How To Prepare for the Launch of Your B2B eCommerce Platform by Four51

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR
THE LAUNCH OF YOUR B2B
ECOMMERCE PLATFORM
Identifying your stakeholders, overcoming technical
challenges and communicating your vision

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Congratulations
By diving into this eBook, you’re taking the first
step toward being the Digital Leader within your
organization. As a Digital Leader, you’re dedicated to
• Ensuring your company shares a common vision of how
the business should change through digital technologies.
• Communicating the digital transformation vision
across internal divisions or departments.
• Believing in radical change’s ability to improve
the way they have done business in the past.
Throughout this eBook, use your leadership abilities
to help outline a vision and plan for moving your
organization towards B2B eCommerce.

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Develop Your Business Case
and Communicate Your Vision
3. Overcome Technical Challenges
4. Identify Key Stakeholders
5. Measure Results

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Introduction
Preparing for the launch of your B2B eCommerce
platform is important in ensuring the success of
the project. While thinking about the technology
implementation and integration process is vital to
the success of the platform, communicating your
vision for the platform and managing the change
across the organization is just as important.
In this eBook, we’ll outline three big steps
you’ll want to take in preparing to launch
your B2B e-Commerce platform.
1. Develop a business case that
clearly defines your vision
2. Create a plan for getting 5 key
organizational stakeholders on-board
3. Follow a simple integration process
to overcome technical challenges
Section 1

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Section 2
THE CASE FOR
B2B eCOMMERCE
Forrester reports that nearly 75% of B2B
buyers say buying from an e-commerce site is
more convenient than buying from a sales rep,
and 93% say they prefer buying online when
they’ve already decided what to buy. It makes
sense then that the B2B eCommerce industry
is worth roughly $1 trillion in the U.S. alone.
Despite these facts, figures and research, we know
that many of your stakeholders can’t see past their
current, traditional order entry methods via phone,
fax and email. Any kind of change causes nerves
as the future becomes unknown. As the industry
grows at nearly 4 times the rate of B2C eCommerce
as manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers
respond, only 25% of B2B companies today actively
sell online, clearly demonstrating this resistance
to change from high levels within companies.
In an effort to get your stakeholders on your side,
it’s important to clearly communicate your vision
for the organization and how you see your new
B2B eCommerce platform leading you towards
that finish line. In this section we’ll cover the key
messages to get across to your stakeholders
in making the case for B2B eCommerce.
B2B ECOMMERCE IS BECOMING
PERVASIVE. BUT WE DIDN’T
HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT!
0
China
United States
Worldwide
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
$2.1
$1.9
$6.7
Growth of e-marketplace is helping to drive
global B2B online sales to $6.7 trillion by 2020.
As manufacturers and wholesale face more
pressure to sell online, worldwide B2B
e-commerce sales will hit $6.7 trillion by 2020.
This will occur as companies rely less on EDI and
more on e-marketplaces like Alibaba.com and
AmazonSupply.com Source: Front & Sullivan.
B2B online sales are surging ahead worldwide
(B2B e-commerce sales in trillions of dollars, by 2020)

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
1. B2B eCommerce
Increases Operational
Efficiency and
Reduce Costs
Four51 Customers found that, before they
moved to e-Commerce, most of their ordering
processes were taking place over the phone via
call centers and, when they spent time analyzing
this process, they found that these call centers
were actually costing them more than they knew.
We’ve seen organizations go from a $60 per
order cost to a $1 per order cost when they
move their operations to eCommerce. That
is some cost savings your executives can
get behind! eCommerce also helps reduce
order errors, improves order status and
confirmation, thus improving customer service
and the overarching customer experience.
• Improve efficiency and reduce costs by
automating previously manual, labor
intensive processes and providing
customer self-service options.
• Reduce staff needed for back-office support,
thus lowering costs and growing revenue
without adding headcount. Through this
process, you’ll be able to refocus your
current workers to higher value-adding
activities, as they’ll spend less time
manually placing phone and fax orders.
• Minimize order errors through an automated
system, further eliminating the need for
rework after the errors are realized.
FOUR51 CUSTOMERS GO FROM
A $60 PER ORDER COST TO
A $1 PER ORDER COST
VS
PER ORDER
PER ORDER
CALL CENTER
$1
$60
B2B E-COMMERCE

