Wholesaler & Distributor | Digital Commerce 360

Shopify jockeys for big growth in B2B

Paul Demery — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:25:35 +0000

While Shopify Inc. reported robust 2023 financial results, with total gross merchandise volume on its clients’ ecommerce sites up 23% to $75.1 billion, it noted even strong growth in its B2B business.

Harley Finkelstein, president, Shopify Inc.

Harley Finkelstein, Shopify’s president, said on a Q4 and year-end earnings call this week that the vendor’s B2B gross merchandise volume doubled last year. He added that, in the fourth quarter, Shopify’s business with B2B companies “was up nearly 150% year over year.”

Shopify did not immediately reply to a request for specific figures on B2B-related revenue and GMV, but executives said on the earnings call that that they see the B2B market playing an increasingly vital role in Shopify’s growth plans.

An ‘exciting’ B2B growth opportunity

Finkelstein — referring to B2B as a “big and exciting growth opportunity” — said Shopify is experiencing B2B market growth with two types of companies: existing Shopify retail merchants adding a B2B channel, such as The Home Depot, home furnishings retailer Lulu and Georgia, and jewelry retailer BaubleBar; and newcomers to Shopify like Carrier, a global manufacturer of heating and cooling and other building-management systems.

He added that getting a client company like Carrier, which signed on as a client in Q4, was “opening the door to a whole new opportunity of industries we previously didn’t serve.”

Jeff Hoffmeister, Shopify’s chief financial officer, added that Shopify is seeing more demand from large enterprise B2B companies for the vendor’s multiple technology offerings, including Shopify Plus, international B2B sales, online payments, and physical store point-of-sale systems that integrate with Shopify’s ecommerce platform.

“All those things are the growth engines for the future,” he said.

Shopify says its store point-of-sale terminal is designed to integrate with the Shopify ecommerce platform and support “over 1,000 physical stores.” Referring the POS systems as new “on-ramps or entry points into Shopify,” Finkelstein said they “substantiate our role as the unified commerce operating system for merchants, whether they come to us to sell online, off-line, or anywhere in-between.”

He added, “We are building on our commitment to help merchants sell to all of their customers from a single, unified commerce platform, with upgrades to our B2B offering, including headless B2B storefronts and support for sales reps.”

Among other new features, the ecommerce technology company has also launched for merchants on the Shopify platform:

Shopify Bill Pay, an expense management tool that lets merchants pay their vendors directly from their Shopify administrative application.
Shopify Credit, a “pay-in-full” business credit card designed to help manage monthly cashflow and earn cashback savings without paying interest or fees.
Shopify Collective, an application that enables merchants to source products from other companies on Shopify and have them shipped directly to customers.

Perks of unified commerce and integrated POS

A unified commerce environment, including integrated POS systems, can play a vital role for B2B companies trying to keep up with omnichannel commerce that extends to their physical branches and other outlets, B2B industry experts say.

“Key aspects such as ERP integration, branch-selling, and tools that aid the end customer in their job are crucial for a successful B2B platform,” says Justin King, managing partner of advisory firm B2X Partners. “Shopify’s acknowledgment and incorporation of these elements, along with their significant growth in B2B GMV and the acquisition of B2B-only merchants, position them as a potentially formidable player in the B2B e-commerce technology sector. Their commitment to providing a unified commerce platform for both online and offline B2B transactions further solidifies their intent to capture and expand their market share in this domain.”

Jay Schneider, the founder of digital advisory firm B2BSquared, adds that the Shopify platform still needs to show that it can handle complex online B2B interactions, such as those involving displays, configurations and quoting of products with extensive lists of attributes and complex pricing.

Finkelstein said that Shopify generated $441 million last year from its offline offerings, including POS hardware, “more than five times what our offline revenue was just four years ago.” Shopify estimates its total addressable market for offline and B2B business at “over $450 billion,” he said, adding, “We have barely scratched the surface of this opportunity and expect it to be a key growth driver in 2024.”

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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At pipe distributor MRC Global, U.S. orders are 65% digital

Paul Demery — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:00:37 +0000

MRC Global Inc., a global industrial pipe distributor, is relying more on digital commerce to connect with customers, grow sales and increase operational efficiency, the century-old company says.

Rob Saltiel, president and CEO, MRC Global Inc.

“Our revenue grew for a third straight year in 2023 to $3.4 billion, and we generated $181 million of operating cash flow, resulting in our lowest net debt level ever as a public company,” president and CEO Rob Saltiel said in a statement on the company’s fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31.

