Modernizing the buying experience in industrial manufacturing with a B2B portal

For industrial manufacturers, modernizing the buying journey is imperative. Their customers no longer want field sales teams and account managers to guide them through every step of discovery and sales. Instead, they expect convenient, consumer-like digital experiences that make it easy to search for product information, confirm product availability, complete purchases, request after-sales support, and more.

This change in expectations presents important opportunities for manufacturers. If they can successfully digitize the buying process to meet customer needs, they can also enhance internal efficiencies and drive revenue growth.

In our recent webinar, experts from Magnolia, TRIMM, and commercetools discuss why building B2B customer portals can be the best strategy for addressing new customer buying preferences. Although manufacturers need to overcome a few key challenges, building a B2B portal on a composable platform enables them to accelerate digitization while gaining flexibility for the future.

Buyer expectations in industrial manufacturing have evolved in part because buyers have changed. “We have experienced a fundamental change in the generation of people in procurement,” says Dominik Dühning, head of strategic accounts for EMEA at Magnolia. “The key positions are filled with people who know how to use modern tools and expect a good customer journey.”

Most millennials and Gen Z buyers prefer to explore product information exclusively online and make purchases without having to interact with sales teams. “Buyers are now doing their research in a different way,” says Janinka Feenstra, digital consultant TRIMM. “We need to serve them the way they would like to be served.”

Nearly all buyers, regardless of their generation, have become accustomed to B2C digital experiences. Whether they are ordering products through an e-commerce retailer or purchasing technical components from an industrial manufacturer, they expect sleek, modern digital storefronts. They want tailored recommendations but also self-service capabilities and a fast, convenient checkout. For industrial manufacturers, delivering these experiences will be essential for acquiring and retaining customers.

In most cases, the best way to meet buyer expectations is by creating a B2B customer portal. These portals unify content and commerce, delivering modern digital experiences that look and feel like the B2C experiences familiar to today’s customers. With engaging designs and streamlined interfaces, they can reinforce a company’s brand, highlight the quality of products, and lead customers directly into the buying process.

B2B customer portals also provide important growth opportunities for industrial manufacturers. For example, companies can use the portal to present personalized cross- and upsell opportunities, and offer supplemental services that generate recurring revenues.

At the same time, portals can help reduce sales-related costs by standardizing ordering and streamlining after-sales support. “Businesses need to reduce the cost of serving their customers,” says Feenstra. “Digitizing processes is a way of making everything more efficient.”

Despite the potential benefits of B2B portals, some businesses see obstacles to moving forward. For example, because industrial manufacturers often sell numerous, highly technical products, some teams believe they need to provide human guidance to buyers. They don’t realize they can create B2B portals that offer personalized, guided experiences digitally.

Teams might also think that their sales processes are too complex to be digitized, especially given all the time and effort they have invested in managing inbound and outbound sales. “I certainly would challenge everyone to think outside of that system,” says Matt Alberts, VP of global solution consulting at commercetools. “There is a collection of modern tools that are ready and available to reduce complexity.”

Some businesses struggle to get started with digitization projects because they don’t truly understand what their customers want. For example, many industrial manufacturing customers might need a simple, efficient way to purchase the same components repeatedly. Getting feedback from customers and then optimizing a portal for their needs can help retain customers and keep revenues flowing.

When businesses are ready to move forward with a B2B portal, building with a composable digital experience platform (DXP) should be a top priority. Composability can help teams more easily integrate multiple systems—including their existing PIM, ERP, and CRM systems.

In addition to preserving technology investments, composability helps businesses reduce technical barriers and learning curves. After all, not all teams will be starting at the same level of digital maturity or technical expertise. “Composability lets you meet your team where they are,” says Feenstra.

Looking ahead, composability also helps future-proof businesses. “All of a sudden, you might need to integrate a new tool after a business merger,” says Dühning. “It’s only possible if you have a flexible, composable environment.”

Meanwhile, businesses can explore and incorporate new capabilities without time-consuming, expensive integration work. For example, using a composable DXP, industrial manufacturers can integrate AI into their B2B customer portals to simplify the processes of searching technical documents, forecasting the need for spare parts, and more.

The right platform will enable teams to select best-of-breed tools from a variety of vendors while paying for only what they need. “With a composable platform, we put the power back in the hands of the business as opposed to one vendor’s ecosystem,” says Alberts. With that power, businesses can build more innovative digital experiences that meet changing customer needs and continuously drive revenue.

For more insights from this expert panel, watch the webinar, “B2B portals for industrial manufacturers.”