Increasing B2B wholesale sales is a sure-fire way to boost your bottom line and grow your business.
In today's hyper-connected world, digital transformation enables you to connect and engage with your customers more than ever. Here are 6 strategies where you can use digital transformation to increase B2B wholesale sales in 2023 and beyond.
Offer special deals and loyalty points to reward customers and encourage greater spend
It will come as no surprise that special deals and rewards make customers happy. More specifically, they influence their buying decisions. In a survey by RetailMeNot, 80% of people said they would try a new brand with a discount or offer, while two-thirds of customers said they made unplanned purchases solely because of a discount or coupon.
While the survey was about retail consumers, the psychology is no different for B2B. People don't want to miss out on a good deal - and the same is true when they're buying for their business.
One method you can use to offer wholesale customers bespoke pricing is through an ERP system. Fully integrated ERP software like Profit4 will enable you to set a bespoke price for an individual customer within the system which will then automatically mirror it across all your sales channels (including your trade counter, telephone and website).
You can also offer loyalty points against purchases in your online store which can encourage customers to spend more and redeem those points against other products that you offer.
It's not just about reeling in orders though. Special offers can also increase the value of your orders too, such as:
Free shipping for orders over a certain value
Free shipping is a tried-and-tested method that bumps up order values to the necessary threshold. Buyers would rather spend extra money on tangible goods that are an asset to their business than pay to get those goods where they need to be.
The result could be an order of £400 becoming over £500 to get free shipping, for example. It means you'd lose the cost of shipping, which you would have to cover, but you gain the extra £100 in sales revenue as a result.
Percentage discounts for different thresholds
Another great tactic is offering a percentage off B2B sales depending on the total order value. Again, this can tempt buyers to increase their order value to meet each threshold. For example, 5% off £500 or more and 10% off £1,000 or more.
As above, £400 soon becomes £500 or £900 becomes £1,000. The percentage discount means that customers paying £500 would save £25 and think they've got a great deal, but they've actually spent more to make it well worth it for you as a wholesaler.
Keeping track of discounts
One reservation B2B wholesalers may have about discounts is how you stay on top of them. Further down the line, a customer might enquire why they got a lower price on a previous order - or on the flipside, why they have paid more in the past. You might be worried that customers could actually become confused or disgruntled.
An ERP system like Profit4 which has inbuilt Customer Relationship Software eliminates this issue, giving you a full breakdown of previous orders for each customer, including prices paid and volumes ordered. Armed with this information at your fingertips, you can easily explain that discounts were given based on higher order volumes, which could even persuade them to order more again.
Stay on top of what customers are buying
It's commonly cited that the cost of acquiring a new customer is five times higher than that of retaining your existing customers - or thereabouts. As an extension of that, one of the best ways to increase sales is by ensuring existing customers are buying as much as possible from you.
We're not just talking about volume and quantities, but the range of products they buy from you. With individual job roles or even full departments dedicated to purchasing, it's perfectly conceivable that a buyer could get their building tools from one supplier, for instance, but their workwear from another.
For your business, that's a missed opportunity. You have to ask why customers are doing that? It could be down to price or just a lack of awareness. At the same time, it's a foot in the door for another supplier. It could be a matter of time until they make the move and steal some of your sales.
How to track customer purchasing habits
If you want to maximise order value for each customer, the first step is knowing what they're buying. This is where your choice of order management software is crucial. Profit4 gives you complete visibility of each customer's order history and how it's changed over time.
Rather than simply seeing order value, which can be misleading, you'll see their order history broken down into products and categories. This allows you to identify leakage - and it's easier than you'd think. Profit4's leakage reports allow you to spot any loss of sales in just a few clicks.
