Optimizing B2B E-commerce with Optimizely Commerce: Best Practices and Key Features

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, businesses need robust and scalable e-commerce solutions to meet the growing demands of B2B buyers. Optimizely Commerce (formerly Insite) is a leading platform that empowers businesses with cutting-edge tools to enhance the online purchasing experience.

In this blog, we’ll explore Optimizely Commerce’s key features, which make it a powerful choice for B2B businesses, and discuss best practices for maximizing its potential.

Why Optimizely Commerce for B2B?

Unlike B2C platforms, B2B commerce has complex requirements, such as bulk orders, contract pricing, and account-based purchasing. Optimizely Commerce is explicitly designed to address these challenges.

5 Key Features That Drive B2B Success

1. Personalized Customer Experiences

• Leverage AI-driven product recommendations.
• Provide dynamic pricing based on contracts and customer segments.

2. Advanced Account Management

• Self-service portals for order history, quotes, and invoices.
• Multi-user roles with approval workflows.

3. Seamless Integration with ERP & CRM

• Automate order processing and inventory management.
• Ensure real-time data synchronization.

4. Mobile-Friendly & Headless Commerce

• Optimize for mobile experiences.
• Leverage API-driven commerce for greater flexibility.

5. Powerful Search and Merchandising

• AI-powered search to deliver relevant results.
• Customizable catalogs and product visibility settings.

5 Best Practices for Maximizing Optimizely Commerce

1. Optimize Site Performance

• Use caching mechanisms for faster page loads.
• Ensure a responsive design for mobile buyers.

2. Leverage Personalization & AI

• Tailor content and pricing based on customer behavior.
• Implement AI-driven product recommendations.

3. Enable Self-Service Capabilities

• Provide customers with self-service portals to check order history, request quotes, and manage accounts.

4. Streamline Checkout & Payments

• Simplify the checkout process with saved payment options.
• Offer multiple payment methods, including net terms and PO-based ordering.

5. Continuously Analyze & Improve

• Use analytics to track customer behavior and identify trends.
• A/B test different UI elements for better engagement.

Conclusion

Optimizely Commerce offers a powerful and flexible solution for businesses looking to optimize their B2B e-commerce operations. By leveraging its robust features and following best practices, companies can enhance customer experiences, improve efficiency, and drive revenue growth.

Is your business ready to take B2B e-commerce to the next level? Start optimizing with Optimizely Commerce today!

The Optimizely Configured Commerce SDK and Optimizely Configured Commerce Cloud serve different but complementary purposes within the Optimizely ecosystem. Below is a breakdown of their differences to help clarify their roles:

Optimizely Configured Commerce SDK (Software Development Kit)

The SDK is a toolkit developers use to build, extend, and customize Optimizely Configured Commerce solutions.

Key Features

• Custom Development: Enables developers to create tailored functionality or modify existing features.
• Extensibility: Allows the integration of third-party tools, systems, or APIs into the platform.
• Local Development: Provides resources for developers to work offline or in a local development environment.
• Code Control: Gives developers greater flexibility to build unique features that align with business-specific workflows or industry requirements.

Use Cases

• Businesses need highly customized solutions that go beyond the standard capabilities of Optimizely Configured Commerce.
• This is for developers who want to test and implement features locally before deploying them to the live environment.
• When integrating Optimizely with complex systems such as legacy ERPs, custom CRMs, or bespoke tools.

Optimizely Configured Commerce Cloud

This is the fully managed, cloud-hosted environment where the Configured Commerce platform operates. It delivers scalability, security, and reliability while offloading the burden of infrastructure management from businesses.

Key Features

• Cloud Hosting: Hosted on Optimizely’s infrastructure, ensuring uptime and reliability.
• Scalability: Automatically adjusts to handle increased traffic or load.
• Maintenance-Free: Optimizely manages software updates, patches, and performance optimizations.
• Global Availability: Designed for businesses operating in multiple regions with global infrastructure support.
• Security: Includes enterprise-grade security measures, including compliance with data protection standards.

