Posted in Digital Commerce
July 8, 2024
B2B ECOMMERCE
Why Drupal Commerce is the Perfect Fit for Mid-Market B2B Manufacturers
B2B manufacturers must adapt to meet the digital demands of today's buyers. As Millennial and Gen Z decision-makers rise, having a flexible and customizable ecommerce platform is essential. Learn how Drupal Commerce provides the tools and scalability needed to outshine competitors and drive sustainable growth.
B2B Buyers Demand Digital Sales from Manufacturers
Traditional sales methods struggle to keep pace with the digital demands of B2B buyers.
“As baby boomers retire and millennials mature into key decision-making positions, a digital-first buying posture will become the norm,” said Cristina Gomez, managing vice president for the Gartner Sales Practice. “As customers increasingly learn and buy digitally, sales reps become just one of many possible sales channels. Because of this, sales organizations must be able to sell to customers everywhere the customer expects to engage, interact and transact with suppliers.” - Gartner, from The New B2B Digital Customer Experience.
To meet the buying needs of Millennials, mid-market manufacturers need an ecommerce platform that offers:
- Flexibility and customization: Unique B2B sales processes, complex product configurations, and integration with existing ERP systems.
- Robust site-building capabilities: A user-friendly interface to create a professional and informative online presence.
- Internationalization features: Ability to cater to a global customer base with multilingual support and localized content.
Currently, few ecommerce platforms on the market meet the complex needs of B2B manufacturers, each with its own limitations. For example:
- WooCommerce: While popular, WooCommerce often fails to meet B2B needs. Limited customization options and reliance on plugins for complex functionalities can lead to performance issues and maintenance challenges.
- Shopware: Shopware offers robust B2B features, but its licensing structure can be cost-prohibitive for mid-market businesses, especially with ongoing maintenance fees.
Ecommerce Platform Choice Matters for B2B Manufacturers
Not having an ecommerce site that is flexible enough to create impactful user journeys means that manufacturers won't meet the expected experience of their younger B2B buyers, resulting in lost market share.
A clunky or difficult-to-manage backend user interface makes it hard for non-technical users, like marketers or administrators, to build ideal customer experiences. This often means that developers are the ones who have to make changes to the site, increasing costs and slowing down changes in messaging and the ability to adjust to changing market needs.
As businesses want to grow globally, not having a commerce architecture with built-in features like multi-language or multi-site capabilities means that as your business expands, you will spend more time and money than necessary to spin up websites to meet your growing needs. This can result in a weak brand presence in new locales and lower online revenues than expected.
Drupal Commerce: A Powerful Platform for B2B Ecommerce
Drupal Commerce offers a powerful and scalable solution for mid-market B2B manufacturers. It powers billions in sales across thousands of online stores. With existing modules, Drupal Commerce can integrate with 100+ third-party systems, such as payment gateways, shipping and tax vendors, ERP, etc.
Here's how it addresses critical B2B commerce challenges:
Unmatched customization abilities
Drupal and Commerce's core architecture and modules, such as Layout Builder and Product Modeling, empower businesses to tailor the platform to their specific needs. Complex product configurations, custom workflows, and seamless ERP integration become achievable.
Recent improvements in Drupal Commerce further enhance this flexibility:
- One-page checkout: A highly requested feature, one-page checkout is now available in the contributed Commerce Checkout Accordion Module, streamlining the buying process for customers.
- Modern Payment Options: With Commerce Stripe Module, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and international payment gateways via Commerce Stripe allow for a broader range of secure payment options. We have a dedicated article covering Adding Alipay & WeChat Pay to Drupal Commerce.
- Subscription and Recurring Payments: The Commerce Recurring Framework Module enables the creation of subscription models, perfect for B2B scenarios with recurring orders.
- Price Lists and Bulk Purchasing: The Commerce Pricelist Module supports price lists and caters to B2B buyers with volume discounts and tiered pricing structures.
- Product Add-on Model: The Commerce Product Add-on Module and the Commerce Variation Add-on Module let the site builder model add-ons at different granularities. This comprehensive support is ideal for complex B2B product offerings.
Superior site-building capabilities
Drupal's intuitive interface and drag-and-drop functionality (through Layout Builder) allow for creating a professional and informative B2B storefront. This translates to a better user experience for customers navigating product information, quotes, and order processing.
Drupal Commerce supports global growth
Drupal's core capabilities include multilingual support and built-in internationalization features. Manufacturers can easily create localized content and cater to a global customer base.
Beyond these core strengths, Drupal offers additional benefits:
- Open-source platform: Lower total cost of ownership compared to proprietary solutions with ongoing licensing fees.
- Large and active community: Extensive support resources and a community of developers contribute to a thriving ecosystem.
- Future-proof scalability: Drupal Commerce can grow alongside your business, accommodating increasing product lines and customer volume.
With Millennial and Gen Z buyers taking over key positions in the workforce, B2B manufacturers are facing increased pressure to move their sales processes online or face losing market share to competitors that do. In today's competitive B2B landscape, a robust ecommerce platform isn't a luxury. It's a necessity. Drupal Commerce empowers mid-market manufacturers to outpace competitors by delivering a superior brand experience with unmatched flexibility, scalability, and global reach.
By leveraging Drupal Commerce's strengths, mid-market B2B manufacturers can bridge the digital gap with their younger customer base. This translates to increased sales, improved customer experience, and streamlined B2B commerce operations, ultimately positioning them for sustainable growth in the digital age.
Don't wait until it's too late - explore how Drupal Commerce can empower your B2B online sales strategy today!
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