Michael Vax

Repeat business drives a substantial portion of the revenue in a B2B company. You need to make re-ordering as convenient as possible.

How do we achieve that in B2B implementation?

Firstly, it’s important to note several differences in the order management implementation of “My Orders” in B2B ecommerce compared to B2C. In B2C, “My Orders” refers specifically to orders placed by the logged-in user. In contrast, in B2B, the list should display orders placed by all users within the same business or, in the case of a large organization, by all users within the same business unit.

Additionally, since the list of orders could be extensive, searching and filtering past orders is the must-have functionality in B2B. Make sure that customers can filter by date and employee who placed the order. Let them search by product name, attributes, text in the description, and category. For large customers, allow search by an SKU number used in the customer’s procurement system.

Make it easy to repeat the entire order or reorder some selected products.

Warn customers about any changes in product availability. If a model has been discontinued, offer alternative products. Nothing is worse than coming to check out just to be informed that a product is out of stock.

Let customers know if a new model of a previously bought product is available and make it easy to replace it.

If the price has changed since the last purchase, make it known as early as possible. Update customers on current promotions, which could be different from the last time the order was placed.

Moreover, make sure configurable products retain product configuration details for make-to-order, so the customer does not need to go through the configuration process again.

One of the key benefits of B2B ecommerce is customer self-service capabilities. Implement the recommendations above to save your customers the most precious resource — their time.

Order Status Updates

Real-time visibility into order status and updates empower customers to track and manage their transactions proactively. By offering order tracking and notification features, businesses enhance transparency and build customer trust throughout the order lifecycle.

Not all order status changes happen in the ecommerce system, but to improve customer experiences, businesses must ensure that ALL notifications are received through the self-service channel. If an order is modified after it has been placed, these changes need to be synced back to the ecommerce system to provide customers with a single source of truth.

Integrating maintenance Requests and Support with an Online Portal

And to help customers after the purchase, create and support a knowledge database, FAQs, and usage and repair instructions.

By offering the ability to place a maintenance request on self-service support portals and ticketing systems, businesses empower customers to report and resolve issues autonomously, reducing reliance on manual intervention.

Conclusion

At the heart of every successful B2B transaction lies a seamless customer experience. It’s not merely about satisfying immediate needs but about fostering long-term relationships built on trust, reliability, and value delivery.

CX is the linchpin of sustainable growth and differentiation in today’s interconnected digital economy.

About the Author:

Michael Vax is the founder of CommerceIsDigital, which provides consulting services and training programs for companies deploying B2B and BTC ecommerce strategies. He is a former executive at ecommerce technology companies Spryker Systems, SAP Commerce Cloud, Elastic Path and WebInterpret.

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