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
2. B2B eCommerce
Helps Improve
Customer Retention
It’s your job to educate your executives around
the New B2B Buyer. Focus on who your users
are, how they order, where they spend their time,
and report on issues or challenges with your
current system that your buyers are facing.
As the younger generation of buyers rises to
the ranks, even B2B companies are finding they
need to adjust their product marketing strategies
to appease the B2C-like shopping behaviors of
these buyers. According to Internet Retailer, 83%
of B2B survey respondents in reported seeing a
supplier’s web site as the most popular channel
for conducting research before a purchase.
Don’t forget mobile! In most cases, B2B companies
find that their users (in fact, 56% of them) are
spending most of their day on their mobile device
and are demanding that all of their shopping
experiences, including B2B, be accessible via
that device. If your company doesn’t respond to
this shift in buyer behavior soon, you’re going to
lose those mobile buyers (56% of your buyers!).
Describe your business’ buyer (how do they do their work, how do they
communicate with colleagues, when are they placing orders?):
• Make it easier for your B2B buyers to do
business with you. There are 95 million
millennials who are about to take over the
American economy1
. They’ve grown up
with their phones being an extension of
their thumbs, and they are going to assume
that business is done in the same way.
• Create personalized buying experiences based
on each buyers’ buying needs. Streamline
purchasing, payment and inventory processes
while providing unique product assortment,
pricing and business flows that match approval
rules and product preferences per user group.
• Improve your responsiveness and meet
the demands of your customer base
with the ability to do business 24/7.
HELP YOUR EXECUTIVES GET
TO KNOW TODAY’S BUYER
1.
The Forum: the Research Arm of the
Business Marketing Association

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
3. Grow the Business
and Create New Revenue
Generating Opportunities
What is your vision for the organization
that B2B eCommerce will help achieve?
• Automating orders allows for your speed-
to-market for new products to increase.
Orders are captured faster, processed
sooner and shipped or handled real-time.
• Reduce risks and costs of entering
new markets by creating a scalable
process and platform for replication.
• Implementing your B2B eCommerce platform
now, helps to ensure your business has
the ability to grow and scale later. With
the right B2B eCommerce platform, you
will be able to support multi-channel
architecture. Being boxed in by a platform
that isn’t agile or flexible can put you in a
bad place for the future of your business.

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Section 3
OVERCOME
TECHNICAL
CHALLENGES
To realize the value of your eCommerce system, it
needs to be integrated with the way your company
transacts business and the systems it uses to
operate. eCommerce can create problems rather
than solve them if the entire order-to-cash and
delivery processes aren’t streamlined from front
to back. Be sure to work closely with your IT
and business systems stakeholders to choose a
system that can be tightly integrated with your
sales, distribution and accounting systems.
In order to ensure a seamless integration
process, follow this step-by-step methodology
so that technological challenges that traditionally
get in the way of a fast go-to-market strategy
are eliminated. A good integration process
will allow for efficient project governance and
quality management so that you can achieve
transparency of value delivery through carefully
thought-out and executed communication
planning. Here is the 7 step integration process.
“Almost 44% of B2B firms find that
integrating with back-office systems has
been the primary barrier in effectively
implementing new technology.”
-Forrester Consulting
(November, 2014).

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
The 7 Step
Integration Process
1. Discovery
Provide initial planning and
preparation for the project.
2. Analysis
Document the integration process requirements,
including functional requirements and data
needs, source system data inventory and
existing integration interfaces, and a gap
analysis to indicate interfaces and data
points that aren’t already in existence.
3. Architecture
and Design
Create a solution for completing the
integration process including data mapping
and transformation, interface transaction
design and rapid prototype creation.
4. Development
Complete any development related to
translating and transforming data within each
integration process. Add new data elements
and business objects on the eCommerce
platform and customer system. Update
existing interfaces and create new ones.
5. Quality Testing
Ensure seamless and quality integration
through in depth code review, system
testing, functional testing, regression
testing and performance testing.
6. Deployment
Go live with an in-depth plan for important
key activities and communication amongst
key stakeholders and users.
7. Documentation
and Transition
Gather support documentation and
training to ensure a seamless transition
to a “run the business” mentality.

