There are three possible journeys you can implement for customer registration in B2B
- Allow guest users to buy from your site
- Require site visitors to register online before buying
- Or only allow online purchases for customers who are already registered and approved
Support for anonymous buyers is a must-have feature in B2C commerce. Some business-to-business sellers can also adopt it if they offer relatively simple and not super expensive products that can be just paid for by a credit card and shipped to their destination.
The second option is to require your customers to self-register before buying and implement some checks to minimize fraud: require a business email address, automatically check the business registration number, and implement API integration with credit bureaus.
You can also limit the assortment of products available to new customers. For example, do not allow them to buy customized or expensive products. You can limit available payment methods; for example, don’t allow buying on credit. After a successful first order, you perform additional checks on the new customer to enable the full functionality.
And the third customer journey involves signing a contract before a customer can log in to an online shop and place an order.
Which scenario is the best for your business depends on many different factors – your industry, the types of products you offer online, the frequency of orders, and internal policies.
As a general rule, try to reduce the number of obstacles between customers discovering your products on the web and placing an order.
Remember, on the web, a competitor is just a click away.
Look for a flexible solution that gradually increases the functionality available to customers as you get to know them better.
Let them research products you offer without registration, buy simple products on a credit card before you have checked their credit, and encourage them to ask for a quote online for more complex products.
Learn more about improving business customer experience by enrolling in online courses Master B2B Customer Experience to grow Online Revenue and Customer Loyalty and Digital Commerce for B2B Business
