How to improve your B2B order management

Business-to-business (B2B) commerce is beginning to look a lot like B2C commerce in many regards. According to McKinsey & Co., as early as 2020, a majority of B2B buyers and sellers had decided digital self-service and remote engagement were a better way to do business. Since then, what began as temporary measures to carry on during the pandemic has evolved into permanent change in the B2B landscape.

Just like retail shoppers, corporate buyers now expect “B2Me” experiences that are personalized, convenient, and seamless across channels. As a result, once straightforward processes for managing orders have become incredibly complex. Succeeding in this digital B2B era requires new levels of efficiency and transparency.

“Forward-looking B2B companies will use digital channels and marketplaces to get in touch directly with end customers,” says Marcel Nijland, Digital Strategist for Macaw in a recent post featuring Sitecore global partners on “2022 commerce predictions.”

Here, we explain the factors driving consumer-like expectations and how B2B companies can improve their order management strategies to keep pace with changing times.

As a business process, the term order management encompasses everything related to receiving and fulfilling orders – plus all the necessary communication with your customer during the process.

Small companies might take orders by hand and track them in a simple spreadsheet. But larger organizations will have a mix of field reps, EDI systems, an e-commerce platform, and dedicated Order Management Software (OMS), as well as systems for enterprise operations and other functions that all need to work together.

As B2B enterprises introduce e-commerce and digital self-service options, the variety of channels is multiplying along with the volume of transactions. Add to this, a global supply chain and complex third-party logistics for fulfillment and shipping, and you could have a crisis in the making for those companies that don’t have a capable commerce solution in their martech stack.

B2B orders tend to be large and expensive, compared to retail sales. This means the buying cycle will be longer, and the cost of mistakes in order management is extremely high. When you’ve nurtured a lead for months, you don’t want to run the risk of having a substandard solution ruining the relationship during the final stages of closing the deal.

For these reasons, flexibility and scalability have become the top priority, especially for fast-growing organizations. You may not need a fully developed order management solution today, but it’s wise to think about how the business could grow over the next 12-18 months and begin to prepare for that future.

Caleres is a $3 billion retail conglomerate with several independent shoe retailors, including Famous Footwear. The company operates on a hybrid B2B model with 13 websites and 1,200 brick-and-mortar stores selling 400,000 different items. Purchase volume ranges from an average of 1,000 per day as high as 5,000 per day during peak seasons.

As part of its multiyear digital transformation initiative, Caleres launched a new omnichannel commerce platform using Sitecore that can receive and process orders from any site or store. The business gained the ability to customize channels without going back to the development team every time.

An effective order management solution will support any B2B go-to-market strategy, whether it’s direct to consumer, through distributors, multi-brand, or omni-market. When evaluating available options, the goal should be to simplify the processes required to complete an order.

Here are six considerations to help you navigate the decision process:

• Omnichannel order management: To handle orders efficiently, B2B companies need a platform that’s built to unify multiple channels. An omnichannel approach to order management brings all touchpoints and channels together, so that buyers can start an order in one place – for example, in person with a field rep – and complete it elsewhere, such as online or in-store.
• Supplier management: With any order management solution, you should be able to connect new suppliers easily and automate supplier fulfillment rules.
• Inventory management: Whether you source products from many international suppliers, take custom orders, and or simply work with buyers who need up-to-the-minute information about their purchases, you’ll want to make sure your order management solution gives an accurate picture of inventory and provides the ability to restock in real time.
• Order status: The right order management system will track every detail related to an order and notify contacts automatically as the status of orders and shipments updates.
• Flexible fulfillment: Modern order management solutions give buyers the ability to choose their own fulfillment terms.
• Back-office integration: All your ERP systems must be in sync when managing complex orders, so that no one system or individual contact is left out of the loop. Payments, tax, and distribution should flow seamlessly once the order is placed.

An order management system that meets these criteria will prepare you for changes to come. You’ll be able to add digital channels without creating internal friction and chaos. And the enterprise will be able to scale and adapt as different order management needs arise.

To see how Sitecore can help provide a solution for these issues, take a look at Sitecore OrderCloud, which empowers you to future-proof your business with a composable commerce platform that can scale to meet your needs.