MRC Global, which launched in 1921, emphasizes its global supply chain expertise and its “robust digital platform” for its ability to offer over 300,000 SKUs from over 8,500 suppliers for approximately 10,000 customers worldwide. Its ecommerce site, MRCGO, processes orders for products ranging from steel and polyethylene pipe to related valves and fittings.

In the fourth quarter, MRC reported a 12% year-over-year drop in total sales to $768 million. MRC said ecommerce accounted for 65.5% of U.S. orders and 53% worldwide. That’s up from 50.2% of worldwide orders in the year-earlier quarter.

Ecommerce drives a big share of sales

MRC didn’t break out the percentages of Q4 2023 U.S. of sales transacted online. Based on its reported figures for 2023 and 2022, Digital Commerce 360 estimates ecommerce accounted for about $340 million in Q4 2023 sales.

In its 2022 annual report, MRC said ecommerce accounted for 41% of total Q4 2022 revenue, or $356.3 million out of total sales of $869 million, while accounting for half of customer orders.

For the full year 2023, MRC said total sales grew 1% year over year to $3.41 billion. Saltiel noted on an earnings call today that, despite the drop in Q4 sales, “we maintain strong profit margins and cash generation that exceeded our expectations.”

He added, “We have seen a meaningful improvement in our backlog of new orders over the first few weeks of 2024. This gives us optimism that our business is stabilizing, and we expect to return to growth in the coming quarters.”

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, MRC reported:

Gross profit of $153 million, down 3.2% from a year earlier. But a sharp drop in the cost of sales led to a gross profit margin of 20.0%. That’s up from 18.2% a year earlier.
Net income of $21 million, unchanged.

For the full year, MRC reported:

Gross profit of $690 million, up 13.1%.
Net income of $114 million, up 52%.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s MRC Global report.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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Watsco’s 2023 ecommerce sales grow 5% to $2.4 billion

Paul Demery — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 15:30:49 +0000

Watsco Inc.’s slack total 2023 sales of $7.28 billion hardly moved from $7.27 billion in 2022, but chairman and CEO Albert H. Nahmad nonetheless described last year as “exceptional” — and in a positive way bolstered by ecommerce technology and a robust acquisition strategy.

Albert H. Nahmad, chairman and CEO, Watsco Inc.

“In many respects, we consider 2023 an exceptional year given the extraordinary performance during the two preceding years and considering the softer comparative market conditions that have followed,” he said today in a Q4 and full-year financial statement. “We achieved market share gains during a down market, scaled the adoption of Watsco’s technology-leading technology platforms, drove productivity gains, expanded our network.”

Nahmad added during an earnings call that he sees Watsco — which he noted has grown from $1 billion in annual revenue 20 years ago to over $7 billion today — doubling its current annual revenue over the long term.

‘We’re very ambitious; we always want to grow’

“We’re never satisfied — that’s part of our culture,” he said. “We’re very ambitious; we always want to grow.”

He added that changes in the HVAC industry, including more efficient HVAC systems and greater customer participation in improved digital commerce and fulfillment technology, is making for a prime growth opportunity.

“Markets are creating innovation for the first time in a long time — it’s exciting,” he said on the earnings call.

The company noted several 2023 performance metrics resulting from its customer-facing technology systems.

Watsco ecommerce sales grew 5% year-over-year to $2.4 billion, to about 34% of total sales.
Active ecommerce customers produced 50% less attrition than non-ecommerce users.
The gross merchandise value of products sold on Watsco’s OnCallAir digital sales platform for contractors increased 28% to $1.2 billion, as quote volume expanded 14% to about 256,000 households.
Watsco’s authenticated user community for HVAC Pro+ Mobile Apps expanded to approximately 55,000 users.

Nahmad also pointed to several digital technology investments Watsco has made in the past year.

Pricing optimization software, providing analytics and insights on more than 200,000 SKUs that help Watsco “enhance competitiveness and improve margins.”
Warehouse management and order fulfillment systems for accelerated order fulfillment and “faster and more reliable customer service.”
Demand planning and inventory optimization tools to improve fulfillment rates and inventory turns.
Logistics and operations software and expertise to facilitate more efficient product movement.

Watsco is ‘well-positioned’ to invest in growth

Going forward, executives said acquisitions will remain a key part of growth.