Use Cases

• Businesses that want to focus on business operations rather than maintaining infrastructure.
• Companies expecting fluctuations in traffic and requiring a scalable solution.
• Organizations need high uptime and reliability for their eCommerce operations.

Important Distinctions Between Cloud and SDK

Factor	SDK	Cloud
Purpose	Toolkit for building and customizing functionality.	Fully managed, hosted environment for the platform.
Target Team	Developers and technical teams.
Customization	High flexibility for custom features and integrations.	Limited to Cloud version also supports the platform extension at large extent with certain limitation but from this point it sounds like we can only customize the platform through configurations.
Management	Requires development resources to build and deploy changes.	Managed entirely by Optimizely, including updates and maintenance.
Hosting	Local or self-hosted for development purposes and production purposes.	Hosted by Optimizely with global availability.

By leveraging Optimizely Cloud capabilities, you can achieve robust, scalable, and tailored eCommerce experiences with minimized operational complexity, while using SDK version you can have more controlled, customizable website and also have control on infrastructure, upgrades and the deployments

Implementing Optimizely a Configured Commerce platform is a significant milestone for any business looking to scale its digital operations. A well-structured timeline ensures a seamless transition from planning to execution, ultimately delivering a robust eCommerce solution tailored to your needs.

The implementation involves four key phases: Prepare, Build and Verify, Go Live, and Post-Go Live. Let’s examine each phase to understand its importance and components.

Image Source from https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413199673229-Configured-Commerce-implementation-timeline

Prepare: Creating the Foundation for Success

The journey begins with thorough preparation. This phase ensures all stakeholders align on the project goals, requirements, and expectations.

• Client Workshop: This critical step involves defining requirements through collaboration with the client. It sets the stage for clearly understanding business objectives and the roadmap.
• Project Setup: Once the requirements are precise, the focus shifts to creating a sandbox environment for testing and development. This step involves preparing data and configuring ERP and third-party systems for seamless integration with the new platform.

Businesses can minimize risks and ensure a smoother development process by investing time in preparation.

Build & Verify: Realizing the Goal

The Build & Verify phase actively constructs the platform and ensures that all functional and technical requirements are met.

• Initial Development: Core elements like customer and product data are established, forming the system’s backbone.
• Ongoing Development and Build: This stage covers integration, site configuration, and the functional requirements outlined earlier. Key tasks include:
  • Loading and structuring content
  • Designing themes to reflect the brand identity
  • Setting up integrations for payment systems, shipping, and more

This phase involves rigorous testing to verify that the platform meets business needs and performs as intended.

Go Live: Launching with Confidence

With development and testing completed, the project transitions to the Go Live phase, where the production environment becomes operational.

• Create Production Site: A production site is configured to integrate all data and functionalities.
• Production Prep: This includes loading production data, finalizing integration setups, and ensuring smooth and comprehensive user onboarding. At this stage, internal teams focus on training and ensuring they can manage the platform post-launch.

The platform officially launches, marking the achievement of months of collaboration and hard work.

Post-Go Live: Continuous Optimization

The implementation process doesn’t end with the platform launch. The Post-Go Live phase ensures that businesses continuously monitor and optimize the production site for performance, scalability, and user experience. Regular maintenance and updates are vital to ensure that the platform remains robust and adaptive to evolving business needs.

Why a Structured Timeline Matters

A well-planned implementation time frame keeps the project on track and provides flexibility to address unexpected obstacles. Businesses can focus on delivering an efficient and effective commerce solution by breaking the process into distinct, manageable phases.

With this phased approach, Implementing the Optimizely Configured Commerce platform becomes manageable. It provides a path to a scalable, high-performing, and user-friendly eCommerce experience. Proper planning, collaboration, and execution are the keys to success in this transformative journey.

Reference URL – https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413199673229-Configured-Commerce-implementation-timeline

It’s that time of year when everyone comes out with their trends to watch for 2025. While it may seem a bit of a cliche, 2025 has several innovations taking hold that should prove exciting for anyone willing to grab the opportunity.