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Section 4
IDENTIFY YOUR
ORGANIZATIONAL
STAKEHOLDERS
Change is hard. And it’s even harder when you’re
working to change a large, multi to multi-hundred
million dollar organization filled with hundreds,
if not hundreds of thousands of employees,
and employees with decades of experiences
that has jaded their perspective and energy.
The first step in making change happen is
to get people on your team. Leaders and
executives within your organization that serve
as “champions” for your project, can help you
manage the change, communicate the change,
and raise excitement and confidence around the
change across all levels of the organization.
To identify the champions within your organization,
look to the following 5 departments:
“70% of all corporate
change initiatives fail.”
-Cracking the Code of Change,
Harvard Business Review
1. Finance
2. IT
3. Marketing
4. Sales
5. Operations

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
1. Finance
Usually an organization’s finance department is
involved in buying decisions for the organization
like the purchase and implementation of a
B2B eCommerce platform. Getting your key
stakeholders within finance on board with
the financial impact will be important in
creating a successful launch. You’ll want to be
prepared for a discussion on the following:
Potential cost associated with
the platform, for example:
• Licensing fees
• Subscription fees
• Implementation fees
• UI fees
• Set-up costs
• Other fees and set-up costs
Expected and/or required ROI:
• Costs recovered from reduced order
error rates; reduced costs of reshipping
after order errors are made; elimination
of time spent entering orders
• Productivity gains that allow sales
reps to spend time growing the
opportunity base, for example
• The growth in sales without the addition
of new, full-time employees
Who in your finance department
could help champion your efforts?

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
2. IT
Your IT department can offer consultative help
in the implementation and integration of your
B2B eCommerce platform. In general, this group
will want to understand the benefits of and
vision for this new platform as it relates to the
information infrastructure of the organization.
This group will likely be involved
in one of two ways:
Build the platform
Usually this will be in the form of premise-hosted
software that may require an internal build.
Buy the platform
With the purchase of a cloud-based platform,
IT will likely provide consultative help
in implementation and integration.
Who in your IT department could
help champion your efforts?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
CLOUD-BASED VS. PREMISE-
BASED B2B ECOMMERCE
When considering buying versus building, and
cloud-based versus premise-based, make
sure you ask yourself the following questions
regarding resources, hosting and timing:
Do you want to host the server internally?
If you want full control over the server and
the ability to host, for example, it down
the hall from your office, a premise-based
software is probably the way to go.
Can your internal IT resources handle what it
takes to host the server? If your IT resources
cannot handle the work it would take to maintain
the server, a cloud-based platform generally
allows you to cut down on internal resources. Make
sure you consider additional costs associated with
hiring resources needed with the skill-set you are
hiring for if you do go the premise-based route.
Can your timeline accommodate a longer
implementation and adoption time? Often times
a cloud-based platform allows for shorter time to
implementation with better access to an efficient
distribution model. If you have a tight timeline
and a desire to get things off the ground faster,
make sure you fully access which direction will
allow you to get your company on board faster.
How do your internal standards in regards
to security and disaster recovery stack up
compared to the vendor’s? For example,
what uptime standards do you hold yourself
to, and how do those standards compare
to that which your vendor offers?

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
3. Marketing
With the rise of content marketing and the
importance of having your end user’s behavior
at the forefront of your strategy, marketing
departments are becoming an increasingly
important part of every companies’ B2B
eCommerce development strategies. A company’s
marketing department will want to be involved
in everything from its implementation to the
strategy around what products should be
sold on the site, where, to whom, and how.
Make sure your marketing department is engaged
around the development of a consistent customer
experience for your B2B buyers and the creation
and deployment of an effective communication
strategy as the platform is launched.
Who in your marketing department
AS-A-SERVICE APPS DRIVE
A DEMAND FOR INNOVATION IN
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Because of the as-a-service mentality, innovation
is happening exponentially and many of us
are not even aware that we are participating
in it. B2C as-a-service apps like Uber, Netflix,
Hulu, and Spotify have taken full advantage
of as-a-service innovation. They simplify the
lives of users, and their platforms’ great user
experiences allow for easy use, again and again.
It’s our job to create this same kind of consistent
user experience for B2B buyers that they too
will want to experience again and again.

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
4. Sales
Because B2B eCommerce will likely change the
role of your sales reps, you’ll want to generate
excitement around this change and paint a picture
of the value that it will add to the organization.
With B2B eCommerce eliminating the need
for sales reps to place orders manually,
Sales reps will now be able to focus on key
initiatives of the organization including:
• Modernizing the sales process: With a B2B
eCommerce platform, integrated online,
mobile and social channels will enable sales
reps to interact with customers virtually.
Not only this, but sales reps will now be able
to offer more real time changes to orders,
preferences or pricing. If, for example, a
customer changes a product specification,
a sales rep can help ensure automatic
reflection for the customer online.
• A more consultative approach to selling:
Instead of having to manage the manual
process of ordering and purchasing for your
B2B buyers, sales reps will now be able to
spend more time understanding individual
customer preferences, offering a more
consultative approach to the customer buying
experience. Sales reps will be excited about
the ability to offer more customized pricing,
the opportunity to receive incentives around
up-selling initiatives and the knowledge that
they are playing a bigger role in ensuring
a strong experience for customers.
• Create more opportunities and expand sales
within your organization: By spending less time
placing orders in your legacy system, you’ll see
your sales reps producing more opportunities,
and your B2B eCommerce platform attracting
new opportunities because of the online
ordering process available to them.
Who in your sales department could
help champion your efforts?

