Planning Your B2B Digital Journey

Planning Your B2B Digital Journey 

Moving B2B sales online can create meaningful opportunities, but it also raises practical questions. Which customer needs should you address first? How should ecommerce work alongside your sales team? And how much of your business should depend on marketplaces or other third-party channels? 

A B2B digital journey can take many forms. For some organizations, it means launching a first ecommerce site. For others, it means improving reordering, digitizing quotes and approvals, connecting ecommerce with the ERP or CRM, or giving sales and service teams better tools to support customers. 

The goal is not to digitize every process at once. It is to identify where digital commerce can remove friction, create value for customers, and support the way your business already works. 

Why B2B Digital Planning Requires More Than a Website 

Moving B2B sales online is rarely a matter of reproducing an offline order form on a website. It may require changes to product data, pricing rules, customer accounts, approvals, integrations, fulfillment processes, and sales responsibilities. 

That complexity is common. It does not mean your organization is behind or that every system needs to be replaced. It means the first phase should be planned around a clear business and customer need. 

Before choosing a platform or defining a long feature list, start with questions such as: 

• Where do customers encounter the most friction today? 

• Which orders or service requests require unnecessary manual work? 

• What information do buyers need but struggle to access? 

• Which processes take the most time for sales or customer service teams? 

• What should be easier for the customer after the first phase launches? 

• Which result would make the initiative worthwhile for the business? 

These questions help keep the strategy focused on outcomes rather than technology alone. 

Start With a Focused First Use Case 

It can be tempting to design the entire future state before launching anything. In practice, a focused first phase often gives the team a better path forward. 

A useful first use case might include: 

• Making repeat orders easier 

• Giving customers access to account-specific pricing 

• Allowing buyers to view order history 

• Supporting quote requests online 

• Digitizing approval workflows 

• Helping sales representatives place or manage orders for customers 

• Providing more accurate inventory or availability information 

The right starting point depends on what creates meaningful value without requiring the organization to solve every data and process challenge at once. 

A smaller first phase can help your team understand what customers actually use, identify gaps in the supporting systems, and build internal confidence before expanding. 

Use Ecommerce to Support Your Sales Team 

B2B ecommerce is not always a replacement for sales relationships. In many organizations, it works best as a tool that supports salespeople and gives customers more flexibility. 

For example, a digital commerce experience may allow customers to: 

• Access negotiated or account-specific pricing 

• Reorder common products without contacting a representative 

• View past orders and account information 

• Build an order before requesting assistance 

• Submit a quote or approval request 

• Purchase outside normal business hours 

At the same time, sales representatives may be able to: 

• Place orders on a customer’s behalf 

• Review account and order history 

• Help customers manage larger or more complex purchases 

• Spend less time on routine order entry 

• Focus more attention on relationships and higher-value opportunities 

The technology will not create these benefits by itself. The experience needs to reflect how customers buy, how salespeople work, and where responsibility moves between digital and human support. 

Balance Direct and Third-Party Channels 

Marketplaces can provide reach and convenience, but relying too heavily on a channel you do not control can create risk. Your business may have limited access to customer data, less control over the buying experience, and greater exposure to changing fees, policies, or marketplace priorities. 

That does not mean marketplaces should be avoided. They may play an important role in customer acquisition, product discovery, or specific segments of the business. 

A more resilient strategy is to define the role of each channel and maintain a direct digital experience alongside marketplace sales. 

Questions to consider include: 

• Which customers prefer to buy directly from you? 

• Which products perform well through a marketplace? 

• What customer information is available through each channel? 

• Where do you need more control over pricing, service, or brand experience? 

• How would a change in marketplace fees or policies affect the business? 

• What value does your direct channel offer that a third party cannot? 

The goal is not to force every customer into one channel. It is to create a channel strategy that supports customer preferences without making the business overly dependent on a single platform. 

Plan for the Data and Systems Behind the Experience 

A strong B2B buying experience depends on more than the storefront. Product information, pricing, inventory, customer accounts, orders, and fulfillment data may live across several systems. 

Before defining the solution, map where the necessary information currently lives and how it needs to move. 

Common areas to review include: 

• Product descriptions, specifications, and documents 

• Customer-specific pricing and contracts 

• Inventory and availability 

• Account hierarchies and purchasing roles 

• Order history 

• Tax, shipping, and fulfillment rules 

• Quote and approval workflows 

• ERP, CRM, PIM, and payment integrations 

This does not mean every data issue needs to be resolved before the first launch. It does mean the team should understand which information is essential to the initial customer experience and where manual processes may still be needed. 

Build Internal Adoption Into the Plan 

Digital commerce changes how work moves through the organization. Sales, customer service, marketing, operations, IT, finance, and leadership may all be affected. 

A platform can be technically successful and still struggle to gain adoption if teams do not understand how it supports their work. 

Bring the affected groups into planning early. Clarify: 

• What is changing 

• What is staying the same 

• Which team owns each part of the experience 

• How sales and service teams will support customer adoption 

• How feedback and issues will be handled 

• Which results will be measured after launch 

This gives people a clearer role in the initiative and helps uncover operational questions before they become launch problems. 

Five Practical Steps for Getting Started

1. Understand the customer problem

Talk with customers, salespeople, and service teams about where the current buying process creates friction. Look for recurring problems rather than isolated feature requests.

2. Choose a focused first phase

Select a use case that creates meaningful value and can be delivered without solving every long-term requirement at once.

3. Map the supporting systems

Identify where product, pricing, inventory, customer, and order data live. Determine what must be automated and where a temporary manual process may be acceptable.

4. Define how digital supports your teams

Clarify how ecommerce will work alongside sales, customer service, operations, and other channels. Make responsibilities and handoffs visible.

5. Set measurable outcomes

Choose a small number of results that connect to the reason for the initiative. Depending on the project, these might include customer adoption, repeat-order efficiency, online revenue, reduced order-entry time, quote activity, or customer satisfaction. 

Measurement should help the team decide what to improve next—not simply prove that the project launched. 

What You’ll Find in the Video 

• 00:00 — Introduction 

• 03:47 — Five considerations for developing a B2B digital strategy 

• 07:48 — The risks of relying too heavily on third-party channels 

• 10:27 — What changes when B2B sales move online 

• 15:35 — BigCommerce B2B Edition: How B2B ecommerce tools can support sales teams 

• 20:47 — Steps in the Journey to B2B Digital Commerce 

• 25:22 — Emerging priorities in B2B ecommerce 

• 28:15 — Closing thoughts 

A Practical Next Step 

Your B2B digital journey does not need to begin with a complete transformation roadmap. Start by identifying one customer or operational problem that is worth solving, then map the people, data, and systems involved. 

That gives your team a clearer basis for choosing a first phase, setting realistic expectations, and building toward a broader digital commerce strategy over time. 

Planning a B2B Ecommerce Initiative? 

We can help you clarify where to start, identify the systems and processes involved, and build a practical path forward. 

Contact us to talk through your goals and what may be getting in the way.