What manufacturers need in eCommerce solutions

What do manufacturers really need when it comes to ecommerce? Do their highest-priority needs align with the value propositions which we see from B2B ecommerce solution providers? Do B2B executives prioritize Amazon-style experiences?

Not necessarily.

A recent survey by Digitalcommerce360 asked 138 respondents to name their top reasons for pursuing manufacturer eCommerce. And while brand recognition was a top reason for 25.3% of respondents, it came in fourth.

The top 3 reasons for launching manufacturer eCommerce don’t surprise us at all:

• 71.4% want manufacturer eCommerce to increase sales.
• 53.9% want manufacturer eCommerce to sell direct to consumers.
• 45.1% want manufacturer eCommerce to sell direct to retailers, dealers, and distributors.

For companies running SAP ERP, this gets more complicated. How do you increase sales and sell direct to all channels while maintaining the integrity of your SAP data?

Ecommerce for manufacturers requires ERP integration to support sales growth

Everyone wants to increase sales. If you knew more about your customers, you could offer more value beyond what you offer right now. Obviously, there are many factors that increase sales, but several of them depend on the manufacturer’s eCommerce integration to their ERP system.

• A real-time integration to your ERP provides accurate pricing, availability, credit limits, and more—before the user completes the purchase. That drives buyer confidence and makes you Easier To Do Business With (ETDBW). When you remove friction, you prime the pump to increase sales.
• A real-time integration to your ERP reduces or eliminates batch updates of data between the ERP and your ecommerce solution. For manufacturers, that means a scalable, cohesive data ecosystem that won’t get more complicated as you increase sales.
• A real-time ecommerce integration to the ERP offers One True Truth for your sales team and for your customers doing self-service. Because your manufacturing eCommerce solution interfaces with the ERP in real time, all relevant users see the same data about the account.

ERP integration supports manufacturers’ eCommerce expansion into B2C

Reclaiming margin without substantial cost increase

What manufacturer doesn’t want to get closer to the consumer and reclaim a little margin? To do that effectively, you need to handle the increase in complexity without a large increase in cost. Ideally, a manufacturer’s eCommerce solution should read and write real-time SAP product data for your B2C product line. Yes, you can rebuild all of that product data in a stand-alone eCommerce store—but then you have to update it in two places.

Why not integrate your B2C eCommerce store to your ERP in real time? A solution like Corevist Commerce allows you to restrict product lines that aren’t appropriate for your B2C channel. For the products that you do want to sell in your B2C store, Corevist pulls that product data from SAP in real time. This allows you to leverage your investment in your ERP, reach a B2C market, and avoid rebuilding the B2C portion of your ERP data in your eCommerce store. It’s a great way for manufacturers to sell online and get closer to the consumer. 

Meeting the real-time expectations of consumers

Selling direct to the consumer with eCommerce for manufacturers puts you squarely in the B2C market. That means very different customer expectations. When you hop on Amazon and shop for a product as a consumer, you expect “in stock—available” to mean exactly what it says. A real-time integration to your ERP allows you to display real data for inventory availability.

In B2C, where manufacturers may not have a longstanding eCommerce relationship with the customer (and you certainly don’t have contract pricing negotiated), that real-time inventory data can make or break the sale—especially when the consumer needs the product now.

ERP integration is critical for moving manufacturer/customer relationships to eCommerce

When it comes to moving your existing channel partner relationships online, real-time integration is absolutely crucial to eCommerce for manufacturers. Here’s why.

Whether they’re retailers, dealers, or distributors, your channel partners expect real-time data in the sales cycle. When they call up your Customer Service department to get pricing or to place an order, they’re used to getting real-time data from the ERP—they just don’t know it.

In other words, when they ask if SKU 123 is available and what their contract price is for 100 units, the Customer Service representative is typing that data into the ERP and reading off what she sees. With this information in hand, the customer feels confident in placing their order, knowing it will arrive on time.

Now move that same manufacturer’s customer to eCommerce—but make it a standalone web store with no integration to the ERP. Give that customer yesterday’s inventory availability and a list price, not contract pricing. Tell them that the final price will be determined after they place the order.

How happy is your customer now?

To empower channel partners to place self-service orders through eCommerce, manufacturers need to give them real-time ERP data in the web shop—because they need to have confidence in the order they’re placing.