Direct-to-consumers (D2C) brands got an endless lineup of customers swooning over the experience they provide. In contrast, B2B (business-to-business) ecommerce tips over the insipid side of operations and experience.

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Why can’t brands replicate the experience for B2B orders? Even when 90% of B2B buyers want a D2C-style experience from their suppliers. Sadly, in reality, most brands don’t get what they’re expecting.

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So, it won’t be wrong to say that customer experience is redefining every sphere of ecommerce and B2B fulfilment isn’t any different. Let’s see how an early move towards the right B2B solution can benefit your business in endless ways.

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In this blog, you will learn what is a D2C style experience, how it helps and how to create a D2C style experience for B2B orders.

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What is a D2C style experience and how it helps?

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D2C style experience refers to the elevated customer experience D2C brands offer to their customers. Such experience includes providing more personalisation options, one-on-one customer support, faster shipping and greater control over shipping.

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As B2B ecommerce is becoming customer-centric, businesses crave frictionless purchase journey for themselves too. Just like B2C fulfilment, a great customer experience in B2B fulfilment can help in the following ways:

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1. Increases satisfaction and builds loyalty

Studies show that 60% of buyers think their supplier’s ecommerce experience is very important to their relationship with the supplier. Another 67% say they’ve switched vendors to offer a more “consumer-like” experience.

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2. Reduces churn rates

Apart from delightful buying experiences resulting in higher average order values (AOV) and encouraging repeat orders, it also reduces the chances of the customer switching to a competitor. Thus, increasing the customer lifetime value (CLTV).

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3. Induces more sales

A good reputation goes a long way and it is applicable in B2B fulfilment as well. Positive reviews and word-of-mouth encourage more sales—boosting conversion rates.

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4. Ensures seamless operations

Features like real-time shipment visibility, faster delivery, live customer support and more ensure maximum efficiency throughout the B2B fulfilment process.

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5. Saves time and money

An ideal B2B fulfilment process allows businesses to do more in less time. Focus on better customer experience automatically prevents a heavy time investment and wastage of resources —offering a seamless buying process with less friction.

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6. Sets apart from the competition

A D2C experience acts like a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) — the essence of what makes your product or service better than competitors.

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How to create a D2C style experience for B2B orders?

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1. Leverage robust technologies and tools

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It’s crucial for your B2B fulfilment provider to have an advanced Inventory Management System (IMS) and Warehouse Management System (WMS). On one hand, an inventory management system (IMS) can simplify inventory management with features such as real-time inventory sync, full inventory visibility, maintaining reorder levels, replenishment, and demand forecasting. Else, it can result in a higher chance of human errors—resulting in inefficiency, higher costs, delay in B2B fulfilment, and poor business credibility.

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On the other hand, a warehouse management system (WMS) helps optimise warehouse operations like picking and packing. Moreover, a powerful warehouse management system (WMS) consolidates orders from multiple sales channels and synchronises with inventory and order management. This will help you derive maximum results and on-time service by leaving no scope for error that can comprise the entire fulfilment workflow.

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Eshopbox’s state-of-the-art fulfilment centres are equipped with the latest warehouse and inventory management systems to ensure your products are stored and processed correctly.

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2. Invest in a powerful fulfilment and shipping network

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The most essential aspect of B2B fulfilment is on-time delivery. Even a slight delay can lead to a considerable loss. So, your B2B fulfilment provider must have a distributed network of fulfilment centres across India, enabling you to store your inventory closer to your client or retailer and execute faster B2B fulfilment in the most cost-effective manner.

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With Eshopbox’s distributed network of fulfilment centres across India, you can store your inventory closer to your clients. This will help you reduce shipping costs, improve shipping speed, and ensure on-time delivery for your B2B orders.

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3. Ensure on-time delivery

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Expectations of B2B customers have grown. Inefficiencies in order fulfilment or lack of automation can lead to delays in shipping, which disappoints customers and tarnishes the brand image.

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Eshopbox’s pick and pack process is automated and follows SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) that enables brands to ship orders on time and in adherence to SLAs.

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4. Focus on customer support

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Dedicated account management is the key to success in B2B fulfilment, and since it deals with larger and more complex orders, small issues can have big consequences. That’s why your B2B fulfilment provider must provide prompt solutions for your grievances and concerns. Moreover, they should prioritise customer support, be solution-oriented and take their B2B relationship seriously. Also, sending order updates and keeping you informed at every step is a must.

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Eshopbox’s dedicated account managers prioritise customer support. They address any concerns or grievances that you may have and provide prompt resolutions.

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5. Unify operations on a single platform

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When you partner up with a B2B fulfilment provider, make sure they have the right technology that allows you to track your inventory, the status of B2B orders, and more all in one location. Thus, this makes an all-in-one dashboard an absolute necessity to compete with the leading players in today’s ecommerce market.

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Eshopbox also gives access to best-in-class technology for reporting and insights. With Eshopbox’s actionable dashboard, you can have full visibility of your B2B fulfilment operations and data.

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6. Ensure automated workflows

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There is tiny or no room for error in B2B fulfilment. Hence, your B2B fulfilment service provider must have a highly trained staff and streamlined operations that follow standard operating procedures and automated workflows. These will ensure minimal downtime and no errors during order processing.

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Eshopbox incorporates robust technology that automates fulfilment workflows and operations. This eliminates any human errors and ensures on-time order processing.

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7. Pay attention to custom requests

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Custom requests apply to any service that's tailored to the needs of individual customers. The math is simple – if the service better fits their needs, you'll be more successful in service, sales and retention.

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With Eshopbox, you can also provide special instructions for your custom needs, including packaging, quantity, shipping conditions and method.

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Bottom line

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Businesses are desirous of the same customer experience they offer to their customer when it comes to making personal purchases. A 3PL like Eshopbox can be your ultimate solution in B2B fulfilment while maintaining a great customer experience for brands.