Building an engaging online store can be a challenge for both B2B and B2C businesses. However, Magento B2B development can help you ease the pain and create a memorable shopping experience for end-consumers and other companies alike. Here we discuss the advantage of a B2E approach to online selling and Magento development pricing for your business.

What is Magento?

Magento is a world-class, scalable and flexible Content Management System (CMS) and eCommerce portal. Now owned by the tech giant Adobe, Magento gives you the power to build unique and appealing shopping experiences. Using the rich feature-base, enjoy unlimited customisation capacity, flexibility in design architecture, and seamless integrations with third-party extensions. Furthermore, Magento’s global network of implementation partners ensures you have access to the best support no matter where you are.

What is B2E?

Traditionally, businesses owners categorise their companies based on customer type, i.e., directly to the end consumer (B2C) or other businesses (B2B). The primary driver behind this distinction is in the channels used for marketing and the volume of business. For example, an individual working from home could make a standard box of staples last an entire month. On the other hand, most companies go through the same weekly.

However, Magento offers a new perspective that has slowly gained traction and popularity. Instead of assuming that B2C and B2B are mutually exclusive, businesses should combine their approach and become Business to Everyone (B2E). With technology advancing leaps and bounds annually, the line between B2C and B2B has blurred in terms of strategy and tactics.

The Advantages of a Unified B2B and B2C Solutions Provider

There are significant advantages to Magento’s B2E concept of business. However, they all revolve around the same fundamental principle. B2E strategies save time, effort and resources. Outlined below are some of the most salient features of the B2E concept:

Operate a Single Magento Instance

Customer front-of-mind is critical for increasing sales in the long run. The more prominent your brand, the sooner potential customers will think of you to fulfil their needs. By consolidating and coordinating marketing efforts between the two categories mentioned earlier, you only one site for customers to recall, one brand to market.

Less Technical Baggage

With only one site to manage, you only have one theme and a single code-base to maintain. Moreover, any customisations, upgrades, and hosting changes will take less work than maintaining and making changes to two independent sites.

Consolidated Catalogue Management

You can manage all your products through a single, unified database instead of maintaining two separate ones for each customer type. Of course, you can also toggle specific effects on or off for B2B vs B2C customers. However, it’s still much easier to do than managing multiple catalogues, especially when using the services of a Magento B2B development company.

Buying Strategies Remain Constant between B2B and B2C Consumers

The average consumer typically requires two things from a shopping experience; convenience and speed. Businesses have the same needs, if not more so, to buy quickly, efficiently, and reasonably priced. Therefore, it makes sense to standardise the searching, learning and purchasing process across B2B and B2C customers.

What does Magento B2B Offer?

Magento B2B offer a wide range of features geared towards B2B specific eCommerce needs. Outlined below are some key offerings:

Quick Order

Minimise shopping time by enabling quick order with the SKU and quantity pre-set.

Company Accounts

Create individual accounts for each B2B customer. You or an authorised representative of the company can define users, specify roles and assign responsibilities for purchasing.

Several Payment Options

B2B customers usually require more diverse forms of payment given the volume :

• Cash on delivery;
• Check/money order;
• Bank transfer payment;
• Credit Card (Payflow Link);
• Credit Card (Payflow Advanced);
• Credit Card (Payflow Pro);
• PayPal Billing Agreement;
• PayPal Credit (PayPal Express Bml);
• PayPal Credit (Payflow Express Bml);
• No payment information required.

Tailored Catalogues

The Magento Commerce B2B module allows you to create shared or group catalogues, each with custom pricing. These catalogues differ from the ones publicly available to regular consumers.

Flexible Shipping Options

With Magento Commerce B2B, you get several additional shipping options and the option to assign multiple shipping addresses within the same order. These options include:

• In-Store Pickup Delivery;
• Federal Express;
• DHL;
• Flat Rate;
• Best Way;
• United Parcel Services;
• The United States Postal Service;
• Free Shipping.

Payment On Account

The payment on account feature allows B2B customers to make credit purchases up to a pre-set limit. You can configure this limit separately for each company.

Negotiable Prices and Quotes

This Magento B2B feature allows the company representative to request negotiation before placing an order. The Quick Grid also keeps a record of all such requests and all communication between buyer and seller.

What can a Magento B2B Development Company do for You?

Building your own Magento store from scratch can seem challenging at times. You need a clear understanding of what you need as a business and your product’s unique needs. A Magento B2B Development company can help you understand and define these elements and then build a spectacular online store. Furthermore, a Magento B2B development company can help you create more comprehensive customer’s accounts, intuitive and custom product catalogues and highly effective product pages.

How does Magento Development Pricing Work?

There are two distinct versions of Magento you can get: Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce. The former is the free-to-use version usually meant for testing. The latter is the primary product to which you can add the B2B module. Unfortunately, Magento Commerce’s price depends on your annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and Average Order Value (AOV). Due to the variability of the two metrics, you will have to call in and talk to the sales teams for a quotation.

Similarly, Magento development pricing depends mostly on the website or online store’s scale and complexity. It would be best to contact a Magento development company and request an assessment. Once you hash out the details, they will provide a quotation for building the store and retainer fees should you choose to continue the relationship.

Conclusion

As you probably know by now, developing a top-class Magento B2E store can take more than just guts and dedication. A Magento B2B development company can guide you in making the right decisions, all be it, for a small fee. No matter what final Magento development pricing you arrive at, it would be best if you considered whether the value you get back is worth the cost.