3 Keys to Winning in B2B Commerce

As you prepare to transform your e-commerce, the choices you make will determine your ability to drive short- and long-term growth as an innovative digital enterprise. Here are the 3 most important keys to winning in B2B Commerce. 

Key No.1 Clearly define your business requirements

Many e-commerce stakeholders are asking: “Which commerce approach is right for my business? Should we use headless architecture? Should we adopt a single- or multi-tenant environment?” But in our experience, better questions to start off are: “What do I actually need to meet my business requirements now? What kind of experience can we deliver to meet and exceed customers’ constantly changing expectations? What should I plan next to grow my business, both near- and long-term?” Defining your business requirements is the fundamental key before you can start to transform your digital commerce. 

Key No.2 Determine an appropriate architectural structure for your systems

While the pandemic accelerated the move to a digital-first model across the B2B marketplace, every business is still unique. There are, however, some commonalities that provide a useful framework that could guide stakeholders wanting to go beyond the monolithic system architecture that is often still representing the current state of B2B commerce applications. Here are some natural steps on the transformation journey:

1. Intermediate evolution: Separate responsibilities and add a content management system (CMS) to the platform, use it wherever possible and open up to enable API integrations, depending on the primary focus and trajectory of the business
2. Advanced architecture: Add best-of-breed solutions to address each core business priority 
3. Headless architecture: Decouple the front- and back-end layers, with a mediation layer made up of best-of-breed solutions, e.g. using GraphQL 
4. Composable + microservices: A suite of independent, purpose-built components that can be deployed independently and that communicate through a well-defined interface using lightweight APIs

Key No.3 Align your people and processes 

When planning for a large e-commerce project, it’s vital to take a step-wise approach. Start with defining your overall strategy and communicate it internally to all relevant stakeholders. Many companies initiating omnichannel digital commerce make the mistake of designating existing resources to manage the complexities of this new business model. Instead, either dedicate qualified internal resources or hire new specialists to run your ground game, and ensure your organization can be scaled as business volume and complexity grow.

We at Langia have extensive experience in organizational transformation for successful IT projects. We can help you achieve a smooth implementation while still keeping your daily business running without disturbance. We offer highly specialized experts who can help you to remain agile, respond effectively to evolving consumer habits, and enhance the omnichannel customer experience to stay competitive. Contact us to learn more!