According to , more than 85% of respondents in the distribution industry said they plan to improve their websites over the next 12 months. Whether it is making the website more user friendly or adding features their customers would use, like invoicing or order tracking, companies are budgeting more for online growth.
According to a recent article published by , W.W. Grainger Inc., a Fortune 500 industrial supply company, budgets $40 million for online growth and that’s with 25% of its 1.2 million customers already buying from it online. While many small to mid-size companies could only dream of having budgets that big, it’s important that companies of all sizes continually improve their online experience for customers, which can in turn help their bottom line. So what do companies invest in when they upgrade their e-commerce solution?
Here are a few ways companies could improve their online selling operations.
- Customer Specific Pricing – Do you have customers that have unique negotiated pricing structures, volume discounts, or flexible payment terms? Setting up pricing structures for an e-commerce store is something that many companies need to consider when selling to other businesses. Being able to have a customer login and see their unique pricing displayed for various subsets of inventory can help create a user driven login experience that is tailored to the customer.
- Enhanced Account Management Features – Are customers constantly calling regarding their account history? Making that available online can ease the burden on internal customer service rep teams and empower your customers to check and find old invoices, returns, payments, credits and debits online without the assistance of others.
- Express Lane Checkout – It’s not uncommon for businesses to know exactly what they need when they need it. With an express lane it is easier to upload a group of items your customers want and then find and validate those items to see if the item is in stock and the quantity requested is available.
If you are looking for ways to upgrade your e-commerce site please contact us at Azox and learn how to improve the online shopping experience for your customers.