“Watsco remains well-positioned to invest in most any-sized opportunity to build further scale in the estimated $60 billion highly fragmented North American HVAC/R distribution market,” the company said.

Since 1989, Watsco has acquired 69 companies. Its three most recent acquisitions are:

Capitol District Supply, acquired in March 2023. It generated 2023 revenue of about $13 million.
Gateway Supply Co., acquired in September 2023, which generated 2023 revenue of $180 million.
Commercial Specialists, acquired this month, generated 2023 revenue of about $13 million.

As Watsco grows through acquisition, it will seek to gain market share by brands in each market it enters, Nahmad said.

Watsco operates a distribution network with 692 North American locations serving over 125,000 contractors across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other markets in Latin America.

Watsco reported for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31:

Total sales grew 1% year over year to a record $1.60 billion.
Gross profit declined 4.4% to $414.16 million for a gross profit margin of 25.8%.
Net income declined 37.8% to $97.74 million.

For the full year, Watsco reported:

Watsco ecommerce sales grew 5% year-over-year to $2.4 billion.
Watsco ecommerce represented about 34% of total sales.
Total sales were slack at $7.28 billion, compared to $7.27 billion.
Net income declined 9.9% to $634.14 million.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s Watsco report.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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An India B2B ecommerce company raises $1.2 million

Paul Demery — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:39:04 +0000

Recognizing India as an emerging B2B and retail ecommerce market, startup ecommerce technology provider Rupyz is developing its software-as-a-service platform for helping brands distribute their products through an omnichannel strategy.

Dhaval Radia, CEO, Rupyz

“Our commitment is to unlock the full potential of India’s B2B ecommerce and supply chain,” says Dhaval Radia, co-founder and CEO.

Rupyz recently received $1.2 million in seed funding from venture capital firm Merak Ventures, which says it focuses on “sector-agnostic, early-stage” investments, and other angel investors.

In announcing the funding, Merak noted that “numerous Indian small and medium businesses face significant obstacles in maximizing their growth potential due to inadequate digital commerce capabilities. This gap is particularly concerning in an era where B2B commerce is not just an advantage but a necessity.”

Merak added, “Rupyz brings its integrated SaaS solution to enable these businesses to have an omnichannel interface to automate and scale their existing offline and online distribution.

Rupyz focuses mostly on companies in the food, personal care, lifestyle and fast-moving-consumer-goods (FMCG) industries. It says it caters to a network of 85 brands and more than 6,500 distributors and 250,000 retailers.

The company also says it expects to onboard over 3,000 businesses to its platform over the next 12 to 15 months. It adds that a broad shift to a new generation of leaders of family-owned businesses in India is fostering a shift to digital commerce.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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2024 has mounting supply chain issues. Here are new ways to handle them.

Yikun Shao — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 22:20:41 +0000

Yikun Shao, head of supply chain for North America, Alibaba.com

Businesses have been carefully watching the state of global supply chains as they have had to maneuver around obstacle after obstacle to ensure they meet the increasing demands of customers. In 2024, businesses will continue to feel the brunt of existing challenges, as well as meet new ones, and it will be critical to anticipate and find new ways to manage these issues while living up to customer expectations.

Crowdsourced delivery allows businesses to scale their shipment operations and achieve delivery timeliness and efficiency.

Of note, nearly four in ten (38%) small businesses think the global supply chain outlook will have a negative impact on their business, according to an Alibaba.com survey, so it will be important to watch for changes throughout the year and monitor for potential concerns.

One of the most pressing challenges the industry faces is a shift of issues from the supply to the demand side. On the supply side, more raw materials are available, and there are fewer transportation obstacles.

However, on the demand side, there has been rising inflation globally, and backlogged inventory, especially in the U.S. and E.U., has led to a decrease in demand, compounded by decreased demand for certain products. While the U.S. saw a return to pre-pandemic consumer holiday season spending in 2023, businesses may still want a more conservative approach and order products in smaller quantities, meaning that meeting shipping requirements may become more difficult. Demand is not able to meet the products that the supply side is able to provide.

On top of this, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing as supply chains are still readjusting from related interruptions. There is more stability, but recovery takes time, especially as new challenges arise.