The way businesses buy and sell is changing faster than ever, and B2B companies are at a tipping point. It’s a segment of business that is often slow to change and adopt new practices. However, more organizations are moving away from traditional processes, embracing online platforms to streamline operations, expand their reach, and deliver better customer experiences. This shift isn’t just a trend—it’s a revolution. Recent research shows that the global B2B e-commerce market is expected to surge from $28.86 trillion in 2025 to $60.49 trillion by 2030, growing at an impressive annual rate of 15.95% (Mordor Intelligence).

These numbers make it clear that businesses that fail to adapt risk being left behind. To stay competitive, it’s critical to understand the key trends shaping the future of B2B e-commerce. In this article, we’ll discuss four trends for B2B in 2025 and how businesses should use them to drive growth.

Trend 1: Hyper-Personalization in B2B Purchasing

Let’s face it—personalization isn’t just a buzzword anymore; it’s a game-changer quickly becoming a requirement, especially in the B2B world. Buyers today don’t just expect personalized experiences—they demand them. Long gone are the days when a one-size-fits-all catalog could satisfy your clients. Modern B2B customers want solutions that feel tailor-made for their business and deliver them seamlessly.

Hyper-personalization takes this concept to the next level. Businesses can offer customized product recommendations, dynamic pricing, and personalized purchasing portals by leveraging AI and data analytics. Imagine being able to present each client with a tailored experience based on their buying history, preferences, and unique business needs. It’s not just about making sales but building trust and long-term relationships.

If you’re not sure where to start, the key is data. Drive deep into your customer data to uncover patterns and preferences. Then, use that information to craft experiences that feel truly individualized. AI-powered platforms make this easier than ever, helping you predict client needs and meet them proactively.

Want to explore this topic in more detail? Check out my previous blog on Micro-Moments in E-Commerce, where I break down the strategies and tools you can use to make personalization a cornerstone of your business.

Trend 2: Omnichannel Excellence for B2B Buyers

Buyers expect more than just a seamless shopping experience—they expect consistency, no matter how or where they engage with your business. Think about your purchasing habits. Whether browsing on your phone, checking inventory on your laptop, or following up with a sales rep in person, you expect everything to align. Your clients are no different. They want to start a transaction on one channel and finish it on another without skipping a beat.

For example, a buyer researching your product catalog online adds items to their cart but pauses to confirm specs with a colleague in the warehouse via a mobile device. Later, they call their account manager to finalize the purchase. If your system isn’t fully integrated, they’ll need to repeat information or deal with errors, which is a frustration no one wants.

Omnichannel excellence means ensuring that every touchpoint—your e-commerce platform, mobile experience, customer portal, or sales team—works flawlessly. This requires more than technology; it’s about aligning your processes and teams to deliver a unified experience.

Here’s the good news: Omnichannel strategies drive serious results when done right. Research shows that companies with strong omnichannel engagement retain 89% of their customers, compared to just 33% for those with weaker strategies. This retention can translate into significant revenue growth in B2B, where relationships are king.

To get started, focus on unifying your systems. Ensure your CRM, e-commerce platform, and inventory management tools speak the same language. And don’t forget your team—sales, support, and marketing must be aligned to provide consistent messaging and service across channels.

Trend 3: Embracing Headless Commerce for B2B Agility

Businesses are turning away from a single implementation platform to headless commerce to keep up with growing demands and shifting buyer expectations. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, headless commerce is about separating the front end—the part your customers interact with—from the back-end systems that manage inventory, orders, and data. You’ll often hear this referred to as a “best in category” concept. This separation allows for customization and speed that traditional, monolithic platforms can’t match.

Why does this matter for B2B? Your buyers expect tailored experiences that adapt to their needs; headless commerce makes delivering that possible. For example, imagine offering each of your major clients a custom storefront where they can see products, pricing, and order histories unique to their account—all without overhauling your entire back-end system.

