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B2B eCommerce is a mature industry. That means leading B2B companies have mastered the science and art of attracting new customers, closing deals, and providing a seamless online Customer Experience (CX) that keeps buyers coming back.
That’s great news for you if you’re a B2B business looking to build or improve your eCommerce website. It means there are plenty of effective websites you can learn from.
This blog post covers 9 of the best B2B eCommerce websites in business today, with key takeaways covering what makes each website so successful.
What Should You Look for in a Good B2B eCommerce Website?
A high-quality B2B website is one that delivers everything a target audience needs to complete their purchases without any roadblocks or frustration. It incorporates relevant technology that helps buyers achieve their goals through its core functionality, and it offers an enjoyable, interactive User Experience (UX).
While the best B2B eCommerce website for you will differ from other sites based on your business needs, certain qualities are nearly universal.
All the websites we cover in this post feature the following attributes:
- Engaging design that customers find appealing on both desktop and mobile devices
- User-friendly, intuitive workflows so buyers don’t waste time placing orders
- Solid catalog presentations and organization
- Clear, thorough product descriptions
- Business-to-business eCommerce features like bulk orders, negotiated pricing, multiple payment methods, or whatever a given market requires
Keep in mind that every B2B eCommerce site will have its own unique demands based on its needs, preferences, and buyer workflows. If you need guidance when selecting the right features, technologies, and B2B eCommerce platform, consult an experienced eCommerce website development firm.
9 Successful B2B eCommerce Website Examples that Will Inspire You
Let’s dive in! Here are some of the world’s best websites on the internet for leading B2B eCommerce companies and what makes them great at converting and retaining B2B customers.
1. Alibaba
2. Amazon Business
3. Grainger
4. MSC Direct
5. Ulta Beauty
6. Quill
7. Morgan Sports
8. Bulk Bookstore
9. Thermo Fisher Scientific
1. Alibaba
Alibaba is a Chinese B2B marketplace and the world’s largest B2B eCommerce brand, connecting retailers with suppliers across the globe. Headquartered in Hangzhou, China, the company has mastered B2B marketing, serving 18 million buyers and sellers across countless industries.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Clean catalog design with clear descriptions and powerful search functionality
- High-quality, relevant pictures and product descriptions
- Modern design and easy navigation tailored to the target audience
- Navigation and support in multiple languages
- Bulk purchases and customizable orders available by contacting sellers directly
- Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs) throughout the website
- Strong customer support for both buyers and sellers
2. Amazon Business
Amazon Business is the American answer to Alibaba, connecting a vast number of wholesale suppliers with online retailers. It offers everything you’d expect from an online marketplace designed by Amazon, and it’s giving Alibaba a run for its money.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Highly usable with straightforward workflows, just like the B2C eCommerce site we know and love from Amazon
- Tiered pricing for different Amazon Business Prime “levels” to encourage high-volume transactions
- Expedited delivery to keep businesses fully supplied, ready to meet customer needs
- Survey tools and analytics to help business clients strategize
3. Grainger
Grainger is a leading B2B eCommerce store that supplies industrial outlets with nearly anything they could possibly need, including lighting, HVAC, metalwork tools, and much more. Recently, they more than doubled their product catalog, from 480,000 to 1 million products.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Clean, intuitive design that allows for easy navigation of different brand categories and efficient search
- Sophisticated indexing that allows for autofill in the search bar
- System to leverage search history
- Side-by-side comparison between similar products
- Dedicated, visible bulk ordering feature for efficient ordering
4. MSC Direct
A competitor to Grainger with a similar business model, MSC Direct offers industrial supplies to businesses and features a wide range of products.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Excellent catalog layout and organization, allowing visitors to browse by category or supplier
- Fast loading pages
- Thorough product descriptions
- Website design prominently features the phone number to customer service if buyers can’t find what they want on the online store
- Clear customer ratings to encourage quick buying decisions
- Consistent branding across the site
- Strong calls-to-action placed prominently on key pages
- Mobile-first design to capture business from all devices
5. Ulta Beauty
Ulta Beauty is one of the largest B2B cosmetics distributors in the United States, featuring over 500 brands and 25,000 products. Ulta Beauty has been innovating since its launch in 1990, and its eCommerce business website is one of the industry’s best.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Impressive, engaging layout designed for a highly visual marketplace
- Vast library of 1.3 million products
- Seamless order tracking
- Equal parts B2C storefront and B2B marketplace, allowing for bulk orders and diverse payment options for large and small businesses
- Clear messaging about free shipping to help close the deal
- Innovative design for mega-menu and detailed catalog
- Robust search feature to find products quickly
- Consistent branding with logos, color schemes, fonts, and imagery
6. Quill
Quill is a B2B office supply retailer, equipping businesses with everything they need to be productive and successful.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Easy website navigation thanks to powerful UI and UX design
- Clear, easy-to-understand product information provided in descriptions
- Efficient checkout process that allows for bulk ordering and logistic updates
- Innovative header design for quick decision-making
- Deals prominently displayed above the fold to encourage clicks and purchases
- Tiered pricing based on purchase quantity and customer type
7. Morgan Sports
Morgan Sports supplies boxing and fitness equipment to retailers, gyms, and trainers across Australia. They don’t sell directly to the retail audience and only show their prices to those with wholesale licenses.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Easy website navigation to help retailers find exactly what they’re looking for
- Product pages allow customers to easily switch between tabs to see product descriptions, delivery info, and other important information
- Range of purchase options, including buy-now-pay-later, designed to fill shopping carts and close deals
- Bold, innovative graphics and visual design
- Snippets announcing other customer purchases for social proof
- Powerful mega-menu with bold design
- Clear focus on B2B customers
- Regularly encouraging logins to provide a personalized experience
8. Bulk Bookstore
Bulk Bookstore offers independent bookstores access to over three million titles at rates that cost less than half the suggested retail price. Serving over 75,000 customers, Bulk Bookstore is an excellent example of B2B eCommerce done right.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Unique, striking design that gels with company branding
- Excellent live customer service to support buyers
- Strong search capabilities (search by ISBN, title, or author)
- Numerous payment options (purchase order, credit card, PayPal, check, or wire)
- Live, easily accessible chat options for quick support and resolution
- Thorough product detail pages
9. Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific provides lab equipment and scientific research supplies to research facilities around the world. Given the complex nature of their products, their website is a prime example of how to communicate value to prospective buyers and help them make an informed decision.
