Don’t think of e-commerce as an alternative to traditional sales methods. Think of it as a way to make your existing sales channels more effective.
Some people think that launching a B2B e-commerce initiative is a sure-fire way to draw the ire of the sales team. After all, doesn’t an investment in e-commerce signify the beginning of a competition with more traditional sales functions?
Not exactly.
Don’t think about e-commerce as an alternative to traditional sales methods. Instead, in order to take your business to the next level, you’d be much better off thinking about how e-commerce can be used to reinforce all of your existing sales channels—making them more effective.
According to a recent study, 81% of shoppers spend time researching products on the web before they pull the trigger and finalize a transaction. In the B2B world, the numbers are even higher: 94% of B2B customers do the same before tapping into the company purse.
