Ecommerce experts BigCommerce are back with another guide to help you with online business growth through digital transformation.
In a recent study we conducted of global B2B buyers, 74% stated that they use online platforms to transact and make purchases for their business. So, whether you already have an ecommerce presence, or you are looking for a way to launch one, it is essential that you focus first on having an optimised foundation that fits your business’ needs.
The digital transformation undertaken by MKM Building Supplies—one the UK’s largest independent builders merchants—perfectly illustrates the essential steps to create a solid B2B ecommerce presence.
Modernising the digital experience
MKM’s branches serve customers across B2B, B2C, and B2B2C channels, creating a uniquely complex business model. To create smooth workflows and unified experiences, it’s crucial for B2B companies launching online or replatforming to find a solution that integrates seamlessly with their existing systems.
MKM adopted BigCommerce due to its best-in-class ecommerce functionality, which was expanded upon through microservices tailored to MKM’s unique requirements. BigCommerce’s API-first approach enabled MKM to create integrations and automate workflows, reducing administrative burden and allowing sales and marketing teams to focus on their core tasks.
Streamlining your workflows and enhancing security
MKM leveraged Bloomreach’s solutions for CMS, product search, product recommendations, and SEO enhancements. These microservices optimised daily operations, such as real-time integration with MKM’s ERP for ‘My Account’ area, facilitating top-up payments, credit payments, and branch locator services.
Managing over 100 inventory lists, tens of thousands of product SKUs, nearly 200,000 registered customers, and an astounding 1.79 billion-plus customer-product price combinations, MKM required a platform with flexibility and scalability. The brand picked BigCommerce’s headless architecture and Open SaaS capabilities to manage these challenges effectively, while its PCI-secure checkout and pre-integration with payment providers ensured transaction security, a key consideration for B2B buyers.
BigCommerce’s PCI-compliance and adherence to the OWASP Top 10 security standards were indeed crucial. It allows MKM to maintain this high level of security through front-end and back-end microservices, conducting successful penetration tests and PCI scans.
Creating a unified customer experience
MKM chose Vue Storefront due to its pre-built integrations with Bloomreach and BigCommerce, significantly reducing its time to market. Vue Storefront offered a complete ‘storefront as a service’ solution, reducing the burden of maintenance and infrastructure management. Its customisable SEO functionality allowed MKM to create an SEO strategy leveraging Bloomreach integration and BigCommerce API for product description pages.
Key takeaways: business growth through digital transformation
MKM’s experience demonstrates what a solid ecommerce foundation should deliver: whichever platform you pick, it should streamline your workflows, integrate with your existing systems, empower your sales and marketing teams, and enhance the overall online buying experience.
For MKM, it meant utilising BigCommerce, Bloomreach, and Vue Storefront, which led to significant performance improvements: the B2B brand saw a 23.1% increase in year-on-year traffic, a 31% increase in total web orders, and a 31.5% revenue uptick.
Whether venturing online for the first time or optimising an existing online presence, it’s essential to find solutions that fit your business needs and systems. Your ecommerce platform must be flexible enough to build unique experiences while providing a robust foundation to ensure security and ease of maintenance.
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