While individual solutions designed for business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) are how business owners have traditionally managed their businesses, these solutions are no longer the best option. Thanks to the emergence of hybrid commerce, business owners can enjoy the capabilities of both B2C and B2B systems in one. Here are five of the ways that hybrid commerce can help your business succeed like never before.
It makes building your brand easier
One of the key benefits of a hybrid commerce solution is that it allows a business to manage its B2C and B2B efforts through one cohesive service, complete with uniform user interfaces and toolsets. This simplifies the process of building your brand.
Businesses that utilize a separate service for both B2C and B2B are essentially forced to learn how to navigate and use each one, which doubles the work and requires double the amount of expertise. With hybrid commerce, you'll have all of the expertise and versatility you need with just one team.
You can enjoy a holistic view of customer data
Another huge benefit of a hybrid commerce solution is that it makes seeing the big picture much easier. In a traditional setup where a business is using individual services for B2C and B2B, trying to compare data between them would be a nightmare due to the differing analytical layouts and the extra work that it would take to compile all the data together. However, with hybrid commerce, you can study and compare the habits of both businesses and consumers that do business with you under one system, saving you time and enabling you to make critical decisions.
It makes branching out to marketplaces simple
While selling products through your own storefront is all well and good, countless businesses have benefitted from branching out to popular marketplaces such as Amazon. If you were using individual systems for B2C and B2B, this would be frustratingly difficult to do, as you would have to integrate each service with each marketplace you want to sell on, and then you'd have to spend even more time adjusting your listing prices or managing order fulfillment.
With a hybrid solution, though, you could maintain and update your B2C and B2B listings in one place without having to switch between tool sets or programs. This simplification would give you a big boost in efficiency, which is important when selling in competitive spaces like the Amazon marketplace.
You'll stand out amongst the crowd
In the vast majority of cases today, B2C and B2B business is managed and operated through different channels. Hybrid commerce is more efficient than this approach, but things don't change overnight. However, by adopting and making use of hybrid commerce now, you can get ahead of the curve and make your business stand out compared to the competition. If you strike while the iron is hot, you'll reap the rewards of your timely migration to the superior solution.
Prepare for future expansion
Even if you don't have roots in both the B2C and the B2B market with your business right now, going with a hybrid solution instead of one that's only suited for B2C or B2B will enable you to expand into whichever market you aren't a part of down the line.
This gives your business great flexibility, and it ensures that if an opportunity for success presents itself in a market you're not part of, you can quickly pivot to take advantage of it.
Which hybrid commerce solution should you choose?
If you're considering a hybrid commerce approach for your business, we highly recommend making the switch to Magento Commerce. Known for its intuitive user experience, Magento Commerce offers powerful native features which are central to a successful hybrid strategy. From detailed analytics and seamless Amazon integration to powerful inventory management and fulfillment tools, Magento Commerce embraces the best of all markets.
