to leapfrog a generation of technology
25. 56% B2B buyers prefer to be purchasing online by 2017 http://magento.com/blog/best-practices/10-ways-boost-b2b-shopping-experience
26. 74% B2B buyers who research over half their purchases online https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commerce
27. 30% B2B buyers who can actually complete purchases online https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commerce
28. Shopping vs. Buying
29. Shopping noun: the action or activity of purchasing goods from stores
30. Consumers care about the store experience
31. Prices online are generally the same everywhere
32. When price/selection/quality are equal, services set you apart
34. Procurement
35. Constantly shopping around is expensive for businesses
36. Product specifications Quantity Price flexibility Need by date Supply location
37. Businesses prefer long-term relationships with suppliers
39. Revzilla builds trust through season after season of revised gear advice
40. I buy from Revzilla because their service is a reliable expert
41. A service is more valuable than your products
42. Manufacturers prefer to diversify their partnerships
43. Manufacturers selling direct online changes the landscape for distributors
44. Design services that are critical to your customer’s success
45. Stocking products and fulfilling orders isn’t enough anymore
46. Designing Services
47. Businesses need to be sold on the long-term relationship
48. One-off buyers can cost B2B sellers because their margins are low
49. Stable buying patterns come from building indispensable services
50. 1. Onboarding customers 2. Onboarding employees 3. Data advantage 4. Wayfinding and search 5. Personalization 6. Real-time pricing and inventory 7. Power user features 8. Merchandising 9. Omni-channel efficiency
51. Onboarding Customers
52. 44% B2B buyers say onboarding is too complex Oracle, “Taking the Wheel” B2B report
53. Customer acquisition is hard: 1. Value is hidden 2. Complex registration
54. They buy below minimum quantities Restricted by partner agreements Products require a license/authority to buy B2B sellers may block consumers completely because:
55. B2B sites may sell to consumers with different terms and pricing
56. Selling direct to consumers will frustrate B2B buyers who markup products
57. These challenges add complexity to B2B onboarding
58. New Customers
59. Tell customers everything they will need before they start registration
60. Avoid delays between registration and activation
61. Consider disabling order functionality pre-activation so new users can still explore
62. Automate contract creation if possible
63. Standardized terms enable a customer to start buying immediately
64. Existing Customers
65. Don’t assume existing customers will adopt new services
66. Build a pathway so existing customers can link their offline accounts together online
67. Be liberal when accepting account info for verification
68. Picky validation frustrates legitimate customers
69. The best way to onboard existing customers is making accounts for them
70. Sales reps should schedule time to promote and demonstrate online ordering’s benefits
71. Onboarding is an opportunity to redefine the sales relationship + get raw feedback
72. Onboarding Employees
73. https://www.b2becommerceworld.com/commentary/2016/03/07/building-b2b-e-commerce-site-get-your-employees-board If you don't get nearly all of your employees supporting your e-commerce initiative, it's not going to have legs. “ Michael Mayer Director, E-business Strategy & Commerce Crescent Electric Supply Co.
