Research has found that 80% of the companies leading in terms of customer experience have seen an increase in customer lifetime value due to their strong and well-executed B2B customer strategies. This key metric emphasizes that companies who offer a cohesive journey (from prospect to customer) and personalized experiences are more likely to achieve higher conversions, stronger loyalty, and increased revenue.
However, only a few partners can build and design a robust B2B digital commerce platform that offers a consistent and organized customer experience across all the touchpoints. One such implementation partner is Forsys – a trusted partner in the technology and digital transformation space.
Forsys has yet again demonstrated its proficiency by delivering B2B digital commerce to a global leader in the energy and utilities sector. Forsys built an online web store called PowerShop on Conga Revenue Lifecycle Platform (RLP) to redefine the energy company’s Go-to-Market (GTM) strategies, improve operational efficiency, and enhance customer experience.
In this blog, we will explore more about this first-ever B2B digital commerce on Conga RLP story.
The Need for a B2B Digital Commerce
The energy solutions company from Zurich needed a solution to ease their GTM strategies and simplify operational complexities as they offer a wide range of products which include Make-To-Order (MTO), Assemble-To-Order (ATO), and Make-To-Stock (MTS) energy products. The company could see that the buyers were struggling with the lengthy process of browsing products, requesting customizations, placing orders through local sales, third-party, or other service channels, and receiving the order.
A key insight per this research states that 78% of the buyers expect tailored solutions for their specific business needs whereas, 74% anticipate personalized experience based on their interactions. This highlights the growing need for customization in the B2B market.
In addition, the buyers were also finding it difficult to source materials from multiple suppliers and deal in different currencies. To add to the complexity, inaccurate pricing and procurement gaps were further complicating and delaying the purchasing process. A slow and prolonged process highlighted the inefficiencies and the pressing need for a high-performance B2B digital commerce platform. Per this partner, 98% of the B2B companies struggle to provide high-quality buying experience to their customers – leaving a huge scope of improvement.
Other challenges included operational hiccups while maintaining up-to-date catalogs with accurate pricing. Maintaining catalogs manually was prone to errors and was consuming a lot of time, especially when the price changes were frequent. This slow update resulted in outdated information, inaccurate orders, and poor customer experience. Besides, a lack of real-time visibility into the stocks and lead time posed a big challenge to the company. Without accurate and up-to-date information, buyers were finding it difficult to place or modify their orders.
Also, managing special pricing agreements and custom configurations for materials adds another layer of complexity. The intricacies involved in these processes often result in delays and errors in order processing, further impacting operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Given these and other challenges, the need for a digital commerce platform was evident. Therefore, the company collaborated with Forsys for building the B2B online platform.
Forsys Builds the First-ever B2B Digital Commerce Platform on Conga Revenue Lifecycle Platform (RLP)
Forsys in partnership with Conga built the first-ever online store on Conga RLP – a single, unified platform that offers key revenue generating solutions such as CPQ, Composer, CLM, and eSign in a single package. This way users do not have to switch between applications to create quotes, documents, contracts, and e-signatures to complete the entire process.
Forsys built an intuitive interface for the buyers and integrated the CPQ solution with five external configurators to manage complex configurations. This way, users like Factory, product service units, local sales/service units, third parties, and end users could directly browse and select products, get quotes, pricing, and delivery information. The webstore also allowed the users to change the order specifics before the order was shipped. This research suggests that 79% of the buyers prefer efficient self-service options in their purchasing experience.
Other features built on the PowerShop store included:
Ability to make transactions in multiple currencies.
Real-time visibility into inventory and lead times.
Integration with ERP for seamless flow of information and purchase.
Embedded google analytics and reporting tools for insights into platform usage, customer behavior, and improved decisions.
Key Features of PowerShop
The PowerShop B2B solution provides a complete set of features to streamline catalog management, order processing, and customer engagement which ensures a seamless and efficient digital commerce experience. Here are the key features of the online web shop.
Catalog
- Customer-specific catalogs and pricing.
- Ability to buy from multiple suppliers in various currencies.
- Automated solutions for material and price changes.
- Ability to compare material features and manage user favorites.
- On-demand lead time and stock availability.
Cart
- Import and export Bill of Materials into/from the cart.
- Switch between multiple carts with mini cart view access.
- Bundled product pricing, constraint business rules, and cart revalidation for inactive products.
- Auto-replacement of inactive and obsolete materials in the cart.
Order
- Quick ordering, order review, and deviation processes.
- Support for unit-specific checkout pages and reordering/partial ordering.
- Login capabilities for placing orders on behalf of customers.
- Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) process.
- Fully integrated with ERP for seamless flow of purchase orders, sales orders, service orders, and dispatch advice.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
- Streamlined RFQ flow with auto-approval and multi-tiered quotation approval processes.
- Quote negotiation and collaboration tools.
- Integration with external configurators for ATO & ETO materials.
- Support for special pricing agreements and full cost model for margin calculations.
Integrated Solution
- Material Master for building catalogs categorized by customer, material info, and costs.
- CPQ integration for quotations and negotiations.
- Customer Master for T&C and connecting suppliers with customers.
- Global Trade System for compliance checks.
- Integration with PLM and ERP systems for better production planning and seamless order flow.
Other Features
- Single Sign-On for all users.
- Google Analytics and Reporting for real-time insights.
- 24/7 customer support and guest user browsing.
- Auto deactivation of materials based on sales status and automatic opportunity creation for pipeline forecasting.
The Boost in B2B Business
The PowerShop online store not only addressed the immediate business challenges for the customer, but also resulted in significant improvements. Some of the observations are:
The customer saw a reduction in its order processing time by 11 times.
The company was able to reach the market faster with its new GTM strategy based on the real-time analytics from the webstore.
The performance of digital commerce on the RLP platform improved by 10 times.
The company offered seamless collaboration between suppliers and customers, which ensured the orders were fulfilled with high precision and speed.
The scalability feature helped the company continue to evolve and meet growing market demands.
Forsys’ Expertise in Digital Commerce Transformation
Forsys, as an end-to-end partner, offers a range of services from advisory to implementation and managed services. It has consistently showcased its ability to understand and address complex business challenges, and this project was no exception. Forsys built a high-performing online store for the energy company who was struggling with its GTM strategies and order processing. Forsys helped the company overcome its operational inefficiencies, particularly in product browsing, order placement, and procurement, plus multiple suppliers, different currencies, and other challenges.
PowerShop is not just another online store, but a first-of-its kind, state-of-the-art digital commerce platform that offers a quick and seamless customer journey experience with high probability of conversion.
For more information, talk to the experts.