Last October, Internet Retailer published its 2015 Guide to B2B eCommerce. In it, the editors heralded that U.S. B2B eCommerce companies would generate $1 trillion in sales in 2014, significantly surpassing B2C eCommerce sales. With so many sales opportunities on the line, it’s not surprising to hear that B2B businesses are upping the ante when it comes to marketing their companies.  Although there can be some overlap in regard to how both B2B and B2C businesses go to market, there are...

In a recent study conducted by Forrester, 100 B2B companies in the United States were surveyed to evaluate best practices in implementing B2B eCommerce systems and the metrics that go hand in hand with those systems. In addition to revealing the competitive advantages that come from B2B eCommerce implementation, researchers identified SaaS and PaaS as popular for businesses looking to save time and money when deploying eCommerce solutions.    In fact, “get going now and produce results quickly,” was one of...

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: the user experience is one of the most integral elements of an eCommerce site. And while this mantra is essential when developing an online store, the problem with the ever-repeated declaration is that there are so many elements that make up a good user experience. Take for example the differing characteristics of a B2C site and a B2B site. They are reason enough to go beyond blanketed statements and start...

In a recent study conducted by Forrester, IBM was chosen as the top B2B eCommerce vendor when compared to other major providers. The report, titled “The Forrester Wave: B2B Commerce Suites, Q4 2013,” is the first of its kind, evaluating 66 criteria, such as community features, 24x7x365 ordering, real-time customer service, expedited shipping, mobile, integration with back-office systems, fulfillment workflows and inventory management.   “For B2B commerce, IBM comes to market with three core products: Websphere Commerce, Sterling CPQ, and Sterling...