Venturing into the eCommerce industry means you will need to take note of the various business models for your online enterprise. If you are new to the eCommerce industry, knowing each eCommerce business model is critical.
Consequently, having effective and efficient eCommerce tools to complement a chosen business model will also help increase the likelihood of becoming successful in the online selling industry.
To help you maximize your eCommerce business, here are the common eCommerce business models along with free to try eCommerce tools.
Business to Consumer (B2C)
A website or online store following a business-to-consumer business model sells items directly to an online consumer, buyer, or shopper. In this model, the customer can access the product page or sales page of the website.
Customers can view the catalog or individual product pages for better scrutiny. From thereon, customers may proceed to purchase a product following a specific check out method.
After a customer processes an order online, the business organization or business owner will then be notified of the order. Depending on the actual fulfillment process, the business owner or organization will dispatch the item to the customer.
To keep your B2C business model running smoothly, here are some of the eCommerce tools you may check online.
- Website Speed Test Tools
Website speed tools are used to enhance the performance of a website. If you have your own eCommerce site, you should see to it that your site and its contents are not lagging or prone to load time issues.
According to online marketing guru Neil Patel, 40% of online users leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds for it to load. If you don’t want to waste conversion, you should see to it that your website load speed is optimum.
If you wish to optimize the load speed of your website or know what the common issues are causing such load time issues, you may check Google PageSpeed Insights. Take note that a PageSpeed score above 85 means your website is performing well.
- Repricing Tools
If you do not have your own website for your products and you depend on eCommerce platforms like Amazon, you will need a repricer for a dynamic and competitive repricing strategy.
One of the factors that engage customers is the price of an item listed online. For example, Amazon sellers use Amazon repricers to reprice their items without having to compromise on profit margin and to win the Amazon Buy Box in the process.
Amazon offers its own repricer. However, for a premium repricing experience, check Seller Snap who offer a 15 Day Free Trial – No Credit Card Required.
Business to Business (B2B)
An online store following the B2B business model sells items not directly to consumers, but rather to an intermediate buyer who in turn sells the products to final consumers.
This type of business model is practiced in the wholesale industry, where A buys products in bulk from B and sells the product to various online shoppers. The business-to-business relationship exists not between B and C, but rather between A and B who are both business owners or organizations.
If you are planning to venture into the B2B eCommerce industry, here are some helpful eCommerce tools you can rely on.
- Order Management Tools
An order management tool is a must-have eCommerce tool when you are in B2B eCommerce. This kind of tool provides avenues for self-service while customers manage their orders online.
Apart from simply managing their orders, most order management eCommerce tools give customers the ability to view account information, order history, invoices, and so much more.
If you wish to free yourself from mundane tasks relating to order management, try to use order management tools such as Tradogram that offer FREE BASIC plans.
- Quotation Management Tools
Another business-to-business eCommerce tool that sellers should include in their online tools list is quotation management tools. A quoting tool allows automation of the configuration and generation of quotes for B2B customers.
Based on predefined rules and relevant factors such as product availability, pricing & shipping costs, and customer-specific discounts, quotes are generated for easy viewing.
With this kind of eCommerce tool in your business, you will save time while eliminating manual errors. Aside from that, the fast processing of quotes also leads to an increased conversion rate.
Check TrueCommerce for a Free Trial on their Customizable Quote Generator.
Consumer to Business (C2B)
A consumer-to-business eCommerce model is a direct opposite of the business-to-consumer business model. Here, the consumer offers goods or services to business organizations.
This might not be easy to comprehend but to serve as an example, the reviews or blog posts you make in exchange for a product from retail companies, websites, or eCommerce platforms are an example of a C2B business transaction.
Furthermore, a concrete example of a C2B transaction would be the photos you submit on Shutterstock which small, medium and even large companies utilize. The same goes for freelance sites like Fiverr where consumers offer their services as experts to business organizations.
To guide you with your C2B activities, here are some helpful tools you may use.
- Keyword Research Tool
More than just the content itself, keywords should be recognized as a critical factor in creating a blog post or review post that will rank in Google. When creating a review for an item received from a business or company, you should start your process with keyword research.
Keywords are an important element for SEO and page ranking. To perform keyword research, you may use Google Keyword Planner Tool to help you gather keywords for your article. Google Keyword Planner is a free to use research tool.
- Headline Editor
When it comes to creating your review contents or creating your profile on a C2B eCommerce platform, headlines are crucial. Headlines act as an eye-catcher for potential business clients.
To help you create suitable headlines with proper capitalization, you may check the Capitalize My Title.
Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
An eCommerce website following a consumer-to-consumer business model means that consumers sell their assets or items to other consumers online. Consumers who act as buyers view product posts or ads on an eCommerce site and make their purchase from another consumer that acts as a seller.
Perhaps the ultimate example of a successful consumer-to-consumer website is eBay. eBay and other similar sites help buyers and sellers find each other on a specific C2C eCommerce platform.
To help you improve your C2C eCommerce website engagement, here are some tools you should check.
- Order Tracking Tools
If you are managing a C2C eCommerce site or simply wanting to simplify order tracking of items sold on established C2C platforms, you should consider getting an order tracking tool.
Besides tracking orders, this kind of tool will also help increase customer satisfaction as they can easily track when their online purchases would be arriving.
What makes the latest versions of order tracking tools interesting is their compatibility. Most of the available eCommerce tools online are compatible with several marketplace platforms including Walmart, Alibaba, Etsy, Amazon, and eBay.
ShipStation, for example, promises efficient syncing, managing, and shipping of ordered items. They also offer a Free 30-Day Trial to help you evaluate this kind of eCommerce software.
- Photo Editing Tools
For any eCommerce website, a good product photo is the most basic requirement. If you are hesitant to hire a professional product photographer for your eCommerce website, you may try eCommerce photo editing tools.
There are several free photo editing tools available online. Some even offer on-page editing, no need for software download and installation.
If you are ready to begin your eCommerce journey and attract C2C clients, you may check Pixlr, Fotor, and Pixelmator for free product image editing.
eCommerce Tools for Business Improvement
The above-mentioned eCommerce tools are not strictly confined to a specific singular business model. They can be used interchangeably, provided they fit your intention or the purpose of the project, business transaction, and your overall goal as an online entrepreneur.
Take time to check the online tools mentioned above and other alternative eCommerce tools.
