The manufacturing industry is a fast-paced market that evolves quickly based on the latest trends. These industry changes come with customers’ expectations that should be met, as the current manufacturing landscape requires more than traditional sales channels. With people having access to the internet, they can now shop from the comfort of their homes. Buyers now have many options—they can research online, compare pricing, features, and reviews, and have products delivered directly to their homes. An effective and solid eCommerce platform is crucial to driving your manufacturing business to the next level. As a manufacturer, you are mostly focused on the day-to-day operation of your business and have limited time to engage in other aspects of your business. With this, choosing an eCommerce service that is straightforward, simple to use, and effective is important.

Your eCommerce should be more than just a platform; it should be a great business partner that takes time to understand your business, products, and services and provides effective ways to translate your goals into a seamless online experience that your business needs. The question now stands: what should manufacturers look for in an eCommerce website partner?

An eCommerce Partner That Has Your Needs 

Before shopping for the best eCommerce, you should clearly understand your business needs. What do you want to achieve? Do you have enough budget to sustain the operation? Do your products require special packaging and handling services? Do you want an eCommerce partner to increase sales and brand awareness? These are just some questions you must answer before committing to an eCommerce partner. Once you have thought about these, you can narrow your options.

An eCommerce Partner That Has A Reputation And Experience

Source: Yourlogisticscorp

Remember that the manufacturing business is different from retail. Your business requires customer-specific quotes, different types of products, and special pricing policies. A partner that offers generic web design and layout services would not suffice to your needs; you need a partner with experience working in an industrial business. Your prospect should have handled and organized massive product catalogs and processed bulk orders and requests. In addition, this eCommerce partner should have expertise in supporting distributors and dealer portals and work with third-party logistics. Look for companies that will streamline your process and allow you to expand your business.

An eCommerce Partner That Can Grow With Your Business

One of the things that you should pay attention to when looking for an eCommerce partner is its ability to scale and grow as your business expands. Since you are always changing and growing your business now and then, your eCommerce service should be able to adjust and evolve with the new changes. Choose a platform that can cater to both B2B and B2C operations. Your eCommerce platform should scale and expand together with you.

An eCommerce Partner That Knows Marketing

A great eCommerce website is what you aspire for your manufacturing business. However, it is useless if your customers cannot find it. A great eCommerce partner considers digital marketing and SEO as part of its operation. SEO and keywords should be utilized for the products and pages of your website. It is also a green flag if your potential partner knows about email marketing and lead-nurturing tools and employs content writing strategies in blog posts or other resources. Your website is a tool to help your business grow, not just something to tell the world your business exists.

An eCommerce Partner That Promotes Personalization

Source: Isyncsf Website

As mentioned earlier, manufacturing is not retail. If your business offers products made to order or that entail customization and personalization, your eCommerce website should be able to fulfill the customers’ requests. When looking for an eCommerce partner, the ideal platform allows customers to upload files, choose options, or customize the order without calling or emailing you. An effective eCommerce platform offers tools such as CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) (for example, Experlogix CPQ, DealHub, iQuoteXpress, Epicor CPQ), personalized forms for unique requests, and interactive tools for product configurations. Giving the customers the chance to personalize their products increases the chance of them closing the sale.

An eCommerce Partner That Prioritizes Security

Source: Big Commerce

Your manufacturing business is built on information; most of it is confidential and sensitive information about your customers, data on the manufacturing process, and even patented designs. Security should be a nonnegotiable priority when looking for your next eCommerce partner. Your eCommerce platform should implement HTTPS/SSL encryption, protected payment services, periodic software upgrades, and compliance with security laws (GDPR and ADA) such as BigCommerce.

An eCommerce Partner That Integrates Your Business

WooCommerce Front Page

Source: https://woocommerce.com/

In manufacturing, you cannot deny that the industry is being run by systems such as CRMs (Customer Relationship Management systems), ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning systems), as well as tools for inventory, etc. When looking for an eCommerce partner, systems integration should be considered (e.g., WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.). The eCommerce platform should make all these systems link up and talk with each other for seamless and less hassle operations. Your eCommerce platform should connect your ERP for real-time reports of your stocks and orders, your CRM for personalized customer experiences, and other sales tools. A great eCommerce partner can sync and streamline all your operations, creating a manufacturing environment that enables business growth.

An eCommerce Partner That Provides a Great User Experience

No one likes a slow and clunky website. Your customers will likely not proceed with the order if your platform is slow and looks dated. When choosing an eCommerce platform for your business, opt for the ones that offer a great user experience and a stunning user interface. Your customers deserve a smooth experience when browsing and shopping for your products. The platform should be mobile-responsive and load fast, as potential customers use mobile phones. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate (with clear calls to action) and provides a straightforward ordering process.

An eCommerce Partner That Gives Insights

When thinking about eCommerce, most people think it is a service providing you with a platform to promote and sell your products. However, the least talked-about feature is its ability to give your data and business insights. Since eCommerce systems are automated, they can provide real-time reports about your business’ orders and revenue. What are your top-selling products? What are the underperforming ones? Where do most of the orders come from? What are your customers’ average buying habits and behaviors? Access to this data and information allows you to adjust and adapt your business strategies to cater to your needs. The more you know, the more opportunities for your business to adapt and grow.

Conclusion

If you are a manufacturing business looking to start an eCommerce store or someone who is looking for an upgrade, there are a plethora of services available today. Choosing your next eCommerce partner should be done with a lot of research and brainstorming, as this can make or break your business. Look for a platform that understands what you need, has the right experience and offerings, and provides the recipe to grow your business. With an effective eCommerce website, you can start selling your products more while delivering a great customer experience. Take your time and ask questions. Choose the best eCommerce platform that will support you throughout your business journey.