An online web presence with the ability for wholesale customers to register is one way to attract leads, using Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You can also equip your sales team with tools to be able to recruit customers through cold calling or business opportunities, like trade shows. A B2B platform like Zoey can provide both by offering both a self-service Web solution for potential customers to register and ultimately make purchases on their own, while offering a salesperson-focused mobile app for allowing your sales team to take orders and register customers on the go. Whether inside customer stores, at trade shows or working remotely, your sales team can assist both new and existing buyers to get what they need. Or, buyers can self-manage if they’re comfortable with placing Ecommerce orders already.

One way a platform like Zoey can be leveraged is to offer a consumer-facing website. Your catalog can be visible, and even allow for direct to consumer sales. You can also list your products via Google Shopping with an included plug-in. In this way, your website is a search engine opportunity by listing your products on your website and with Google. For your wholesale customers, they can log in and see their particular products and pricing for them, while your public-facing website can show the consumer-level pricing.

Technology can replace existing methods of capturing orders, and in some cases facilitate orders taken in non-ideal ways through technology today. Instead of manually receiving orders by phone, email, pen and paper while in person, you can use a B2B Ecommerce platform built for the coffee business to thrive online. You can connect Ecommerce to other systems like accounting, even if you’re just doing the basics in a solution like QuickBooks Online. If you have fulfillment partners or a warehouse, they can be linked in as well, allowing a seamless flow from order placement to fulfillment to invoice management/payment.

Shopify was built as a B2C-focused platform. Their basic offerings have access to add-ons that can offer some B2B functionality, but linking data from those add-ons to other systems can be incredibly difficult and frustrating. More recently, Shopify has added wholesale capabilities to Shopify+, but with an astronomical price tag and fees based on volume. Zoey was built with B2B functionality top of mind, offers a more complete solution (including a salesperson-centric mobile app not available on Shopify), and is priced to be accessible to more businesses. Learn more about Zoey. vs. Shopify

If buyers can place their own orders, and salespeople can avoid processing orders later by placing them in real time, it can unlock time for recruiting more businesses and increasing purchase frequency of existing customers.