TABLE OF CONTENTS

02 Introduction: Agility in an Omni-Channel World

03 Go Digital or Go Home

04 Fast is the New ‘Better’

05 Expert’s E-Commerce Key to Success

06 Agile is the Way to Go

07 Wrap the Experience Around the Customer, Not Around Accounting

08 B2B E-Commerce is More Than Just the Store

09 The 3 Categories of B2B E-Commerce

10 What to Look for When Evaluating B2B E-Commerce & Omni-Channel Solutions

11 Conclusion: Realize Your Omni-Channel B2B E-Commerce Vision in 90 Days

11 About Apttus

Agility in an Omni-Channel World

By 2020, a significant volume of business will be transacted online

with B2B E-Commerce projected to be a $1.1 trillion industry.1 If they

haven’t already, most companies are looking for ways to move into

the digital age and capitalize on this trend, beyond just a website to

sell all of their goods online. Consider that “the most digitally

advanced parts of the economy have increased their productivity and

boosted profit margins by two to three times the average rate in other

sectors over the past 20 years.” 2 No matter what you sell – complex

deals, bulk items, custom built orders, variant prices, advanced

configuration – it can all be sold on your omni-channel solution.

The Ultimate Guide to B2B E-Commerce covers the reasons for

this paradigm shift, along with top considerations for companies

seeking to follow in the footsteps of forward-thinking organizations

and make the right investment choice.

This paper provides companies and professionals with a point of

view when considering the selection of E-Commerce technology and

partnerships. The intent is to change the historical and popular view

that building an omni-channel B2B E-Commerce business is

expensive, time consuming and risky.

INTRODUCTION

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1Forrester, US B2B eCommerce To Reach $1.1 Trillion By 2020, April 2, 2015 2 Harvard Business Review, The Most Digital Companies Are Leaving All the Rest Behind, January 21, 2016

http://blogs.forrester.com/andy_hoar/15-04-02-us_b2b_ecommerce_to_reach_11_trillion_by_2020http://blogs.forrester.com/andy_hoar/15-04-02-us_b2b_ecommerce_to_reach_11_trillion_by_2020http://blogs.forrester.com/andy_hoar/15-04-02-us_b2b_ecommerce_to_reach_11_trillion_by_2020http://blogs.forrester.com/andy_hoar/15-04-02-us_b2b_ecommerce_to_reach_11_trillion_by_2020https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commerce

/02

/03

The Growing Digital Divide

Companies not investing in digital channels are rapidly falling behind and

will lose customers, struggle to compete, and feel margin pressure. The

potential declines associated with a lack of “going digital” are largely due to

a failure to satisfy customer expectations.3 Today’s business customers are

buying more online than via the phone and other offline channels. 74%

indicate that buying from a website is more convenient than buying from a

sales representative, and 93% prefer to buy online when they’ve decided

what to buy and just need to make the purchase.4 In fact, Forrester expects

the number of B2B buyers completing at least half of their work-related

purchases online to nearly double to 56% by 2017.5 It’s no wonder. As

Millennials take over the workforce, businesses must satisfy the demands

of a generation that embraces, and often prefers, to engage in digital

channels. By 2020, Millennials will form 50% of the global workforce,6 and

they expect a seamless omni-channel experience: 87% of them use

between two and three devices daily.7

If you don’t think this effects your business, you are wrong!

