Only 15% of B2B companies believe that e-commerce benefits them.

The article is based on a paper by George Anderson from Corevist, a global company and business partner of Signature-IT, which develops solutions for managing e-commerce integrated with the SAP ERP system.
At the Internet Retailers Conference (IRCE), Penny Gilpsey, VP and E-commerce Analyst at Gartner, said many companies are struggling with the fundamentals of e-commerce. According to her, organizations must first achieve accurate pricing for their products and build relationships with their customers online. In the presentation, Gilpsey described how advanced technologies such as machine learning, AI, and augmented reality will drive B2B companies toward simple and seamless digital interaction with their customers.

However, companies dealing with basic e-commerce fundamentals are not even considering advanced technologies. The lack of advanced technology is not what prevents the successful implementation of B2B e-commerce.

The barriers to success in B2B e-commerce stem from a lack of basic functionality.

So, what is the basic functionality manufacturers need to achieve to develop a successful e-commerce channel? What are the solutions to these barriers?

1. 100% Accurate Pricing, Customized for Each Customer B2B commerce relationships are complex, and product pricing reflects this complexity, often with specific price lists tailored to customer needs. How do you import complex price lists that depend on contracts and agreements into a B2B e-commerce site? How do you keep the prices up to date on the site with changes in agreements and price lists over time?
   The solution – real-time integration with the ERP system. When real-time integration is implemented with the ERP system, any pricing rule applied in the ERP for the customer is automatically applied to the e-commerce site in real-time. Pricing rules are managed and applied in one place only – the ERP system. Corevist’s tools enable real-time integration with SAP ERP.
2. Product Catalog Customized for Each Customer For manufacturers and distributors with a large or dynamic product catalog, it may not be possible to display all products to each customer. Sometimes business rules related to selling products by classification, geographical regions, or markets may be violated. Instead of allowing every customer access to all SKUs, there should be a way to display only the relevant products for them. Manual catalog management is virtually impossible, and adding complex pricing makes it even more challenging.
   The solution – real-time integration with the ERP system. Transferring the business rules from the ERP about products sold to each customer will allow only the products that the customer is allowed to purchase to be displayed on the e-commerce site. There’s no need to manage the rules in two systems. Corevist’s solution acts as a window to the SAP system, meaning any changes to the business rules in SAP will be reflected in real-time and automatically on the e-commerce site.
3. 100% Accurate Inventory and ATP Calculations B2B customers use e-commerce to also know inventory levels and delivery times for products. Inventory data and ATP calculations for each customer (based on agreements) are managed in the SAP system. It’s impossible to display up-to-date inventory on the site unless someone manually updates them regularly. Displaying delivery times for each customer and product will require implementing ATP rules several times (in the SAP system, in an intermediary system, and in the e-commerce system).
   The solution – real-time integration with the ERP system. Displaying real-time inventory data from the ERP system on the e-commerce site solves the problem, regardless of the business rules for inventory and availability (ATP) in ERP. Corevist’s solution allows displaying real-time inventory data from SAP ERP, including applying availability rules tailored to each customer.
4. 100% Accurate Orders Without Human Intervention One of the greatest challenges in B2B e-commerce is that most existing platforms want to take ownership of business data, making it difficult to share information. However, manufacturers have been using ERP systems long before the e-commerce revolution, so the ERP system is the “owner” of the business data, and this will not change. This means that every e-commerce order must be reflected in the ERP system.
   There are only three ways to achieve this:
   1. Independent e-commerce store with manually entered orders in the ERP. (This doesn’t scale and is inefficient for high order volumes.)
   2. Independent e-commerce store with batch updates to the ERP (requires maintaining business rules in 2-3 places, with a high risk of errors).
   3. Real-time integration with the ERP system so that 100% of orders are reflected in the ERP system without errors.
      The best solution? – A simple guess – number 3. Real-time integration with the ERP system. When real-time integration is applied to the ERP system, the e-commerce system checks and verifies in real-time that the order is approved in the ERP and contains no errors such as an order below the required minimum quantity, a discontinued SKU, or an order not meeting business conditions. Corevist’s solutions enable real-time integration with SAP ERP.
5. Flexible Allocation of Ship-to / Sold-to Identifiers for E-commerce Customers Who uses the e-commerce store – and for whom do they purchase? For an e-commerce channel to serve as a distribution channel, the site must support salespeople, dealers, and distributors, enabling them to purchase on behalf of their customers. The site’s system must allow mapping each e-commerce user to customer identifiers (ID Customers’) associated with them. Otherwise, the channel will be useless for distributors purchasing on behalf of multiple parties.
   The solution – real-time integration with the ERP system. Real-time integration with the ERP system allows linking each order from a user on the site to their ship-to / sold-to identifiers in the ERP, which are linked to the end customer they can sell to. The integration allows modifying the ERP and reflecting changes in the e-commerce system. Corevist’s solutions enable real-time integration with SAP ERP.
6. Flexible Payment Methods Aligned with the Business Model How do you receive payment? The e-commerce system must support various payment methods such as invoices, credit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, or any other method used by the business.
7. 100% Accurate Order Status and Shipment Tracking Across All Channels In B2B e-commerce, customers need more than just the ability to buy. They need to track order statuses, change orders (according to business policies), and track shipments. Most B2B e-commerce solutions provide all of these, but without real-time integration with the ERP system, customers can only view and update their e-commerce orders – not orders from other channels.
   The solution – real-time integration with the ERP system. Real-time integration with the ERP system allows viewing and updating orders on the e-commerce site from all channels, whether the orders are phone, fax, email, or EDI interfaces. Corevist’s solutions enable real-time integration with SAP ERP.
8. 100% Self-Service in Account Management B2B e-commerce comes with various complexities. If customers pay by invoice, there is a risk they may exceed their credit limit when placing e-commerce orders. Without credit limits, customers will place orders without the ability to pay outstanding invoices, requiring manual intervention. Where do credit data and open invoices live? In the ERP system, of course.
   The solution – real-time integration with the ERP system. For businesses that want to display credit limits, the correct approach is through real-time integration with the ERP system, where all customer credit data is managed. This allows the customer to select which invoices to pay and settle them.
   Corevist’s solutions enable real-time integration with SAP ERP and allow displaying real-time credit limits and a list of all open invoices to the customer.

In Conclusion A Gartner study shows that 85% of companies are dissatisfied with their B2B e-commerce initiatives. While Gartner suggests that B2B companies adopt advanced technologies to enhance their digital interaction with customers, it seems that many businesses are missing the basic functionality needed to achieve successful e-commerce. In this article, we reviewed 8 of the main challenges in implementing a B2B e-commerce system. The key takeaway is that real-time integration with the ERP system, where customer, credit, order, product, and inventory data live, is required. Real-time ERP integration can be implemented in various ways, and Corevist’s solutions enable real-time integration with SAP ERP.

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