Overview

There’s an explosion of technology shifted the power in the B2B buyer and seller relationship. Today’s B2B shoppers have more tools than ever to access data and information before they decided on what to buy and from whom. We need to develop a deep understanding of our customers’ pain points and build a selling experience that both pays off on their needs and accomplishes key goals for the business. Our B2B eCommerce site aim to offer a seamless online shopping experience by supporting various order sizes, tiered pricing, and a non-linear buyer journey. We kicked off the project with a data-centric, objective-focused strategy to evolve the shopping experience.

Business Goals

Transform the traditional B2B website to adopt modern eCommerce business strategy. B2B shoppers have unique needs, our site experience must be designed to satisfy the rational aspect of decision making first.

User Problems

B2B buyers want an immediate response. They want ease of use (the ability to find the information they need effortlessly. Information need to be accurate and highly relevant to buyer’s particular needs.

B2B Buyer Expectations

1. Buying decisions based on facts

2. Decision-makers involve a group of people

3. Buying cycles are non-linear and very complex

4. Focus on convenience, speed, and relevant information

5. Products research focus on sizes, features, quantities, and variations

6. B2B eCommerce focus on bulk orders and bulk trade-in, we need to upsell and cross-sell

7. Offer different payment options, quick and easy checkout process

Advanced Logic

In order to successfully transform a traditional B2B retail business into a modern digital eCommerce platform, the buyer journey needs to be re-imagined. This established UX flow is to help us offer different discounts, deals and eco-friendly shipping options on different product ranges and services.

The success of eComm activity depends on several factors among which:

• The quality of the product or service offered

• The quality of the content presenting the offer to customers

• The quality of design for the B2B website via which the sales are going to be delivered

Research

I worked closely with research team to interview stakeholders, gained a clear understanding of how Samsung built a qualified sales pipeline using B2B marketing channels, as well as Demand Generation tactic effectiveness. As a team, we also interviewed existing and non-existing customers to understand the current site experience, user’s needs, then identified user’s pain points. I also dived deeper to analyze the existing buyer journey and defined gaps.

Through the analysis of primary research, we were able to identify data-driven needs that dictate what SMB’s value is in a selling experience. To best ensure that it is delivering at its full potential to SMB’s Samsung must develop a selling experience that pays off on these needs.

1. Build SMB awareness of Samsung as a mobility solution provider and change their behavior to create a more direct relationship with Samsung

2. Educate SMB’s on the strong capabilities of Samsung mobile solutions (especially around Knox and benefits of unlocked) and provide comparison abilities to demonstrate the brand’s cost-effectiveness relative to solution strength

3. Create a dedicated space for SMB-specific content that allows for a data-for-information lead nurture framework and sets the foundation for an eventual SSO strategy

4. Develop an experience that allows SMB customers to self-serve, and in turn, provides Samsung with a cost-effective manner of capturing new accounts, additional revenue, and increased market share.

Key Perspectives

Taking a mobile-first approach by thinking about the product configurator UX flow from the mobile end then expand its features to create a table and desktop version. Thoroughly thought-out logic and transitions, intuitive micro-interactions, fast feedback from the system, attractive product presentation, easy payment flow, and plenty of other details can directly influence increasing profits for the business involved in such a popular eCommerce game.

Design Checklist

User needs
• Access product information effortlessly
• Personalized content, highly relevant to buyer’s particular needs
• Product research focus on sizes, features, quantities, and variations
• Make relevant product or accessory recommendation, inform buyer about trade-in information at the right purchase stage

Business requirements
• Product unique selling proposition, put more emphasis on product benefits, not features
• Know the target audience, their potential problems, and their wishes
• A more human and friendly tone of voice to communicate brand positioning
• Enable different sales channels to sell and promote products and solutions

UX perspective
• Create cross-linking strategy to drive more traffic from B2C site to B2B site
• Define entry point to the configurator
• Make the customer journey clear and easy, without unnecessary clicks
• Offer enjoyable experience and intuitive navigation across different viewport sizes
• Move B2B buyers through several stages of involvement providing them with necessary information about the product and benefits persuading prospects to convert

UI perspective
• Choice of colors that correspond to the brand image and strengthen emotional feedback
• Make sure product image is always visible across all viewport sizes
• Visual hierarch makes the core zones of interaction instantly noticeable
• The general harmony of perception which sets the feeling of aesthetic satisfaction supporting positive UX

Interaction design
• Automatically move user to the next step when finished with the current one
• For every step, show the effect of a selected feature on the price immediately
• Trade-in contain a link to edit, change or adjust the selected phone model
• Allow “edit”, “add” or “remove” functionalities on the review page

Accessibility consideration
• Critical elements should be focusable
• Label all UI controls for screen reader users
• Make sure icons are intuitive, clearly labeled for usability
• Ensure text readability and legibility across all devices
• Convey hierarchy and semantic structure

Takeaways

1. Building and nurturing strong relationship with sales team and support team is absolutely paramount for B2B website to be successful.

2. Our eCommerce experience rely heavily on user research and data. Empathize with users can help us uncover the kinds of questions customers have about our products.

3. Digital transformation doesn’t have an endpoint. We need to keep monitoring the successful metrics through out the buyer journey.