Companies seeking to make the most of this opportunity must

accommodate their unique products, sales approaches and business

models when selecting a B2B omni-channel E-Commerce solution. To that

end, savvy businesses are increasingly turning to Software-as-a-Service

(SaaS) solutions that enable them to quickly realize time to revenue without

sacrificing any capability that allows them to continually evolve as their

needs change over time. In fact, 62% of companies surveyed by Gartner in

November 2015 indicated they were using SaaS or hosting services

provided by a vendor or a third party, up from 58% in 2014.8

3Internet Retailer, B2B E-Commerce sales will top $1.13 trillion by 2020, April 2, 2015 4Forrester, Death of a (B2B) Salesman, April 13, 2015 5Ibid 6PwC, Millennials at work: reshaping the workplace, 2011 7Millennial Branding, Elite Daily And Millennial Branding Release Landmark Study on The Millennial Consumer, Jan 20, 2015 8Gartner, The Gartner Digital Commerce Vendor Guide, 2016, May 25, 2016

GO DIGITAL OR GO HOME

https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.internetretailer.com/2015/04/02/new-report-predicts-1-trillion-market-us-b2b-e-commercehttps://www.forrester.com/report/Death+Of+A+B2B+Salesman/-/E-RES122288https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/services/consulting/documents/millennials-at-work.pdfhttp://millennialbranding.com/2015/millennial-consumer-study/https://www.gartner.com/doc/3329717/gartner-digital-commerce-vendor-guide

/04

“…really succeeding at B2B E-Commerce is…not just about

luring buyers to a nice-looking site that appears helpful; it’s

about figuring out how to help business customers find the full

range of products they need, saving them time and helping them

to do their jobs better as purchasing managers and users of the

seller’s products.”

Internet Retailer, B2B gets bold, October 31, 2014 Paul Demery, Managing Editor, B2B E-Commerce

/05

Historically, E-Commerce – and specifically B2B E-Commerce –

projects were expensive and slow to deliver. A two-or-more-year

timeline to evaluate, implement and roll out a new site was not

uncommon.

Business moves too fast these days for companies to tolerate a

drawn-out time frame. What a company thinks it needs today may

not be relevant by the time the experience is delivered to customers.

Moreover, customers are not going to wait for those E-Commerce

capabilities to be rolled out but will instead choose to transact with

a company already enabling online product discovery, research and

purchasing. Add to this the fact that E-Commerce touches revenue

as well as margin. Gartner projects that by 2018, companies that

consumerize their B2B digital commerce sites will gain market share

and see revenue increase up to 25%.9 It’s easy to see why time to

revenue and time to value are critical when making E-Commerce

platform investments.

FAST IS THE NEW ‘BETTER’

Key Takeaway: h

SaaS solutions can be

delivered in a matter of weeks

and months compared to legacy

E-Commerce solutions that can

take years.

1 Gartner, Digital Commerce Hype Cycle 2016, July 7, 2016

While E-Commerce platforms developed in the 1990s and even

the 2000s are still around, these outdated solutions cannot

compete with offerings developed in the time of SaaS and the

cloud. Most of these legacy systems were absorbed by ‘big iron’

companies like IBM, SAP and Oracle, all of which have struggled

to modernize these offerings and integrate them with their

complementary solutions around ERP and CRM. As a result,

companies find themselves burdened with a high total cost of

ownership (TCO) due to the expense of running and maintaining

these solutions.

Contrast this with SaaS and cloud delivery, which make it possible

to go live with meaningful solutions in a matter of just months.

Simply put, companies can now evaluate, deploy and realize value

in a true omni-channel B2B E-Commerce solution within a single

business quarter.

/05

9 Gartner, Digital Commerce Hype Cycle 2016, July 7, 2016

https://www.gartner.com/doc/3368717/hype-cycle-digital-commerce-https://www.gartner.com/doc/3368717/hype-cycle-digital-commerce-

/05

The shift to SaaS is easy to explain considering the growing

adoption of agile methodologies and philosophies across industries.

Agile has enabled organizations to reap the benefits of software

much faster than in the past. Similarly, it enables companies to

more quickly realize value from their E-Commerce investments

rather than after the implementation of a multi-year project. That’s

because organizations can call upon a SaaS solution to quickly go

live with basic capabilities. They can then easily evolve over time

and react in real time to changing needs, such as by adding the

ability to deliver quotes, create orders, and manage contracts. In

other words, they can drive value from the start and over time in

iterative cycles. This is in stark contrast to waiting years to realize

initial value from a legacy E-Commerce due to lengthy

implementations. It also obviates the painful need to submit change

requests and wait months for the delivery of a new feature.