The numbers back up the importance of this trend. The global headless commerce market is projected to grow at an impressive CAGR of 22.5%, reaching $13.2 billion by 2035 (Modern Diplomacy). By 2025, 35% of businesses are expected to adopt headless platforms to meet the demand for more personalized, scalable solutions.

For B2B businesses, headless commerce isn’t just about keeping up; it’s about getting ahead. The ability to quickly update your user experience, scale as your business grows, and seamlessly integrate with third-party tools puts you in a position to outpace competitors while delivering exceptional service to your buyers.

Going headless is not without risk and should not be undertaken lightly. The key to a good headless strategy is to accept that with greater flexibility comes an elevated cost of ownership. I’m not just referring to a monetary cost of ownership—though that is part of it—but also to the investment of your team members’ time in managing multiple systems.

Trend 4: The Rise of Social Commerce in B2B

When you think of social commerce, it’s easy to picture consumer brands selling trendy products on Instagram or Facebook. But here’s the thing: B2B companies are catching on and social commerce is quickly becoming a powerful tool for engaging clients, building relationships, and even driving sales. In fact, 75% of B2B buyers now use social media to inform their purchasing decisions. Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Facebook aren’t just for networking anymore—they’re where decision-makers research solutions and connect with potential partners. (Demand Sage)

The rise of social commerce in B2B makes perfect sense. Today’s buyers, just like consumers, value authenticity and accessibility. They want to see real-world applications of your products or services, hear success stories from peers, and interact with your brand personally and immediately. Imagine hosting a LinkedIn Live demo of your latest software, where potential clients can ask questions in real time or share customer testimonials on Twitter that spark new inquiries. These interactions don’t just showcase your offerings—they build trust and credibility.

And the momentum behind social commerce is undeniable. Nearly half of all brands, including those in the B2B space, plan to increase their social commerce investments in the coming year. Meanwhile, the global social commerce market is projected to grow from $1.52 trillion in 2025 to an incredible $5.32 trillion by 2030, at a CAGR of 28.53%. (Mordor Intelligence)

If your B2B strategy doesn’t include social commerce, now is the time to rethink your approach. Engaging with clients where they already spend their time online is no longer optional—it’s essential for staying relevant and competitive. As 2025 approaches, leveraging social platforms can help you build meaningful connections, showcase your expertise, and drive growth in a fresh and forward-thinking way. Out of the four trends we’ve discussed so far, I see this one as requiring the lowest lift to get started and the highest amount of pushback in an industry known to be slow to adopt new marketing methods. However, the data supports this as a solid growth opportunity.

Conclusion

2025 is shaping up to be an incredible year for B2B e-commerce. With market share growing and new technologies reshaping how businesses connect with their customers, it’s an exciting time to be part of this space. Trends like hyper-personalization, omnichannel experiences, and headless commerce are more than just buzzwords—they’re the key to staying competitive and thriving in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

But with so much change on the horizon, the question isn’t just about recognizing these trends—it’s about acting on them. How will your business leverage the opportunities that 2025 brings? Whether creating seamless buying experiences, building trust through social platforms, or reimagining your digital infrastructure, the growth potential is enormous.

At Perficient, we specialize in helping businesses like yours capitalize on the latest B2B e-commerce trends. Our experts can guide you through the complexities of digital transformation and equip you with the tools and strategies to succeed in this dynamic market. Let’s work together to position your business for success in 2025 and beyond.

Ready to take the next step? Reach out to us today and discover how we can help you lead the way in B2B e-commerce.

Optimizely Spire CMS provides a feature to create variants of CMS pages. Page variants are variations of a website page with rules for displaying it to end users. Optimizely Spire CMS supports page variants for all CMS pages, including the header and footer. The primary purpose of that user is to see different variations of the same page.

Optimizely Spire CMS provides a feature to apply rule types on page variants. Optimizely Configured Commerce supports creating custom rule types and rule type options to further use the Rules Engine. The basic requirement of creating a custom rule type or using OOTB on a rule type is that users can see different CMS pages as per the applied rule type.

