For a B2B company, its ERP is like its lifeblood. An ERP like Microsoft Dynamics NAV Business Central is the choice for many medium-sized companies because of its flexibility and management features. This is why it makes sense to integrate your B2B e-Commerce solution with your existing NAV Business Central, leveraging your existing investment. With an integrated solution like Nav-to-Net™, complex business processes and interactions are streamlined while being user-friendly and adaptable to numerous situations. The business complexities are handled in the back-end while the front-end webshop is a balance of form and function, customized to meet your customer and industry needs. An integrated solution helps you deliver better customer experience and service. Read More
Online Dealer Quotes in B2B e-Commerce – A Must Have
You’ll be surprised how many times your B2B order got delayed (or worst, you might have lost the sale) as your dealer (who’s buying from you) was asked to send in a quote before any approvals, and he delayed or forgot. These approvals for your dealer(s) would, in turn, mean business for you. Quotes and proposals are a big part of any B2B business, this feature can certainly help to increase productivity. Then why not give this value-added feature to your dealers who can pull that smartphone or tablet out, right when they are sitting with their customer, create a PDF quote and speed up the approval process? Integrated B2B portals allow for speed and ease when performing these vital business functions. The responsiveness of sales representatives and dealers can really make a difference in your business – they should act with autonomy and control, all while being integrated into the entire e-Commerce website and back-end ERP (Dynamics Business Central NAV) technology. Online sales quote creation (integrated with your ERP and B2B e-Commerce website) can allow your dealers to move quickly and capitalize on sales opportunities and provide better customer service. Read More
Multiple Applications for a Product Configurator for MS Dynamics NAV
Configurator is an add-on that can make a lot of sense for your e-Commerce website. Learn more about what Product Configurator does and the benefits you can gain. This blog post will address some practical applications to give you some inspiration.
We know that you understand your business and your industry on a deep level. We also realize that you need to have specific modifications to your webshop to meet those needs. A webshop solution that is open to these customizations will run more efficiently and will be able to anticipate growth and expansion much easier. Whatever your situation, we’ll try our darndest to make it work for you and your company.
Here are some ways you can make Nav-to-Net™ Configurator work for you: Read More
Increasing Mobile Conversion for B2B e-Commerce
Customer conversion is an ongoing challenge for e-Commerce merchant, but what happens when you enter mobile commerce to the mix? It makes the issue more complex. While customers are increasingly turning to mobile for their shopping needs and more companies are making their websites mobile-friendly, it does not always result in a sale from that particular device. As a solution, it’s easy to say you need to go responsive for your webshop. Responsive Design allows you to maintain consistency throughout multiple platforms so you can be where your customers are and remain competitive. But it’s important to understand customer behaviour and trends regarding e-Commerce and mobile and how it can affect overall impression and experience of your website. Read More
Customer Snapshot: Nav-to-Net Web Services in Action
Web services are sometimes overlooked when researching e-Commerce solutions and features. And we get it; it’s not immediately obvious as to why it’s relevant and how you can benefit. In a nut shell, web services help devices communicate without complex and time-consuming coding to share business logic, data, and processes across a network. In e-Commerce, web services can be used from mobile applications to ERP systems like Microsoft Dynamics NAV to share access to various sales catalogs and business data. Rules and structure can be set up in the server and web services make it so applications all understand one another, resulting in improved functionality and greater efficiency. In this customer case study snapshot, our second post in this series, we show you how this customer uses Nav-to-Net web services as a part of their B2B e-Commerce strategy. Read More
Parametric Search – A Customer Snapshot
For businesses with extremely large product catalogues, search functions are their bread and butter. It helps define the customer experience, from browsing and exploring various product lines, finding a very specific item, to narrowing down and filtering the catalogue to see a selection of relevant items. Well-managed website search correctly identifies items the customer is looking for and meeting their expectations. In the first of our “Customer Snapshot” series, we’ll be showing how real-life customers of Digital Vantage Point use specific Nav-to-Net™ features like parametric search to great success as examples and as inspiration. Read More
Help Me Help You – “Self-Service” Features in e-Commerce
If you want it done right, do it yourself. Some of us feel duty bound to that philosophy as it gives us a sense of control; we know exactly what is needed, our own personal preferences and motivations, and how to get to where we want. Before the days of e-Commerce websites, having the customer do things themselves was generally considered to be bad. Why? With their lack of resources, knowledge, and tools, there are things customers can’t readily manage; there are so many roadblocks in the overall process. It’s also probably implies you’re not doing a good job in anticipating the needs of customers to help them. It is always in the company’s best interest to help customers.
Now with technology and e-Commerce changing how things are bought, sold, and managed, there is so much that can be done. There is now a large amount of information at the customer’s fingertips. In order to do “self-service” successfully, there needs to be an element of control. From the small details that a customer wants to manage in the front end to the boundaries that the company set ups by managing the roles and permissions and guidelines in the back end. Read More
Does Your B2B e-Commerce Solution Measure Up?
Rate your current B2B web portal against this 10 point checklist.
1. Can account customers view customer specific pricing and access their own online dashboard which can be customized with quick links, message board and recommended products?
2. Does my website facilitate the creation of multiple catalogs which can be tailored to individual customer needs and buying requirements?
3. Can my customers adapt their own ordering processes with specific roles and permissions for staff which includes an order approval level?
4. Can account balances be viewed online by account customers and can they make direct payments online using a secure card payment option?
5. Can my customers use devices such as smartphones and tablets and still experience a consistent and streamlined ordering process?
Sales Representative Recommends for B2B e-Commerce
B2B e-Commerce is typically thought to be impersonal because it is selling to businesses and organizations instead of individuals. It’s a straightforward and direct approach to selling, but the customer can feel removed from the process. With advances in technology, there is a growing need to target specific customers and focus on improving the customer experience. B2B e-Commerce needs to take another approach. People are behind the companies and they require a more personalized warm approach, especially with customer accounts and customer relationship management. One of the features that can help business account managers develop better relationships with their clients is Sales Representative Recommendations. Read More
Exploring E-Commerce Options: Nav-to-Net™ Vendor Portals
A primary goal when selling and promoting products online is to continually invest in improving the online experience for customers and end users. Customer sales are the life blood of any company and it makes sense to invest in a system which increases responsiveness and streamlines the selling process. However, one important aspect which can be overlooked is how an online presence can also improve communication with suppliers. Instead of relying on phone calls and emails, it makes sense to allow vendors to access the portal online and be able to feedback in real time on areas which are relevant to purchasing.
Nav-to-Net’s B2B license model includes a vendor portal offering a number of features which can be utilized by companies using Nav-to-Net™ and their suppliers. The vendor portal can only be accessed via specific login and is not a section which can be viewed by a general user. Let’s explore some of the key features: Read More