An effective approach for B2B E-Commerce is to define core use

cases that can impact revenue in the short term and make those

the nucleus of delivering digital channels and experiences. For

example, simply moving 10% of low-value orders to a B2B site –

such as those placed by smaller customers – can free up significant

time for sales reps and/or customer service reps. Allowing business

customers to ‘self serve’ their account updates and check order

status not only reduces call volume, but also increases customer

satisfaction. After all, customers can order at their convenience, at

any time. Moreover, B2B companies report that they’ve cut their

cost to serve by as much as 90% by moving customers into self-

serve environments.10

AGILE IS THE WAY TO GO

Such an approach fits squarely with the agile philosophy: rather

than wait to define 100% of today’s requirements, companies can

initially focus on a core set of processes that promise the highest

business impact. From there, they can iterate as they track

customer adoption and other metrics of success. Contrast this with

legacy E-Commerce platforms that require much more definition up

front and are then hardened during delivery, making it increasingly

difficult to iterate and add new capabilities.

Key Takeaway: h

SaaS solutions can be delivered in

a matter of weeks and months,

regardless of complexity, compared to

legacy E-Commerce solutions that can

take years.

With SaaS, businesses can focus their

initial E-Commerce project on specific

use cases that deliver big and

measurable returns, and easily evolve

and expand capabilities over time.

/06

10 Forrester, B2B eCommerce: A Trillion Dollars For The Taking, September 28, 2015

https://www.forrester.com/report/B2B+eCommerce+A+Trillion+Dollars+For+The+Taking/-/E-RES82102https://www.forrester.com/report/B2B+eCommerce+A+Trillion+Dollars+For+The+Taking/-/E-RES82102https://www.forrester.com/report/B2B+eCommerce+A+Trillion+Dollars+For+The+Taking/-/E-RES82102

/03

The SaaS approach is also critical because it empowers companies to truly make

customers the focus of the digital journey. Supporting this customer-centric vision is

simply not possible with traditional E-Commerce platforms that are extensions of

ERP systems. Because these solutions are centered on accounting capabilities,

they force B2B customers into rigid experiences and transactions.

Simply put, ERP systems are not considered ‘systems of innovation’ and lack the

flexibility to wrap around unique customer needs. CRM solutions are more flexible,

making it easier to personalize content, create relationships between partners and

customers, bundle products as well as provide customers with a complete view into

their records, orders and entitlements.

That said, organizations cannot extract full value from CRM systems – and ERP

and other standalone systems – unless they integrate them with other key systems.

Modern, omni-channel E-Commerce platforms eliminate this problem by

seamlessly integrating all customer- and business-related processes. As a result,

companies are relieved of the need to replicate their customer databases and build

expensive integrations between disparate ERP, CRM and E-Commerce systems.

Instead, all parts of the business – including field sales, customer service and the

customer themselves – can interact through the same platform, enabling a single

view of each customer and consistent customer experiences across channels –

hence achieving the promise of the omni-channel capability. “The attention paid to

consistency in the online and offline experience increases customer loyalty,

profitability, and spend with the business.”11

WRAP THE EXPERIENCE AROUND THE CUSTOMER,

NOT AROUND ACCOUNTING

The Essential Elements

of a Winning

Omni-Channel Experience

• CRM-centric view that ensures a

consistent customer experience

across touch points

• Easy access to digital, field sales

team, and customer service reps

for 24x7 support

• Simple and intuitive digital

experiences personalized for the

customer based on role and

permissions

• Ability to support different order

activity including first time

purchases, re-orders,

subscriptions and order changes

• Visibility and seamlessness of

sales and promotions across your

various channels

/07

11 IDC, IDC MaturityScape: Digital Commerce, June 2016

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41556016https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41556016https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41556016