This blog provides complete information on creating custom rule-type options. The steps below will help create a custom rule type option in the Optimizely Configured Commerce solution that can be used in the Optimizely Spire CMS.

How to Create a Custom Rule Type Option in Optimizely Spire CMS

1. Open Optimizely Configured Commerce solution in Visual Studio.
2. Go to the “Extensions” class library.
3. Create a new class, “CustomRuleTypeOption,” and inherit it from the “CriteriaTypeBase” base class. Add Dependency Name attribute with a name of “CustomRuleTypeOption“.
4. Implement inherited abstract class members.
5. Change the DisplayName property value to “Custom Rule Type Option“.
6. Override the remaining properties value.
7. To show custom rule type option field in CMS, we need to override the “ParameterDescriptions” property and set “Label” and “ValueType” value.
8. Override the Validate method and add business logic to validate the input value specified in the CMS. If “true” is returned, the user will see the page variant. If “false” is returned, the user will see the default page.
9. Rebuild the solution.
10. Login in Admin.
11. Go to Administration -> System -> Rule Types listing page.
12. Open the “Page” rule type from the listing page.
13. Go to “Rule Options” tab and click on “Rule Type Option” button.
14. Enter “Description” and select the custom rule type option from the “Criteria Type” dropdown and click on the “Save” button.
15. Log in as a content admin and click the “Edit” icon.
16. Go to any page and create a variant of the page. For example, go to Header and click on More Options (…).
17. Select “Create Variant“.
18. Enter a “Variant Name”, select “Copy Content from Default” and click on “Save” button.
19. Select the custom rule type option from the rule type dropdown, enter the value, and click the save button.
20. As per the rule type, verify the variant page on the site.

References:

1. https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413199746317-Manage-page-variants
2. https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/configured-commerce/docs/create-custom-rule-type-option-for-cms-variants
3. https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413200007437-Rule-type-options

Optimizely Configured Commerce provides a unique way of managing emails. This allows administrators to configure and manage the email templates and settings used for automated email communications with users. This feature is essential for ensuring consistent branding, and operational efficiency in a B2B e-commerce environment. And most importantly, those emails are setup automatically and should not require many updates.

However, in some scenarios, you might need more customizations when working with emails. This article will provide more insights about Optimizely Configured Commerce’s Emails that have not been covered in the documentation. You will get some ideas on how to deeply customize the Email Templates and also, send emails using the B2B framework from Optimizely.

Prerequisites

Before jumping into customization, you need to have fundamental understandings about Email Administration in Configured Commerce.

• This will help you know more about the process flow for how emails are sent: https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/configured-commerce/v1.5.45-b2b-sdk/docs/defining-working-with-and-troubleshooting-email-lists-and-templates
• You also need to be able to work with Email Templates in admin console effectively: https://docs.developers.optimizely.com/configured-commerce/v1.5.45-b2b-sdk/docs/creating-and-editing-email-templates

How to send email with Optimizely Configured Commerce

In Optimizely Configured Commerce, emails are sent automatically when a certain event occurs on a webpage (for example, order confirmation email is sent when submitting an order). However, some actions are not associated with sending mails. If you want to do that, like sending a notification email to the new registrant, you have to put some code inside your custom handlers, or Web API Controllers. Using .NET SmtpClient is a good choice, but in the scope of this article, I would suggest utilizing the EmailService inside the B2B framework that we’re using. The reason is you can benefit from the Email Administration feature that is integrated to Configured Commerce, from managing email templates to monitoring the email message logs, etc. Every mail sending through the EmailService will be kept track of inside this screen:

As being said, here’s how you can send the email any time with B2B Email Service (along with explanation):

// getting email template from IEmailTemplateUtilities (you need to inject this interface in your controller)
var emailTemplate = emailTemplateUtilities.GetOrCreateByName("MyCustomEmailTemplate");

