The Multi-Channel Sales Debate

Whilst with one of our key customers last week it occurred to me that the majority of our Storefront clients are now faced with an ever shifting dilemma:

How do you align your sales resource as an ever growing % shifts from the more traditional methods of order capture, Sales Rep and Telesales, to a complete online transaction?

Over the years as the percentage of online transactions has grown, resource has had to be realigned to cope with the new needs of their customer base. As we now enter a period of double digit rises in online ordering these realignments are now focusing on the online customer proposition radically changing.

As the customers traditional touch points reduce many of the elements that were encompassed in these offline transactions are now finding a home on their Storefront product. Some of the areas we are increasingly seeing the need for a more sophisticated approach online are:

Product & Category Information - We are often moving beyond the simple thumbnail image and standard blurb. Many of our customers across the Hospitality Sector are including, menu information, food matching, serve videos and consumer sales messages and much, much more.

Finance - The days of displaying a copy invoice online have moved on. We are increasingly seen as the finance hub for many of our customers with the Storefront being the natural home for actual invoices, statements and payment.

Query Management - Offline this could often be a tiresome exercise for the customer. For the supplier these queries would often come into the Sales department and it would sometimes take a while for the query to reach its natural home and be resolved. Online has created a real step-change in this process. The customer can easily raise a query online, the supplier can ensure they are gathering the correct information and most importantly get it to the correct department instantly. This can be achieved through online forms with drop down menus or through "Live Chat".

These are just a few examples of how b2b eCommerce is evolving alongside the multiple channel sales process. If you would like to hear more about this please don't hesitate to get in touch via LinkedIn.