10 Features Your WooCommerce B2B Store Must Have in 2021
1. Shopping Lists / Purchase Lists
B2B e-commerce is about speed and versatility. Business customers want to order their products or replenish their stock in as little time as possible, and immediately find what they need. Purchase lists are a critical part of that. Your e-commerce b2b store must have a way for customers to create an unlimited number of purchase lists and be able to order any one of these lists on a per-need basis.
Allowing buyers to save and reuse shopping lists, and quickly purchase previously saved products is an essential feature to have for your B2B store. How can you implement purchase lists for your WooCommerce store?
2. Multiple Users per Account
Business buyers often need many employees within the company to have access to a store: either to have access to price catalogs, place orders, or simply send custom requests or inquiries. A system that allows multiple users in a single account as well as a permission system that decides what each user can do is an important feature if you are selling wholesale. Furthermore, you want specific WooCommerce customizations that allow you to see who placed each order, or see who made a particular inquiry or quote request. B2BKing does it all for you and implements a powerful multi-user account system.
3. Bulk Order Form
Time is money! A wholesale order form is the fastest way to order, perfect for business buyers, who often know exactly what they need, down to the SKU. Providing your customers with a bulk order form allows them to find what they need faster, and have a better overall experience with your company and your store. Read about how you can implement a wholesale order form in your WooCommerce store.
4. Complex Order Management Rules
Each business is different, and you may need to treat your business customers differently. Different prices for the same products, different discounts, different minimum order thresholds or different available shipping and payment methods. Each business customer's experience with your store should be customized and personalized. This boosts your sales, gives you full control over operations, and also provides a better experience for your customers.
- Minimum Order Quantity or Value
You should be able to set different minimum order quantities or different minimum order values for each user, product, or category. For example, you should be able to set a product to be purchasable in minimum quantities of 25 pieces for Company A, but 50 pieces for Company B. Flexibility and versatility is critical, as prices and agreements are often up to negotiation.
- Order in Multiples of X
Certain products come in boxes or cartons of X pieces, and you might want to allow such products to be purchasable only in multiples. It's a simple but useful feature for your store.
- Free Shipping Rules
Under what conditions should you provide free shipping? For B2B e-commerce, it's different for every customer or customer group. You may even strike up an agreement with a particular company and offer perpetual free shipping, in exchange for order guarantees. An e-commerce platform that allows that kind of flexibility can save you a lot of time and effort.
5. Unique, personalized, product catalogs and pricing
- Different prices for different users
- Hide some products from some users
- Give discounts for certain product categories
- Unique discounts based on different scenarios
- Personalized free shipping offers
You want an e-commerce platform that allows you to do this and much more. You should have full control over what products each customer sees and at which prices. This kind of personalized approach is key to B2B e-commerce, and can be a significant sales boost if you use it correctly.
6. Tax Rules and Tax Exemptions
If you're setting up a wholesale store, you may have customers from many different countries, operating under various tax rules. If you're in the European Union in particular, tax exemptions based on VAT ID and the ability to validate VAT numbers is critical.
You may also need to provide tax exemptions to particular users or tax exemptions for particular products or categories. Furthermore you may want to have the ability to add custom taxes, for instance a City Tax for tourism operators.
B2BKing equips your WooCommerce store with a powerful tax rule system through the Dynamic Rules functionality.
7. Hide prices to guests or hide the entire website to guests
You don't want everybody to see your pricing. Setting up a gated b2b platform, and a registration process that allows manual user review is an essential feature for wholesale e-commerce. You should have the option to hide prices to guests, hide the entire website or even replace prices with "Request a Quote".
8. B2B & B2C Hybrid Support
Many shops and businesses sell both B2B and B2C. If you want to maximize reach you may want to do both online and you may need a solution that enables both. With WooCommerce and B2BKing you can set up a hybrid store, with very different experiences, prices and product catalogs for your business customers and individual customers.
Furthermore, if you want to set up a hybrid shop, certain features like a separate B2B/B2C registration form, or the ability to hide certain features (such as quote requests) from your B2C users is essential. Learn more about how B2BKing can help you create a hybrid B2B+B2C store.
9. Built-in Messaging System
Emails are fine, but why not equip your WooCommerce store with a dedicated messaging platform that allows instant, live chat with your customers? Answer customers' questions, negotiate, and help them find exactly what they need. Communication and a personal touch are critical for successful b2b e-commerce.
10. Offers, Bundles and Promotions
Like everyone else, businesses love a good offer or promotion. Create seasonal bundles or time-limited promotions and make them accessible to only particular users or groups.
Or negotiate a particular package and create a unique offer that's available for only that particular user. That kind of flexibility can help you grow your business and build personalized, unique relationships with each of your business customers.