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
5. Operations
B2B eCommerce will allow your organization
to create efficiencies in your operational
processes across the board. An online
ordering platform will enable you to:
• Shorten procurement cycles
• Cut costs through competitive bidding
• Reduce development cycles and accelerate
time-to-market through product and process
design, regardless of the location of the buyers
• Customize to your specific ordering
workflows and purchasing rules
• Create the ability to grow and gain
access to world-wide markets at a
fraction of the traditional cost
• Ensure that product, marketing information
and prices are always up to date
• Increase speed of communication with buyers
• Provide a quick and easy way of exchanging
information about the company and its
products both internally and externally
Who in your operations department

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Section 5
MEASURE
RESULTS
Once your platform has launched, it’s important
to keep your key stakeholders engaged. Strong
communication, effective test plans and proof
of reduced costs and improved ROI will help
your organization see the platform’s benefits.

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Track ROI
One way to continue to regain buy-in once your
platform is live is by providing details on the
return on your investment. You may be asked
to provide a specific financial calculation to
justify your eCommerce project. Here you’ll
want to focus on tangible benefits like:
• Increased sales due to easier buying
process, reduced order rates, and
catalogs being accessed easier
• Reduced costs due to reduced number of errors
• Reduced costs associated with improved
system reliability and less maintenance
required for fewer problems to resolve
• Time saved, for example the increase in
productivity you’ll see amongst sales reps,
and the reduction in time to complete tasks
• Time and cost saved, from reduced length
and number of customer service calls
It makes sense that your stakeholders are going
to wonder how you’ll run this business with this
new ordering platform and what sorts of data,
analytics and insights they’ll gain. Intangible
benefits can help fully explain the business case
and provide further justification for your project.
In addition to having better reporting capabilities
in regards to your order volume, site traffic,
costs and revenue associated with orders, once
your B2B eCommerce platform is up and running
you’ll be able to pay attention to and report on:
• A deeper look into customer satisfaction
• Ability to offer improved customer
service and support
• Increased usability leading to increased sales
• Improved and automated business processes
that the new system supports and enables
• Faster and more accurate information
and access to buying data
• Better forecasting
Use data to inform
stakeholders

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
It’s time to start
your journey!
B2B eCommerce is one of those big organizational
changes that is hard for many companies
to swallow. By following some of these best
practices, your internal leadership team should
feel more empowered and excited about the
change in process, creating the opportunity
for success across the organization.
After helping to manage change within thousands
of big organizations, we have experience
managing the worries and stresses of your team.
If this is something we can help you prepare
for, please email marketing@four51.com.

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
Assess the B2B industry
to remind yourself how
quickly it’s growing
Preparing for the
Launch Check-List
Here’s a check-list that summarizes many of
the steps needed to get ready for the launch of
your B2B eCommerce platform. Four51 works
with businesses like yours to outline and execute
platform launches. If you need help navigating
this process or figuring out where to start, please
reach out to us to get your questions answered.
Do a competitive audit to find
out if you’re processes match or
exceed those of your competitors
Review your internal
order process and identify
gaps or pain points
Calculate your current
cost per order
Perform a customer/
buyer survey to find out
their perception of the
current ordering process
Define the customer/buyer
Access current accounts/
businesses and define workflows
Craft vision for the new way of
ordering include improvements
in productivity, reductions in
cost, increases in customer
satisfaction and sales growth
Define an implementation
methodology
Design the desired
user experience
Create an integration
framework and get all necessary
stakeholders on board
Outline internal resource
inventory and identify external
resources or partners needed
Identify key stakeholders
Communicate vision
Begin!

OF 21 Four51, Inc.
www.four51.com
Twitter: @four51inc
LinkedIn: Four51, Inc
952-294-0451
400 1st Avenue N.,
Suite 200 Minneapolis,
MN 55401
CONTACT US
At Four51, we connect people to products.
We give B2B Enterprises the ability to connect
and enable online ordering by all types of
possible customers and trade partners, all
while being faster, easier and better than our
competition. Founded in 1999, Four51 offers a
cloud-based B2B eCommerce solution called
OrderCloud™. The platform allows businesses
to grow, scale, improve processes and increase
profits by improving their ordering system.

How To Prepare for the Launch of Your B2B eCommerce Platform by Four51

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