It’s simple to distill E-Commerce down to the basics and think that any

solution will suit a company’s needs. However, even in the B2C world, a

cookie-cutter approach often fails to satisfy business needs. The reality is

that omni-channel B2B E-Commerce is complex and multi-faceted. Each

business’ E-Commerce needs vary depending on its business model,

product line, geography, and customer and partner types. Moreover,

these variables can – and often do – shift over time. Plus, to differentiate

from the competition, B2B companies offer special discounts and pricing,

custom payment plans, and personalized self-service – all of which must

be accommodated in their E-Commerce solution.

Can you accommodate the next wave of B2B commerce?

• “By 2018, 40% of B2B digital commerce sites will use price algorithms and

configure/price/quote tools to dynamically calculate and deliver product

pricing.” 12

• “By 2020, smart personalization engines used to recognize customer intent

will enable digital businesses to increase their profits up to 15%.” 13

• “Pricing on both B2B and B2C sites will become more dynamic, fueled by

more data, deeper insight and greater use of configure/price/quote (CPQ)

tools.” 14

• “CPQ [Configure Price Quote] tools will be linked to commerce sites and

shopping carts for use directly by customers to select and price a wide

range of products.” 15

/08

B2B E-COMMERCE IS

MORE THAN THE STORE

12 Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Digital Commerce, June 20 2016 13 Ibid 14 Gartner, Gartner Predicts 2016: Predictive Technologies and New Sales Channels Will Escalate Growth, December 2, 2015 15 Ibid

https://www.gartner.com/doc/3352218/critical-capabilities-digital-commercehttps://www.gartner.com/doc/3173923/predicts--predictive-technologies-new

/03

Consider that at their most basic level, businesses leveraging B2B E-Commerce fall into three basic categories: volume products,

subscription products, and complex products. While some companies will fall into several categories, addressing the unique needs

of each category is key to delivering a satisfying and compelling online commerce experience.

1. Volume Products

This category might be considered the ‘purest’ form of B2B E-Commerce in that it focuses on the transaction and making the

ordering process easier. Volume products tend to be simpler, lower-priced items ordered in large quantities, and are most

common in CPG, apparel and accessory businesses, such as hardware and automotive supplies. Companies must be able to

support transactions that can come in the form of pre-orders, re-orders and other formats such as spreadsheets and custom

order forms. In this model, it’s essential that the E-Commerce product enables customers to place orders in the fewest amount

of clicks.

2. Subscription Products

In the digital age, a growing number of offerings are delivered as a service or an entitlement, and can be purchased in monthly

or annual plans or even via ‘automated re-orders’. In this model, customers don’t purchase and check out with their items, but

instead ‘sign up’ for a service. As a result, the E-Commerce solution must support a unique purchase flow and process.

3. Configurable Products

Examples include networking products or manufacturing equipment or medical devices or telecommunication solutions. These

products may be dependent on or need to be compatible with other solutions, and may require configuration or bundling.

Because these products often sell at high price points, customers and partners usually want to get a quote before purchasing.

In the end, omni-channel B2B E-Commerce encompasses anything touching the customer as relates to the company’s products

and services, which is far more than placing an order. Simply put, companies must consider the entire relationship with their

customers and their larger business ecosystem. “By 2018, 80% of B2C and 60% of B2B organizations will overhaul their ‘Digital

Front Door’ but will fail to create consistency across channels without a concerted imperative to do so.”11 With this in mind, it’s

essential that companies carefully select solutions and vendors that align with their go-to-market strategies.

