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B2B
Strategic Planning for B2B Ecommerce
December 6, 2016 • Lori McDonald
With the end of 2016, many B2B companies are reviewing this year’s ecommerce performance and planning for next year. All too frequently, B2B ecommerce development is short sighted. Companies frequently ask,
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B2B
Does B2B Ecommerce Eliminate Sales Teams?
November 3, 2016 • Lori McDonald
The success of many business-to-business companies was built through a strong sales team. This causes B2B owners and managers to often resist ecommerce because they see it as competing with ...
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B2B
8 Innovative B2B Ecommerce Sites
September 27, 2016 • Lori McDonald
B2B ecommerce sites are typically more complicated, with more features, than B2C. In this article, I will address eight innovative B2B ecommerce sites. My company has no business relationship with these ...
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B2B
B2B Ecommerce: Pros and Cons of SaaS Platforms
August 29, 2016 • Lori McDonald
Software-as-a-service ecommerce platforms are gaining market share. They have clear benefits, but they also have limitations, especially for B2B companies. SaaS platforms — hosted carts — charge a monthly fee ...
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B2B
5 Types of B2B Product Data That Improve Online Sales
July 24, 2016 • Lori McDonald
Sometimes B2B companies invest in a highly functional ecommerce site and fail to use good product data. Shoppers don’t buy from websites if they don’t have the information they need to ...
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B2B
Using Site Search to Grow B2B Revenue
June 15, 2016 • Lori McDonald
If you help ecommerce shoppers quickly find what they are looking for, you will likely sell more. To accomplish this, look at your site’s navigation as well as its search ...
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B2B
11 Critical Features for B2B Ecommerce Sites
May 4, 2016 • Lori McDonald
An important part of redesigning or launching a business-to-business ecommerce site is to identify the required features. They can be available out of the box in your ecommerce platform, or ...
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B2B
7 Mistakes That Will Kill Your B2B Ecommerce Launch
March 23, 2016 • Lori McDonald
I’ve worked in the B2B ecommerce industry for 18 years. I’ve seen it all — good and bad. Here are seven mistakes that often cause failures in B2B ecommerce launches. 1.
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B2B
Using Product Feeds for B2B Ecommerce
February 18, 2016 • Lori McDonald
A data feed is a structured file that provides information to another system. Typical formats are XML, CSV, and TXT files. Think of it like a data export from your ...
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B2B
Choosing a B2B Ecommerce Platform: Weighing the Risks
January 21, 2016 • Lori McDonald
When considering a B2B ecommerce platform, it is important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the software solution you select. There are, in my experience, three types of software ...
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B2B
3 Ways to Build B2B Relationships with Ecommerce
December 9, 2015 • Lori McDonald
When it comes to building relationships, B2B ecommerce is different than B2C. There is still an individual relationship — there’s always a person on the other side. However, in B2B ...
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B2B
Preparing a 2016 B2B Ecommerce Budget
October 28, 2015 • Lori McDonald
It’s time to pull together the 2016 budget for your B2B ecommerce site. Budgeting for a B2B ecommerce site typically has four phases: information gathering, reflection on priorities, assigning numbers, and ...
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B2B
4 Tactics B2B Ecommerce Can Borrow from B2C
September 13, 2015 • Lori McDonald
“We don’t need ecommerce. Our customers don’t buy that way. They find us through Thomas Register and place orders with us by phone and fax.” That’s what the president of a ...