Key design takeaways from this website
- Thorough product descriptions and detailed buyer’s guides to educate buyers
- Educational resources for training pharmacists and healthcare providers
- Detailed product information
- Advanced search and filtering for pharmaceuticals
- Strong UI that makes full use of responsive web design and supports the customer experience
- Varied and flexible search capabilities
What Features Should a Successful B2B eCommerce Website Have?
B2B eCommerce websites have requirements that go above and beyond what B2C sites require. To attract and retain business clients, equip your business eCommerce website with the following features.
Detailed Product Descriptions: B2B buyers usually need to be far more informed than B2C buyers for a variety of reasons. First, their jobs are on the line, so it’s important for them to get it right. Second, there’s often a great deal of money on the line. Third, B2B products tend to be more complicated than B2C products, so buyers need more thorough descriptions.
Helpful Content: SEO-optimized content, from product descriptions to blogs and articles, can help drive traffic to your website. What’s even more important is that blogs, articles, and buyer’s guides can help B2B buyers make informed decisions on purchases, which may involve educating their colleagues.
Comprehensive Catalog: A searchable, engaging product catalog is essential for B2B businesses selling physical products. It’s also great if you can show similar products to those that visitors are searching for, along with product comparison charts.
Powerful Search Capabilities: Allowing buyers to search for products based on as many factors as possible is a great way to get them to fill up their shopping cart and keep coming back. That might mean the ability to search based on SKU numbers, product categories, technical specs, or other factors.
Exceptional security: Security is vital for protecting your clients as well as your business. Security breaches can sink otherwise strong companies, especially if the decision-makers are found negligible. If you have any doubt about security protocols, contact an expert with extensive B2B eCommerce cyber security experience.
Optimized for performance: Nobody wants to wait for website pages to load. This is especially true in B2B eCommerce, where visitors are likely to scroll through numerous pages in a single session. The ideal B2B eCommerce website has minimal lag.
Multiple purchase options: Business clients need the option of paying through various methods, from purchase orders to “pay later” (if that’s something you want to offer).
Calls-to-Action (CTA) at Every Step in the Sales Funnel: Regular CTAs throughout the customer journey increase your likelihood of conversions. It’s strange but true—when you simply ask people to do something, they’re much more likely to do it.
Engaging UI: We’d all love to believe it’s what’s on the inside that matters, but a pretty face goes a long way—in life and in B2B eCommerce websites. A website with a strong UI is not only more enjoyable to use, but it tends to be more functional and win more conversions.
Responsive web design: 65% of all eCommerce traffic is mobile these days. While that number isn’t likely as large for B2B eCommerce traffic specifically, a significant percentage of your clients do want to access your eCommerce websites on mobile devices. Responsive design makes it possible to have a smooth customer journey on all devices.
Keep in mind that this just covers the essentials. There are likely other features you’ll want to include in your B2B eCommerce website that users won’t see, such as tools for data gathering and analytics, integration with your CRM, ERP, and warehouse logistics software, and more.
Take a look at our post about B2B eCommerce trends to learn more about the latest technologies and features that companies are using to maximize sales.
Looking to Build or Optimize Your B2B eCommerce Website?
Net Solutions has been building B2B software for nearly a quarter century, and we’ve designed and developed B2B eCommerce websites for Euro Car Parts, Bonds of London, and other leading brands.
Take a look at our library of case studies to get a wide sample of what we’ve done for our clients, and contact us today to see what we can do for you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1.What is a B2B eCommerce website?
A B2B eCommerce website is any website designed to support business-to-business sales.
B2B eCommerce sites differ from B2C websites in a number of ways by offering things like: Bulk orders, buyer guides, multiple purchase methods, tailored pricing for specific clients, and more. B2B companies need to think strategically about how to reach business buyers and create a straightforward, seamless customer journey.
2. Which platform is best for B2B eCommerce websites?
B2B eCommerce platforms usually require customization, and given the demands of online B2B transactions, an off-the-shelf B2C eCommerce solution usually won’t meet your needs. Many B2B eCommerce sites run on Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), thanks to its infinite customizability and vast functionality, which includes over 5,000 extensions.
Here at Net Solutions, we’ve designed many customized B2B eCommerce websites using Adobe Commerce (Magento) to help our clients grow their online business.