THE 3 CATEGORIES OF B2B E-COMMERCE

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16 IDC, IDC MaturityScape: Digital Commerce, June 2016

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41556016https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41556016https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41556016

/03

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN EVALUATING

B2B E-COMMERCE & OMNI-CHANNEL SOLUTIONS

When evaluating an E-Commerce solution,

find out if it will:

Make it possible to ensure a seamless customer

experience across all touchpoints

Provide all users – including inside sales and external

customers – with the same view of account information,

including contract terms and renewals

Allow customers to request a quote and initiate orders

online but complete them with their account executive,

and vice versa

Generate accurate invoices and allow customers to view

and pay them online

Empower the company to collaborate with its business

partners and resellers around customer demand and

orders

Accommodate changes in go-to-market strategy should

the company embrace new business models, roll out

different products, or pursue different customer

segments

When it comes to evaluating support for specific

product categories, find out if the solution

provides the following features:

For volume products: bulk order and Microsoft Excel order

interfaces, re-order from history, pre-order or saved order, volume

incentives and rebates, multiple-ship to from single order, freight

and other promotions, as well as quoting, workflows and

approvals.

For subscription products: new account origination, bundles,

update/modify/upgrade plan, update account, renew, cancel,

bundle offerings, notifications of account, and view/modify

contract.

For configurable products: configurations, bundles, quoting,

guided selling, workflow and approvals, and order orchestration.

Can the solution accommodate these business models and changes?

Moving from physical sales to subscription services

Shifting focus from enterprise to SMB customers

(or vice versa)

Expanding from domestic to international sales

Offering complex, highly configured products along

with aftermarket parts in bulk quantities

Evolving from selling through wholesalers and

distributors to selling volume products direct

/10

CONCLUSION

Realize Your Omni-Channel

B2B E-Commerce Value in 90 Days

For many years, companies have perceived it to be

expensive, time consuming and risky to launch B2B

omni-channel E-Commerce. In the days when legacy,

on-premise solutions reigned supreme, companies

were accurate in their assessment.

But the times have changed and a major paradigm

shift has taken place. By taking advantage of

solutions built upon SaaS and the cloud, companies

can achieve time to revenue and time to value in as

little as 8 - 12 weeks. The key is to choose an agile,

flexible solution that makes it possible to easily and

continually add value, and personalize the look, feel

and functionality to better serve partners and

customers over time. The ideal solution is designed

so companies can focus on the customer and partner

experience, and accommodates all touchpoints with

these parties by offering more than a shopping cart.

Just as important, it must be capable of supporting

the company’s current and future product sets and

business models.

For more details on how B2B E-Commerce can boost

your omni-channel sales and customer service, visit:

apttus.com.

/01

ABOUT QUOTE-TO-CASH Quote-to-Cash is the vital business process that connects a

customer’s interest in a purchase to the realization of revenue. It

includes creating a quote, an online purchase, responding to RFPs,

submitting a proposal, negotiating and managing a contract, fulfilling

orders, recognizing revenue, ensuring compliance and tracking

payments – all within visible and controlled workflow. Quote-to-Cash

solutions include E-Commerce, Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ),

Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), and Revenue Management

applications.

Quote-to-Cash is the single link between top-line results, bottom-line

results and customer satisfaction. No other process is as critical for

maximizing the value of capturing revenue in a profitable way as well

as meeting the buying needs of customers. This process relies on the

collective intelligence of the enterprise. The impact of accurate

quotes, proposals, contracts and orders make the flow of all data and

processes within an enterprise work smoothly, thus creating value for

enterprises and their customers.

ABOUT APTTUS Apttus, the category-defining Quote-to-Cash software company,

drives the vital business process between the buyer’s interest in a

purchase and the realization of revenue. Utilizing a patented

combination of SaaS-based applications, the Apttus Intelligent

Cloud maximizes the entire revenue operation by driving behavior

and providing prescriptive data to company decision-makers. Apttus

offers enhanced Configure Price Quote (CPQ), E-Commerce,

Contract Management, Renewals and Revenue Management

solutions on the world’s most trusted cloud platforms, including

Salesforce and Microsoft Azure. Apttus is based in San Mateo,

California, with additional offices located across the globe.

For more information visit: apttus.com.

/11

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