For wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers, processing customer orders accurately is essential. But when orders are placed by phone, email, spreadsheets or handwritten forms, mistakes can easily occur.
Incorrect product codes, quantities, pricing and delivery details can all lead to delays, additional administration and frustrated customers.
A B2B online ordering system can help businesses reduce these errors by allowing customers to place orders directly through a digital ordering platform.
B2B orders can be more complicated than typical consumer purchases. Customers may order large quantities of multiple products, have agreed pricing, specific delivery requirements and regularly reorder the same products.
When these orders are handled manually, common errors can include:
Even a small error can have a knock-on effect. Staff may need to contact the customer, correct the order, update internal systems and arrange a replacement or additional delivery.
For businesses processing hundreds or thousands of orders, these problems can quickly become expensive.
A B2B online ordering system allows customers to enter and submit their own orders digitally. Instead of an employee having to interpret an email or telephone order and manually enter the details, the customer selects the products and quantities themselves.
This can significantly reduce the opportunity for mistakes.
With an online ordering system, customers can browse your product catalogue and select the exact products they want.
Product names, descriptions, images and product codes can be displayed consistently, making it easier for customers to identify the correct products.
This can reduce the risk of staff entering the wrong product code from an email or telephone order.
B2B customers often have individual pricing agreements.
An effective B2B ecommerce platform can display the correct pricing for each customer when they log in. This means customers don't necessarily need to email or call to confirm prices before placing an order.
It can also reduce the risk of incorrect prices being entered manually.
Manual data entry is one of the biggest opportunities for errors in the B2B ordering process.
When a customer sends an order by email, someone within the business may need to read the order and manually enter every product, quantity and price into another system.
With online ordering, the order information is already captured digitally.
This means employees can spend less time rekeying orders and more time dealing with customers and other important tasks.
Where your B2B ecommerce system is connected to your stock or ERP system, customers can potentially see current stock information when placing an order.
This can help prevent customers from ordering products that are unavailable and reduce the need for your sales team to contact customers after an order has been submitted.
Many B2B customers regularly order the same products.
Instead of sending an email with a list of product codes or calling your sales team, customers can use their previous orders or saved products to place repeat orders.
This reduces the amount of information that needs to be manually communicated and makes the ordering process quicker and more accurate.
Online ordering becomes even more powerful when it is integrated with your existing ERP or business management system.
Instead of having separate systems containing different versions of your product, customer, pricing and order information, data can be synchronised between your ecommerce platform and back-office systems.
For example, a B2B ecommerce system can connect with platforms such as Sage, SAP or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, helping businesses automate the flow of information between their online ordering system and internal systems.
This can reduce the need for employees to enter the same information multiple times.
Reducing errors isn't the only benefit of moving B2B orders online.
A streamlined ordering process can also reduce the administrative workload associated with processing orders.
Your team may spend less time:
This can allow your sales and customer service teams to focus on higher-value activities.
If you're considering introducing online ordering, it's important to choose a system that supports the way your business actually operates.
Important features can include:
The right solution should make ordering easier for your customers while reducing the amount of manual work required by your team.
Moving from phone and email orders to online ordering doesn't have to mean completely changing the way your business operates.
A good B2B ecommerce system can work alongside your existing processes and integrate with the systems you already use.
The aim is to give customers a simple way to place orders while ensuring your internal team has accurate order information from the moment an order is submitted.
For businesses processing a high volume of B2B orders, even a small reduction in order errors can make a significant difference to efficiency, customer satisfaction and operating costs.
SwiftCloud helps wholesalers, manufacturers and suppliers provide customers with a simple way to place orders online.
By combining B2B ecommerce with features such as customer-specific pricing, product information, repeat ordering and ERP integration, businesses can reduce manual order processing and create a more efficient ordering experience.
Want to reduce manual B2B order processing and make it easier for customers to order online? Discover how SwiftCloud can help your business streamline its B2B ordering process.
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