Selling to Businesses Through a Website
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Trade buyers are not shoppers
A trade buyer is not browsing. They know the part number, they want their agreed price, and they want to place the order faster than a phone call would take.
If ordering online is slower than phoning, they will phone. Every time. The website has to beat the phone on speed, not on features.
The features that decide it
- Reorder from history in one or two clicks
- Saved lists for regular orders
- Quick order by part number, pasted in bulk
- Account pricing visible after login
- Order on account rather than by card
Prices excluding tax
Trade buyers work in ex-tax prices. Displaying tax-inclusive prices to a trade account is a small thing that immediately signals the site was not built for them.
The same applies to pack quantities, minimum orders and lead times, all of which should reflect trade reality rather than consumer conventions.
Migration takes patience
- Show existing customers the site personally, once each
- Make the first online order easy — help them place it
- Keep the phone available; do not force the change
- Give a small incentive for ordering online if needed
- Measure the proportion of orders arriving online, monthly
Trade customers change habits slowly. The transition takes a year rather than a quarter, and pushing it too hard damages relationships.
What it saves you
Orders taken by phone consume staff time and generate transcription errors. Orders placed online arrive correct, out of hours, and cost nothing to process.
For a supplier taking a hundred phone orders a week, that is a substantial and permanent saving.
Frequently asked questions
Will our customers actually use it?
Should we show prices publicly?
How do we handle credit accounts?
What about customers who will never use it?
Hundred phone orders a week?
Most of them could arrive correct, out of hours, at no processing cost. Happy to scope what that needs.