74. Didn’t know what we rolled out Didn’t know how it helped customers Couldn't support customers using it They didn't feel any ownership of the service To them, the eCommerce channel was a competitor Employees in the dark
75. Source
76. Educate early not after introducing eCommerce to customers
77. Create opportunities for employees to invest in ownership of the system
78. Record training to make onboarding new employees easier
79. Don’t be surprised or worried by channel shift
80. Sales attribution models need to reflect the changing weight of channels
81. Sales’ role will shift from quoting/ordering to being more proactive about customer needs
82. Not inviting salespeople inside eCommerce is setting them up for failure
83. Data Advantage
84. Omni-channel customers need service consistency to transact fluidly
85. PIM Product Information Management
86. Develop a process to intake, evaluate, and normalize product info from vendors
87. akeneo.com pimcore.org informatica.com cobby.io
88. Wayfinding and Search
89. Hierarchical navigation is less important for B2B buyers
90. Most B2B sessions start with search
91. B2B buyers often know the exact product needed before reaching your site
95. Query highlighting Search scopes Result types Search Enhancements http://baymard.com/blog/autocomplete-design
96. Search needs to behave consistently between websites and apps
97. homedepot.com search scopes suggested queries products categories brands
98. m.homedepot.com suggested queries categories brands
99. Home Depot iOS app suggested queries
100. Home Depot makes it harder to search for products on their mobile services
101. Their native apps actually have the weakest search
102. Multiple platforms and search implementations will disconnect customers
105. Personalization
106. Any offering that adapts to the customer is personalization
107. 1. Algorithmic merchandising 2. Crowd sourced buying 3. On demand production
108. Convert better relative to the user’s journey. Increase order value when suggested together. Higher margin or clearance priority that are equivalent. 1. Algorithmic Merchandising
109. Shield the maker from inefficiencies of finding market fit 2. Crowd Sourced Buying
111. 3. On Demand Production and Customization
113. Source
116. Source
117. Real-time Pricing and Inventory
118. Actionable self-service quotes mean your doors never close
119. 50% B2B buyers say personalization is a key reason they choose suppliers Oracle, “Taking the Wheel” B2B report
120. List / trade price Negotiated price Direct sales Quantity-based pricing Pricing tiers by annual sales volume Pricing
121. Warehouse management Freight or parcel delivery estimates Store / warehouse pickup Governmental licensing for hazardous materials Contractual restrictions to sell in territory Fulfillment
122. Legacy terms may need to be grandfathered or renegotiated online
123. Customers expect the same services and accommodations they receive offline
124. Digital services must be an order of magnitude better than calling a sales rep
125. B2C customers generally only care about inventory if an item is out of stock
126. There are too many variables with personalization not to calculate real-time quotes
127. Real-time processing is slow, so load personalized content asynchronously
128. Power User Features
129. “Add to Cart” is a bottleneck for high volume buyers
130. Enable re-buying of past orders Order History
131. Convert past orders to subscriptions
132. Quick Order
136. Wish lists can be supercharged for B2B buyers
143. Enable merging, splitting, and renaming lists
144. Listen for customer feedback
145. Merchandising
148. PIM systems turn connected data into merchandising advantages
149. Product History
152. B2B buyers appreciate tools that help them purchase smarter in the future
153. Omni-Channel Efficiency
154. Support teams need training and authority to resolve issues across channels
155. $4.7 B Home Depot online sales 2015 https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/02/24/mobile-sparks-q4-sales-home-depot
156. 5.3% Home Depot online sales from total revenue https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/02/24/mobile-sparks-q4-sales-home-depot
157. https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/02/24/mobile-sparks-q4-sales-home-depot Over 40% of our online orders actually end up in the store in some way, shape or form. “ Kevin Hoffman President of Online Operations Home Depot
158. It’s your job to make channels seamless
159. Buyer Demographics
160. 56% B2B executives say some customers can only be served online https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commerce
161. Consider who will leave and join the workforce in 5-10 years
162. Millennials are the first generation where internet use will become universal http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/22/key-takeaways-global-tech/
163. 72% US adults with smartphones http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/08/one-fifth-of-americans-report-going-online-almost-constantly/
164. 92% US millennials with smartphones http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/08/one-fifth-of-americans-report-going-online-almost-constantly/
165. 75% Millennials have purchased from phones http://insights.mobify.com/16-stats-to-convince-your-boss-to-invest-in-mobile-in-2016/
166. 36% 18–29 year olds who report being online “almost constantly” http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/08/one-fifth-of-americans-report-going-online-almost-constantly/
167. Under 35 Average age of B2B buyer Oracle, “Taking the Wheel” B2B report
168. 34% Millennials in US labor force http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-generation-in-u-s-labor-force/
169. Millennials represent more of the labor force than Baby Boomers or Generation X http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/11/millennials-surpass-gen-xers-as-the-largest-generation-in-u-s-labor-force/
170. Technology will push out businesses that can’t adapt
171. 74% B2B buyers who prefer researching online vs. talking to sales reps Oracle, “Taking the Wheel” B2B report
172. Digital services will be a major factor when B2B buyers choose suppliers
173. Wrapping Up
174. Designing services adds value to your business + your customer’s business
175. Thank you
176. Gravity Department GravityDept gravitydept.com magefrontend.com Brendan Falkowski Falkowski