Mounting Concerns Businesses Should Monitor

Businesses are also facing a number of additional issues that could spell trouble for them throughout the year that they should be watching carefully:

Cyber attacks: Threats from bad actors continue to be a growing issue. Small businesses are three times more likely to be targeted by cybercriminals, and the cost of cybercrimes to small businesses reached $2.4 billion in 2021.
Labor and government shutdowns: 70% of small business owners say a government shutdown would negatively impact their business, and 93% say it would hurt their revenue. Additionally, labor strikes can also impact small businesses by disrupting vendors or shipping partners.
Natural disaster events: With 2023 on track to be the hottest year on record and extreme weather events increasing, supply chains could be increasingly disrupted by natural disasters and unworkable conditions.
Panama Canal disruptions: The drought in Panama, largely caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon, has caused major delays and bottlenecks for those in the logistics industry. Scientists believe climate change may be prolonging dry spells and increasing temperatures in Panama. As such, the situation has become dire and expected to continue into at least mid-2024, as the number of ships allowed through the canal will decrease into February.
The state of the U.S. economy: 47% of small business owners feel the economy will get worse in the next 12 months, and 58% said their business is being impacted by higher interest rates.

It will be crucial for businesses to monitor these and other issues and adapt as necessary by tapping into innovative industry tools and resources.

Digital Tools Address the Changing Supply Chain Landscape

As supply chain and logistics trends continue to evolve, digital tools can make it easier to manage operations to ensure on-time deliveries. There are a variety of tools on the market that can help businesses stay up-to-date on shipping and inventory processes. Companies can also invest in data analytics programs to assess patterns in inventory management and customer demands. There are even technology offerings that can help model and then execute on needs as supply chains come under greater stress. The goal in utilizing digital solutions like these is to predict trends, streamline processes and increase efficiency no matter the current supply chain landscape.

To make the biggest impact, specifically engineered intelligent tools, like Alibaba.com’s Smart Assistant, are also available, and they can provide better insight into the sourcing process. They can include features surrounding supplier transparency, direct communication with translation, shipment tracking, protections for wrong or delayed orders, and digital inventory awareness. These functions allow businesses to keep tabs on their orders and adjust to changes to time orders accordingly and, most of all, have peace of mind when sourcing their products.

However, employing digital tools is just one avenue businesses can take for upping their supply chain game.

Alternative Shipping and Warehousing Methods

Thinking outside the box when updating your shipping practices can also help to increase efficiencies, meet the growing demand for faster deliveries and stay resilient during supply chain setbacks.

There is a newer phenomenon in the form of crowdsourced delivery. This allows businesses to scale their shipment operations and work with other businesses to achieve timeliness and efficiency in deliveries. This communal form of shipping will continue to grow and become highly utilized in the coming years as technology becomes more widely adopted.

Beyond crowdsourced delivery, the localization of supply chains is also helping keep things closer to home, reduce logistics costs and cut order fulfillment time for small businesses. Localization may take the form of strategically built warehousing networks to maintain inventory closer to major customer bases. Some businesses are also using third-party warehouses, but these can have numerous and complex restrictions, which are constantly evolving. With that in mind, regional warehousing could be a viable alternative.

The world of ecommerce logistics and supply chain is constantly changing, but digitization, localization and omni-channel distribution are the three areas of innovation that businesses should consider taking advantage of. New technologies are bringing more transparency to the process than ever before. While these trends are growing, it will be critical for businesses to stay vigilant and monitor for new innovations and supply chain developments in order to be ready to tackle future challenges and seize new opportunities to evolve and improve their supply chains.

About the author:

Yikun Shao is Head of Supply Chain for North America at international marketplace Alibaba.com.

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Grainger sees stronger sales ahead for its online-only businesses

Paul Demery — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 15:00:38 +0000

W.W. Grainger Inc.’s online-only Endless Assortment business has seen better days, when annual sales increases ran in double-digit percentages. But the company expects a return to those increases and is well on its way at the prominent distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products.

D.G. Macpherson, chairman and CEO, W.W. Grainger Inc.

D.G. Macpherson, chairman and CEO, said on an earnings call today that the Endless Assortment business — which offers online sales without the full-service approach Grainger provides through its High-Touch Solutions via sales teams and Grainger.com — nonetheless expanded its presence last year with large as well as small and midsized customers. He added that Zoro was also updating its product assortment to improve what Grainger says had been an “unfavorable product mix” that led to a drop in Q4 gross profit margins.

W.W. Grainger Inc. is No. 11 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s rankings of the largest online retailers in North America based on annual web sales.

