Getting B2B customers to order online: a post-launch adoption plan
A B2B ordering portal can be technically ready and still sit mostly unused. Buyers have their routines: a call to their rep, an emailed list, a photo of a purchase order. Those channels work for them, even if they eat up your team's time.
You can't announce your way to adoption. It depends on the value customers get from their very first order, the role you give your sales reps and how you handle the orders that keep coming in through other channels.
This article picks up where project planning ends: at launch. It lays out a step-by-step approach, the decisions to make and the metrics to define before you start measuring anything.
Published · By Shopflow
- Category:
- B2B commerce and distribution
- Format:
- Article
- Goal:
- Prepare a project
Understand why customers still order by phone
Before you try to persuade, try to understand. A customer who calls their rep isn't necessarily resistant to digital tools. They may have good reasons to stick with that channel.
- Habit and a personal relationship with their rep.
- Needing advice on a product or a substitute.
- Pricing or availability that feels uncertain online.
- A catalogue that's hard to search using their own part numbers.
- Login friction: forgotten passwords, shared accounts, multiple locations.
Talk to a few customers and reps before launch. Follow a real order from start to finish. The obstacles you find become your priority list.
Give customers a concrete reason to use the portal on day one
The portal has to save the buyer time, not just your team. Their pricing, order history, quick reorder, stock availability, invoices and spec sheets are concrete reasons to come back. Ordering by SKU or uploading a file helps customers who order long lists.
Make sure it doesn't show less than the rep would tell them. If the online price differs from the one quoted over the phone, trust is gone after the first order.
Turn sales reps into portal champions
Reps may worry about losing commission or their relationship with the customer. Decide before launch how online orders from their accounts are credited, then communicate that rule clearly.
Their role shifts: less data entry, more advice, business development and attention to key accounts. If they can place orders on a customer's behalf in the same system, order history stays complete whatever the channel.
Give them visibility into their customers' online activity too, depending on what your platform supports. A rep who sees that a customer has stopped ordering can step in at the right time.
Make access and onboarding effortless
The first login is often where customers give up. Set up accounts in advance with the right pricing, addresses and users, then send a simple invitation. Allow several users per company, each with appropriate permissions.
Support the first order: a short guide, a video or a call from the rep. Make it clear who to contact if something goes wrong.
- Account set up with the customer's pricing, addresses and terms.
- Invitation sent to each user, with their role.
- Getting-started guide matched to the customer's ordering journey.
- Support contact shown in the portal and in the invitation.
Roll out in waves instead of all at once
Start with a pilot group: regular customers, a stable catalogue and a willing rep. Fix the pain points they flag before expanding. Each wave brings feedback that improves the next one.
| Wave | Target customers | Goal | Criteria to move on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | A few regular customers and a willing rep | Validate pricing, access and ordering flow | Major pain points fixed |
| Repeat buyers | Accounts that often order the same products | Drive reorder adoption | Orders placed without assistance |
| Multi-location accounts | Companies with several branches or users | Validate roles and approvals | Permissions checked with each account |
| Occasional buyers | Low-frequency accounts | Offer an alternative to phoning in | Support team able to handle the volume |
Set the criteria for moving on with your teams. No single benchmark fits every customer base.
Handle orders that still come in other ways
Don't abruptly refuse phone or email orders. Have reps or customer service enter them in the same system, with the same pricing and rules, so customers see them in their online order history. Check that your platform supports entering orders on a customer's behalf, with the same approval rules.
Then nudge the customer tactfully. The order confirmation can include a link to their history and an invitation to place the next order themselves.
If you offer an incentive for ordering online, favour a real service benefit, such as a later order cut-off or more detailed tracking, over a price difference that would contradict your contracts. Whatever you offer has to be sustainable for your operations.
Define adoption metrics before you track them
A poorly defined metric leads to poor decisions. Write down the definition of each measure before launch and track it by customer segment.
- Activated accounts: accounts where at least one user has logged in.
- Active accounts: accounts that placed at least one online order during the period.
- Online order share: orders the customer placed in the portal, compared with all their orders.
- Time to first order: time between the invitation and the first online order.
- Support requests: number of portal-related requests and their reasons.
Measure your starting point, then set realistic targets with your teams. Fewer order calls only matter if customer satisfaction and volume hold steady.
Your adoption plan at a glance
Adoption builds over several months. It takes a designated owner, reps who believe in it and customers who see the benefit from their first order.
Your decision list
- Identify why your customers order offline.
- Guarantee the same pricing and information online as over the phone.
- Set the commission rule for online orders.
- Prepare accounts, invitations and support for the first order.
- Plan rollout waves and the criteria for moving on.
- Define the metrics and who is responsible for tracking them.
Where Shopflow fits
Shopflow's B2B Engine page lists sales rep ordering, rep assignment, customer-specific pricing and order history. It also describes importing customers, pricing and order history by CSV or API. Check your plan against what still needs confirming: user invitations, roles within each company, orders placed on a customer's behalf and reports to track adoption.
