Wholesale businesses face enormous pressure to grow their margins. As costs and competition steadily increase, many wholesalers are emphasizing customer service to differentiate their businesses and acquire new customers.

Digital commerce allows wholesalers to focus on customer support by collecting, housing, and analyzing customer analytics in real time and in a central location. Built on CRM platforms, robust digital commerce systems can provide wholesalers with an immediate understanding of their customers’ pain points and interests, allowing them to provide better customer service and ultimately drive growth.

Here’s a closer look at how digital commerce can help your wholesale business grow.

360-degree view of your customers

Modern B2B digital commerce software is built on CRM platforms, providing a connected customer engagement platform with a 360-degree, real-time view of your customers. Let’s say you effectively bring a new customer to your site through SEO or other digital marketing efforts. Since your site is built on your CRM, you can collect insights about that customer such as her browsing history and demographics (e.g., job title or industry).

So, before this customer buys anything or interacts with you in any way, you already know what led her to your site, what she’s interested in based on her search history and potentially other demographics like her company or location. With in-depth knowledge about your customers, you can dramatically improve your sales and marketing teams’ ability to work together and support your customers.

Bring sales and marketing teams together

Previously, wholesalers relied on disconnected B2B commerce technology. Their sales channels were completely separate from marketing. Buyers would engage with marketing efforts, and sales teams would be completely out of the loop about who these buyers were and what they were interested in. The same goes for marketing teams. Historically, marketing was left in the dark about which marketing materials customers engaged with before making a purchase because they didn’t have the tools to get those insights. 

But with a connected customer engagement platform, both sales and marketing departments can better meet the needs of prospective customers by understanding exactly who they are and what they’re interested in before speaking to them. And marketing teams can optimize content and other digital efforts designed specifically to convert individual buyers based on customer data analytics.

For example, sales teams can quickly identify large sales opportunities based on a customer’s digital browsing history, and previous engagement with the company’s marketing efforts. Marketing can then execute tailored drip campaigns designed to drive these customers to specific purchases. Working together in this manner, sales and marketing teams can replicate the process for any potential buyer who resembles previous customers and ultimately boost sales and margins.

Focus on support

With full customer transparency and the ability to react in real time, your sales and marketing teams are better equipped to offer top-notch customer support. They’re no longer paper pushers, they’re industry experts who know their customers inside and out. They can serve as trusted advisors for their customers, fully equipped with insights into their customers' needs and behaviors.

Beyond enabling improved customer service from your team, digital commerce systems built on CRM platforms give your customers the seamless buying experience they expect. B2B buyers are younger and more digitally savvy than ever before, and they expect buying experiences in a B2B setting to be similar to those in their consumer lives. Better buying experiences lead to happier customers and increased profit margins.

At the end of the day, wholesalers know customer service is a key differentiator. In a crowded market, B2B buyers remain loyal to the sellers that truly understand the needs of their businesses. Digital commerce can provide the boost you need to outperform competitors. Don’t wait. Learn how Salesforce B2B Commerce can help your business grow today.