Grainger online sales

“The Zoro team has progressed on their strategy, expanding their assortment, attracting new customers and improving B2B customer retention,” he said.

Zoro’s Q4 sales rose 2.3% year over year to $264 million. MonotaRo’s Q4 sales increased 7.8% to $438 million. Combined Endless Assortment Q4 sales increased 6.0% to over $700 million.

Grainger’s total sales increased in Q4 by 5.1% to $3.997 billion and for the full year by 8.2% to $16.5 billion.

Macpherson added that Zoro continued to focus on a strategy of presenting a personalized product assortment, assessing price competitiveness, and “proactively communicating delivery times to highlight where we are advantaged.”

Regarding Monotaro.com, Macpherson said “they seem stronger with enterprise customers [and] continue to expand with small and midsize customers and are gaining operating leverage as they ramp into their distribution center in Davos.”

He added, “In January, I had the opportunity to visit MonotaRo and I was able to see that MonotaRo was supported by a tight partnership between the U.S. supply chain organization and the Japanese counterparts.”

In Q4, Endless Assortment “growth was driven by B2B customers across the segment as well as enterprise customer growth at MonotaRo, which was partially offset by declining sales to non-core, consumer-like customers at Zoro,” Grainger said.

Zoro added about 2 million SKUs in 2023, ending the year with 13.1 million, an 18% increase. It also counted at year’s end 5.17 billion registered users; MonotaRo counted 9.02 million.

Expanding DC space 35%

Grainger also announced today plans to open a 1.2-million-square-foot distribution center this spring in the Houston suburb of Hockley, Texas. Grainger says the new facility will house more than 250,000 industrial supply items, ranging from power tools to power transmission equipment, and employ about 400 people following its 2026 opening.

The Texas facility will follow the launch of two other distribution centers in Pineville, North Carolina, which is scheduled to open later this year, and in Gresham, Oregon, scheduled for 2025. Overall, Grainger says it is adding 3.5 million square feet of warehouse space, a companywide increase of 35%.

“These latest investments will strengthen our promise to customers who count on us to provide next-day complete orders to keep their operations running,” Macpherson said on the earnings call.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s W.W. Grainger report.

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Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, vice president of B2B and Market Research Development, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com and follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn and be the first to know when we publish Digital Commerce 360 B2B News content.

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Delta Cargo and SmartKargo launch DeliverDirect for ecommerce

Paul Demery — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 21:30:25 +0000

Delta Cargo, a unit of Delta Air Lines Inc., is offering a new shipping and delivery service through DeliverDirect, an online platform Delta developed with logistics technology firm SmartKargo.

Delta says DeliverDirect uses the Delta Air Lines domestic network of more than 2,500 daily flights to offer small-parcel 2-day door-to-door delivery “coast-to-coast.” It adds that DeliverDirect will “soon” launch next-day delivery service.

Alison Ricker, managing director, Delta Cargo Global Sales

“Through our strategic collaboration with SmartKargo, DeliverDirect gives e-retailers an alternative transportation solution that fits their customers’ requirements,” says Alison Ricker, managing director, Delta Cargo Global Sales.

DeliverDirect’s services include:

Customized pick-up times for shippers.
Simultaneous tracking of up to 10 deliveries.
Geofence notifications of approaching deliveries.
Dedicated cargo capacity.
Signature-required deliveries.
Photo-proof of delivery.
Flat and customizable rates.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based SmartKargo provides software-as-a-service shipping management software running on Microsoft Azure cloud technology and developed in association with technology experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the airline and cargo industries, SmartKargo says.

SmartKargo’s cargo-shipping technology is also used by more than 10 other airlines, including Air Asia, Alaska Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Copa Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Norwegian.

SmartKargo is part of QuantumID Technologies Inc., a software and solutions company based in Cambridge.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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An alcoholic beverage distributor’s customers embrace B2B ecommerce

Paul Demery — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 20:37:10 +0000

B2B customers of Republic National Distributing Co. are giving the company a reason to celebrate ecommerce.

Nick Mehall, president and CEO, Republic National Distributing Co.

“A large and growing number of our customers are now embracing B2B ecommerce as a complementary vehicle to engage with us,” says Nick Mehall, president and CEO. He notes that the distributor’s ecommerce site, eRNDC, “has demonstrated significant market adoption over the past twelve months.”

Mehall notes that 2023 sales transacted through the eRNDC ecommerce platform reached $800 million, spurred by a 32% year-over-year increase in the number of monthly active online customers.