// retrieving the content manager from the email template
var emailTemplateContentManager = emailTemplate.ContentManager;

// using IContentManagerUtilities to get the current version of the email body (you also need to inject this interface in your controller)
var htmlBody = contentManagerUtilities.CurrentContent(emailTemplateContentManager).Html;

// now create the email model to store the dynamic data. It's basically an ExpandoObject
dynamic emailModel = new ExpandoObject();
emailModel.Name = "John Doe";

// Parsing the template. For example, the placeholder [[Model.Name]] in the html body will be replaced with the actual data of emailModel, which is "John Doe".
// You need to inject the IEmailService before using it
string strEmailBody = emailService.Value.ParseTemplate(htmlBody, emailModel);

// Send the email with Configured Commerce's IEmailService
var sendEmailParameter = new SendEmailParameter();
sendEmailParameter.ToAddresses = new List<string>(){ "john.doe@test.com" };
sendEmailParameter.FromAddress = "defaultemail@test.com";
sendEmailParameter.Subject = "Welcome to our site";
sendEmailParameter.Body = strEmailBody;
try
{
    emailService.Value.SendEmail(sendEmailParameter, unitOfWork);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    // Error handling
}

You can create a new template or edit an existing one. The IEmailService will send successfully as long as it is able to find the template name, and the placeholders match with the structure of your Email Model ExpandoObject:

Customize Email Templates

DotLiquid is used to render the views of all email templates. However, seems like it’s not the standard DotLiquid syntax. The syntax has not been documented, this is what I found while inspecting the default templates:

Placeholder Syntax

The templating engine uses this syntax [[Model.PropertyName]] to render dynamic data from the Model. Since the Model is an ExpandoObject so you’re free to define any property inside. Also, there’re bunch of built-in variables for existing templates, please refer here: https://support.optimizely.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413199986957-HTML-variables-for-email-templates

If-Else Statement

Use this logic block when you want to render something conditionally.

If:

[% if Model.MyProperty != null and Model.MyProperty != "" -%]
    <p>[[Model.MyProperty]]</p>
[% endif -%]

If-Else:

<strong>
    [% if Model.FirstName!= null and Model.FirstName!= "" -%] [[Model.FirstName]] [% else -%] [[Model.LastName]] [% endif -%]
</strong>

Iteration

Use this block to loop through a list:

[% for orderGroup in Model.OrderGroups -%]
    <div>
          <p>[[orderGroup.Heading]]</p>
    </div>
[% endfor -%]

Note: As of now (Jan 2025), the templating engine hasn’t supported nested loop yet.

Site Messages

You can even use Site Messages in your templates. For example:

<span>[% siteMessage 'Welcome_Message' %]:</span>

The cool thing about it is, Site Messages can be localizable. So based on SiteContext.Current.LanguageDto (from Insite.Core.Context), it can detect the current language and translate the message automatically for you.

I hope this information will be helpful when you need to work on Email Administration in Optimizely Configured Commerce. Happy coding!

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, ecommerce professionals must seize fleeting opportunities to engage consumers. These opportunities, known as micro-moments, represent brief, intent-driven actions where customers turn to their devices to address an immediate need—whether to know, go, do, or buy. Understanding and leveraging these moments can dramatically enhance customer engagement and drive sales.

What Are Micro-Moments?

Micro-moments are the building blocks of modern consumer behavior. Google introduced this concept to explain how digital interactions have shifted toward shorter, more targeted engagements. According to a Think with Google article, 96% of smartphone users now turn to their devices to quickly search for information. This statistic shouldn’t be a shock to anyone in modern society; everyone has had a question regarding a product or need that we recognize at the moment and pulled out our phones to perform a quick search. For ecommerce, this means adapting strategies to meet consumers where and when they need you most.

Here is a practical example of this behavior in action. A clothing retailer identified a spike in mobile searches for “best winter jackets” during cold snaps in the Midwest and Southern United States. By creating optimized product and landing pages for these searches, the retailer achieved a 30% increase in sales, according to Google on Micro-Moments case study. This case highlights why micro-moments are not just theoretical but actionable opportunities.

