Redefining What B2B Commerce Really Is

Ten years ago, InsiteSoftware was developed to bring ecommerce solutions to manufacturers.  Over the last decade that vision has developed and expanded to provide ecommerce solutions to address the unique needs of B2B and B2C sites by providing commerce platforms for distribution and retail organizations, in addition to manufacturing.

In PYMNTS conversation with Co-Founder, Brian Strojny, about InsiteCommerce’s corporate evolution, he emphasized that the company is working to “redefine what B2B commerce really is”.

When the company first developed InsiteCommerce, their focus was firmly trained on the functionality required from B2B businesses, specifically in regards to customer-only portals, tiered pricing, customer verification for sensitive product

While that was a good starting point, they wanted to go further. Beyond their specific needs, Insite also held itself to the standard that B2B buyers should also be able to experience the intuitive interface and dynamic content that all consumers have  come to expect from their normal ecommerce experiences  B2B buyers, after all, have off hours just like everyone else, and want their professional buying experiences to be at least as easy and enjoyable at their personal ones.

Insite also faced difficult solving for an essential, and unique, difficulty of B2B transactions.  Unlike their consumer counterparts, business to business commerce by definition serves more than just the immediate constomer. These types of transactions are complicated affairs that are usually exercises in multi-player commerce cooperation since they can include sales representatives, wholesalers,  dealers and, finally,  the end customer. All these players are involved in the process of B2B ecommerce and as one of Insite’s clients found, it is imperative to make the solution seamless for every player.

One of the end users that has adopted the solution is Thule, a global provider of vehicle accessories. As a successful producer of vehicle accessories, the company sold its products through a network of dealers and distributers. Despite the company’s success, they struggled with the adoption of their B2B ecommerce site, which Thule recognized as being a key factor for future growth.

Thule required a platform that would managed their inventory in multiple locations while being attractive and intuitive for the dealers and distributors that would use the site.  Additionally, they needed to create a product catalog for more than 10,000 items with 5,000,000 price records associated with individual distribution, manufacturing and retail customers.

Before Insite’s intervention Thule’s B2B ecommerce site just wasn’t producing.  It had an adoption rate of only 10%. Two months after the launch of the new platform in Canada, the site’s user adoption rate as shot up 30% , brining the company into line with industry standards.

According to Thule’s Director of North American Customer Service, Annie Scopel, “our salespeople tell us that the new site has changed their lives”. The automation of pre-booking orders has lead to a 7% decrease in call volume which helps the customer service representatives to improve their response time to dealers, by 32%.  In turn, the dealers have had more time to focus on value-added sales activities that positively impact sales.

In line with the focus on connected commerce, Insite strives to be ahead of the curve, by focusing on a mobile platform and making sure that their site can be easily upgraded to support growing enterprises.

Additionally,  the company recently announced that they’ve extended functionality of their InsiteCommerce platform to deliver a more personalized experience. Now the solution can leverage customization data from the Sitecore platform that contains digital marketing and automation tools. Strojny explained that “this level of personalized experience is unique to the Insite and Sitecore relationship” and “the level of integration and customization isn’t something we’re seeing from the Java community, but it’s in great demand”.