RNDC says its online customers in 21 states can shop among 6,700 brands, using such features as AI-powered site search, product recommendations and product assortments curated for local markets.

And RNDC expects the good times to continue.

Emily Xu, senior vice president of ecommerce, Republic National Distributing Co.

“Looking ahead to 2024, we are anticipating more customers will leverage the platform to discover products and brands,” says Emily Xu, senior vice president of ecommerce. “We are also seeing more suppliers incorporate B2B platforms like eRNDC as building blocks of their commercial strategy.”

Republic National ecommerce investments pay off

Mehall says RNDC has invested in its proprietary ecommerce platform over the last few years to “meet the demands and the complexity of our industry, and our results indicate our strategy is firmly taking hold.”

He adds: “By directly providing 24/7 access and making product information easily accessible to customers and our sales reps, we are bringing brands closer to customers. By offering order dashboards, invoices, and online payments, we also free up our sales team from some of the administrative tasks and give them more time to spend with customers.”

RNDC says it is also using its ecommerce platform to better understand how different types of customers shop for products.

In the past year, the distributor analyzed shopping behavior data collected on eRNDC to learn that account customers tend to search by category, with top search terms of tequila, bourbon and champagne.

It also learned that other customers RNDC defines as “off-premise” tend to search first by brands.

Xu says RNDC expects more ecommerce improvements to come.

“With the fast development in AI and machine learning, we are very excited to partner with our sales team, our suppliers, and our customers to continue evolving our platform to be the best collaborative ecommerce platform that seamlessly connects three tiers of the beverage alcohol industry,” she says.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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A new digital product suite spans the B2B transaction lifecycle

Paul Demery — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 18:19:02 +0000

Balance Payments Inc. has introduced an integrated software suite designed to help B2B sellers manage their sales process from customers’ order placement to settled payment.

“While working with brands and marketplaces over the past year, it became clear that the inefficiencies and costs of business payments were impacting their profit margins,” Balance CEO Bar Geron says. “Tackling this problem required going beyond the point of purchase. This is why our solutions now optimize across the transaction lifecycle, from order placement to payment settlement.”

Bay Fastening Systems, an industrial products distributor, is using Balance technology to help grow its digital marketplace, BaySupply.com, Michael Eichinger, Bay’s chief operating officer, says in a press release announcing the new Balance suite.

“We were able to grow our digital channel in ways we didn’t know were possible,” he says. He adds that the Balance suite offers “product flexibility and ability to work with our existing business processes.”

The Balance product suite includes:

Digital Trade Credit – Includes AI-enhanced credit reviews for payment terms, with an integrated checkout application and invoice payments.
B2B Payments – Supports a variety of payment methods, including payment cards and bank ACH transfers, for omnichannel and global transactions. Includes products such as buyer accounts payable tools, automated reconciliation and dashboard reporting.
Marketplace OS – Provides online marketplaces with products that provide multiple payment and financing options for buyers and payouts to third-party vendors.

Balance’s new product suite follows other payments technology applications it launched last year. These other applications include international digital financing and payment services developed with Europe-based Hokodo Services Ltd. and a buyer portal and dunning management tool for managing receivables and collecting late payments.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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How to accelerate a winning B2B ecommerce strategy: Tools, tactics & examples

Megan Veltman — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 21:54:01 +0000

Today’s business buyers demand excellence in personalized commerce anytime, anywhere, through any channel. And they expect manufacturers and distributors to deliver them superior user experience. But B2B sellers must deploy new ecommerce strategies and technology to generate a uniquely helpful experience that attracts and keeps customers. This brave new world of connected ecommerce means complex B2B organizations need to engage digital-first and traditional customers in new and better ways.

Fast on the way out are old, unconnected computer systems, dysfunctional databases, and manual programs that don’t generate recurring B2B ecommerce sales and sustain customer loyalty. Instead, winning B2B organizations use new applications and services such as artificial intelligence, dynamic pricing, personalization, sustainability, and other emerging digital technology and strategy to meet — and exceed — buyer expectations.

The webinar will provide attendees with the insights to start building or accelerating an ecommerce strategy that:

Generates higher sales and profits.
Attracts and retains loyal customers.
Gives B2B buyers a transparent, personalized and omnichannel purchasing experience that helps them do their jobs better.
Develops a digital technology infrastructure for more efficient and productive operations for both internal and external stakeholders.