The Four Types of Micro-Moments

In ecommerce and DXP, success takes foresight and planning on the part of the brand to meet customers at pivotal moments in their journey. Not to boil things down to an overused phrase, but it’s amazing how lucky one is in business is proportional to how much preparation performed. By understanding the distinct types of micro-moments, companies can create their own fortunate by preparing themselves to engage consumers effectively and create meaningful interactions. Below, we break down the four micro-moment types and explore how to capture them to boost your ecommerce strategy.

1. I-Want-to-Go Moments: These moments are dominated by location-specific needs, such as finding store availability or curbside pickup options, dominate these moments. Ensure your mobile platform provides location-based services, easy navigation, and real-time inventory updates. Depending on your business, this micro-moment is either completely irrelevant or an untapped business market.Imagine that you’re a DIYer replacing your kitchen sink. I could stop right there with that description, and you would most likely know what’s coming next. You will inevitably need something from the hardware or plumbing supply store. Since customers can’t order the part and wait for it to be delivered, they will look for the closest retailer.If you have a brick-and-mortar presence, you can capture that moment by providing the customer with a dealer locator – preferably one that does geolocation. What if you were able to offer in-store pick-up? Cut down the time the Customer is trying to find the item in the store. They order online, run into the store, and are on their way.
2. I-Want-to-Do Moments: This type of micro-moment is the most misunderstood in the ecommerce and DXP space. The misunderstanding is because the moment isn’t about directly selling a product. It is counterintuitive to the primary conversion of any online business application: to convert sales. It can be hard to quantify via KPI (there are methods, but that is not the topic of this blog), but the goal is not to sell a product today. It’s to establish yourself as the trusted resource for the sale tomorrow. In this type of micro-moment, Customers are seeking tutorials or advice for a given industry or field, not about specific products. By offering how-to videos, product usage guides, and interactive customer support, brands can secure loyalty and encourage further engagement. Again, this isn’t about specific products but the industry you serve. What are your products used for? Talk about that! Position your site as a go-to location for industry knowledge.
3. I-Want-to-Buy Moments: These moments are the most straightforward. The Customer knows what they need and wants to buy it quickly. Removing any obstacles that would slow down the transaction is the key to capturing these moments. Amazon set the standard for capturing these micro-moments with its “Buy Now” options. The Amazon one-click shopping method doesn’t work for every type of ecommerce engagement, but the idea behind it does. Review your checkout or product quoting process. Are you asking for information that you don’t need? Are there too many steps? Look for fields on your form that the Customer may not know right off the top of their head. If the Customer has to leave their device to find the information you are asking for, they will not return and complete the transaction, as the moment will be gone.
4. I-Want-to-Know Moments: There is a distinction between a wanting-to-know moment and a wanting-to-buy moment. In the former, the Customer generally knows they have a need but is not entirely sure what product would best meet that need. They will complete their transaction, but first, they want to compare options, read reviews, and seek advice.The goal for capturing this micro-moment is to position your business as the subject matter expert in the field: product review blogs, videos, detailed descriptions, and product comparisons of relevant metrics. Take a moment and consider your product offering from the Customer’s point of view; what information does the average Customer need to know when considering your products? While you want to position yourself as the subject matter expert on the product offering, it is equally important to recognize that you may not know your average Customers’ primary concerns as well as you think you do. Contact your Customer Service team and find out the most asked questions. What are the most returned products and why?

