Today we’ll be discussing how HubSpot can be used for e-commerce businesses in both B2B and B2C applications, but first: what does the ideal HubSpot e-commerce user look like, and is that you?
Buyer Profiles
In order to discuss what the ideal e-commerce HubSpot user looks like we’re going to assess multiple buyer profiles.
Examples of these buyer profiles include business to business merchants expanding into e-commerce for the first time, direct to consumer, and business to business merchants looking to integrate offline efforts with online efforts, as well as business to consumer merchants leveraging significant content and sales functionality.
The New B2B e-Commerce Merchant
This business to business profile does between $5 million and $150 million in revenue per year. The industry that they participate in is often flexible but more than likely they are a manufacturer of industrial and/or niche supplies. The e-commerce platforms that these businesses currently operate on are typically Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento. These businesses typically have a dedicated sales team as well as a dedicated marketing team.
B2B Merchant Challenges
Now we know who these businesses are, but what challenges do the face? They often have a strong offline sales presence but need to stay competitive with an e-commerce channel. E-commerce is a new territory to them and switching customer relationship management platforms while going through this process can be overwhelming. Legacy technology is the path of least resistance but it may not integrate with more modern technologies.
B2B Merchant Goals
With these challenges in mind, these businesses look to reaching their goals as merchants. These goals include pursuing e-commerce technology to make it easier for clients to place orders without the need for a sales representative. They want to strengthen and empower offline sales efforts, while improving reporting and attribution. Additionally, these merchants look to integrate offline sales efforts into an e-commerce and marketing friendly platform..
B2B Merchant Example: Ballard Industrial
To better understand what a business to business merchant looks like, let’s take a look at Ballard Industrial. Ballard Industrial is an industrial manufacturer and first time e-commerce retailer. Ballard Industrial leverages HubSpot for email marketing efforts, offline deal tracking, and customer relationship management. This business integrated their new e-commerce store with existing offline sales processes to improve reporting.
B2C and B2B Profile
This buyer profile typically does between 15 million and 200 million in revenue per year. The industry that they are involved in is flexible but leans toward manufacturing niche supplies, clothing, or consumer packaged goods. The platforms that they host their e-commerce stores on include Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento. These companies typically have a staff with a dedicated sales team, a dedicated marketing team, as well as a dedicated website/IT Team
B2C and B2B Merchant Challenges
So what are some of the challenges that B2C and B2B merchants face? B2C and B2B channels are typically both strong but can feel siloed and far from each other. This is because the sectors of the company are often in different teams, using different technologies, and are responsible for reaching different goals. Business to business is often a majority revenue driver in these companies, so growing e-commerce revenue can be often overlooked.
B2C and B2B Merchant Goals
The goals that these merchants are looking to achieve include evaluating and consolidating technological solutions to create a maximum impact between business to business and business to consumer efforts. They look to improve both tracking and reporting for business to business and business to consumer channels. They additionally look to leverage powerful automation tools including abandoned cart workflows, calendar scheduling tools, and customer dashboards.
B2C and B2B Example: Cutter & Buck
For an example of a B2C and B2B merchant let’s look at Cutter & Buck. Cutter & Buck sells their fashion products both to other wholesale businesses as well as directly to consumers. They use HubSpot for email marketing, blogging, offline deal tracking, and customer relationship management. Cutter and Buck leverages a HubSpot e-commerce integration for order recording, marketing automation, and loyalty programs.
B2C and B2B Example: KegWorks
Another example of a B2C and B2B merchant is KegWorks. KegWorks sells their keg supplies both to other alcohol-related businesses and to consumers. KegWorks leverages HubSpot for their email marketing efforts, landing pages, blogging, offline deal tracking, and customer relationship management. KeyWorks leverages e-commerce integrations for order recording and marketing automation.
B2C Profile
This buyer profile typically does between $10 million and $20 million in revenue per year. This buyer profile covers many industries but are often a supplier of parts/materials or a niche retailer. The e-commerce platforms that they typically leverage are Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento. The staff that they have on hand is typically composed of both a marketing team and a dedicated web/IT team.
B2C Merchant Challenges
The challenges that B2C merchants face are: current technology may be expensive and too robust for their actual needs. Their current tech stack only addresses piecemeal issues (MailChimp for email, Gorgias for support, etc.). They are having trouble establishing e-commerce specific marketing automation such as abandon cart workflows, win back workflows, and promotion workflows. They also have trouble tracking and reporting sales numbers accurately.
B2C Merchant Example: Final Draft
As an example we look to Final Draft, the premier script writing software for films in Hollywood. Final Draft is a B2C with for specific product offerings in the form of software and they leverage HubSpot for email automation, ad management, landing pages, blogging, and support.