B2B eCommerce: How to Sell Highly Complex Products Online

In 2021, B2B eCommerce sales are projected to reach a mind-boggling $1.2 trillion. That’s up from $889 billion in 2017. 

In the wake of covid, where only 20% of B2B buyers want to return to in-person sales, this rapid B2B eCommerce growth looks set to continue, reaching sectors in which field-sales have dominated, such as biotech.

Manufacturers and wholesalers of the most complex, configurable products are faced with a significant challenge: How to sell their products online when technical knowledge is essential, and there are thousands of options and dependencies for customers to choose from?

Read on to find out how digital leaders selling the most complex products tackle B2B eCommerce and how you can do it too. In this article, we explore:

• How, with 3D product rendering technology, you can sell a vast catalog of complex, customizable goods online.
• How, with a visual CPQ solution, you can enable non-technical buyers to configure, price, and quote highly technical products, all without the help of sales or engineering teams.
• How, with omni-channel retailing, you can integrate B2B eCommerce with your other sales channels (including sales reps) to provide a consistent, cross-channel buying experience.

How 3D product rendering makes it easy to sell unlimited catalogs of complex, customizable products online

What is 3D Product Rendering?

3D product rendering is the use of product rendering software to create a computer-generated, photorealistic product image. This 3D image, which can be viewed from any angle, can then be used in place of traditional product photography on your B2B eCommerce site.

You can use an all-in-one 3D product rendering suite like Blender for rendering as well as modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, compositing, motion tracking, and animation. Best of all, it’s free and open-source.

Why should you use 3D product renderings over product photography for B2B commerce?

3D product rendering isn’t the right choice for every B2B eCommerce business? If you sell a limited number of straightforward products that can be easily photographed, then traditional product photography will be cheaper and more manageable.

However, if you sell complex, customizable products, and you want the potential to extend your product offering over time, then 3D product rendering could well be the game-changer you’ve been looking for.

These are some of the benefits of 3D product rendering:

1. If you manufacture thousands of configurable products, then creating 3D product renderings could be faster and more cost-effective than carrying out a mammoth photo shoot.
2. Once your initial renderings have been created, changing colors, dimensions and adding and removing parts can be done in a couple of clicks. Customers can design products to their exact specifications and see what they’ll look like in real life (rather than imagining it in their heads), boosting conversion rate.
3. Manufacture-to-order companies can massively extend their product catalogs for a low marginal cost because they don’t have to physically manufacture products to photograph them.
4. You can provide customers with angles and details that you can’t achieve with traditional photography.
5. 3D product renderings are digitally versatile. They can be animated and made interactive. They can be viewed in virtual reality simulations or overlaid onto the real world with augmented reality for a fully immersive buying experience or used in conjunction with a visual product configurator, as discussed below.

Visual CPQ makes configuring complex products online quick, easy, and accurate

What is visual CPQ?

CPQ stands for “configure, price, and quote.” It’s software that simplifies and automates complex product configuration, calculates prices, and auto-generates quotes.

Most CPQ solutions are text-heavy. They’re great for use by sales reps behind the scenes, saving time, eliminating errors, and shortening sales cycles. But from a B2B eCommerce perspective, they’re of limited value. 

Because today’s B2B buyer doesn’t have time to answer endless questions and filter through hundreds of options – they want instant gratification. And that’s what visual CPQ solutions, with their 3D product configurators (explained below,) provide.

3D product configurators provide a streamlined, immersive B2B customer experience

A 3D product configurator is a visual interface that lets users interact with and configure products in real-time. Users can add or remove parts, change colors and dimensions, and upgrade features with just a few intuitive clicks. 

One of the most powerful features of a robust 3D product configurator is that you can embed it into your B2B eCommerce site for customers to use independently. Customers gain a deep visual understanding of every available option, which enables them to purchase with confidence. 

If non-technical buyers assembling highly technical, customizable products sounds like a recipe for disaster, fear not. CPQ product rules (logic built into the back-end of the configurator) guarantee that every product is optimized for profitability and engineering efficiency.

Omni-channel retailing combines business to business e commerce with traditional sales methods

B2B eCommerce is fast becoming the channel of choice for the modern buyer. But what today’s buyer really wants is flexibility and convenience. They want a seamless buying experience regardless of when and where they begin or end their customer journey and however many touchpoints they interact with along the way.

The more complex and high-value the purchase, the more likely a buyer will be to want to leverage multiple channels and speak with a sales rep, whether in-person, on Zoom, or through live chat using a service like Intercom or Drift. 86% of customers expect you to “know them” as they switch from channel to channel. So don’t waste their time by making them retell their story, re-enter information, or contend with awkward login pages.

Omni-channel retailing means unifying your data and processes across every channel. Because the “whole” is greater than the sum of its parts. It requires breaking down silos, blending the physical and digital worlds, and putting your customer at the heart of everything you do.

With omni-channel retailing, B2Bs can achieve:

• Significant growth in sales: omni-channel customers spend 4% more in-store and 10% more online
• Cross-channel synergy: sales reps can benefit from using the same B2B eCommerce tools (such as visual product configurators) as their customers
• Lower costs: automation relieves pressure on sales and support teams
• New revenue streams: each new channel provides an opportunity to serve new customer segments
• Improved customer experience: buyers get the flexibility and convenience they expect, improving customer satisfaction and retention

Enhanced data collection and analysis: monitoring customers as they move between channels generates a 360 view of behavior and preferences, informing product development and improving marketing ROI through personalization.