Strategies to Capture Micro-Moments

1. Be There: Real-Time Presence: Review your marketing strategies. Identify the micro-moment each initiative aligns with. Adjust your strategy to account for areas you are not capitalizing on. Confirm that you have an active, long-term plan for SEO and Accessibility; both of these items are paramount.
2. Be Useful: Offer Relevant and Actionable Content: Reorganize your content to make it easy for customers to find the information they want based on their micro-transaction. Use resources like FAQs, product reviews, and social proof to add value and instill confidence in potential buyers.
3. Be Quick: Prioritize Speed and Simplicity. Page speed and intuitive navigation are critical. Ensure fast-loading websites and provide seamless user experience through one-click actions and minimal conversion steps. A key question to ask yourself at every step is, “Are we asking for this information because it will help the customer, or are we asking this information because it will help marketing?”. Focus on the customer, and the marketing data will follow naturally.
4. Be Humble: Understand Your Customers. It might sound harsh, but I base these next statements on twenty years of B2C / B2B experience. Do not assume your customers know your product line as well as you do. Additionally, do not assume you understand how customers shop for your product catalog. Unless you have data to support your claim that “you know how your customers shop,” you don’t.
5. Be Proactive: Make Your Own Luck. Like SEO and accessibility, personalization and micro-moment capture are not one-time initiatives. A dedicated initiative must be created to review, maintain, and improve micro-moment capture.

Tools and Technologies for Leveraging Micro-Moments

• Data Analytics: Track customer behavior to identify high-impact micro-moments. Build metrics around micro-moments and methods of tracking them. Hard data on behavior is key to measuring the impact of your initiatives. Vanity metrics are great, but measurable conversions to specific transaction points are better.
• Mobile-First Design: This shouldn’t even be considered optional in modern web development. Intuitive mobile design is not just a best practice but a requirement.
• AI and Machine Learning: Personalize recommendations based on predicted customer intent. If you have not already begun developing a personalization strategy for long-term growth, you need to do it now. Mobile-first used to be nice to have, but then it quickly became a must-have, and those who hadn’t jumped on it early were left behind and lost market share. AI and personalization are now at the nice-to-have stage but are already transitioning into the must-have zone.
• Robust Search: Invest in on-site search tools that provide a robust search experience. According to multiple search engine companies such as Algolia or SearchStaxs, 50% of visitors to your site will use the on-site search engine as their first interaction unless they come directly into a relevant landing page. Do not miss out on capturing these customers because your on-site search doesn’t provide appropriate results quickly.

Challenges and Considerations

While micro-moments have undeniable potential, they also present challenges. Balancing personalization with data privacy regulations is critical. Prioritize the most impactful moments for your initiative strategy and then make incremental changes based on metrics, customer feedback, and A/B testing. Accept that it is part of the long-term cost of ownership and not a single expenditure. Additionally, recognize that your product data must be in good order before starting a campaign to capture micro-moments. Poor data will dramatically increase your acquisition cost per Customer—garbage data in and out. Read more about the importance of good data as a foundation in my previous blog here.

Conclusion

Micro-moments are reshaping the ecommerce landscape by redefining customer expectations. Brands that anticipate and address these moments will gain a significant competitive edge. As you refine your ecommerce strategies, consider how to better capture and capitalize on these nuanced but powerful interactions.

Take action today: contact Perficient to help analyze your current touchpoints and determine micro-moment strategies. Don’t get left behind, be ahead of the curve and watch your engagement soar.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing B2B ecommerce, enabling capabilities such as personalized product recommendations, dynamic pricing, and predictive analytics. However, the effectiveness of these AI-driven solutions depends heavily on the quality of the underlying data. Despite AI’s potential, poor data governance remains a significant challenge in the industry. A recent Statista survey revealed that 25% of B2B ecommerce companies in the United States have fully implemented AI technologies, while 56% are experimenting with them.

As AI adoption grows, B2B companies must address data quality issues to leverage AI’s benefits fully. Anyone who has spent time in the B2B industry will acknowledge that quality data is often a struggle. This article explores the critical importance of clean data in AI applications and offers strategies for improving data governance in the B2B ecommerce sector.

Common Symptoms of Bad Data Governance

Bad data governance is a pervasive issue in the B2B ecommerce landscape, particularly in industries like manufacturing, where complex supply chains and product catalogs create unique challenges. Here are some of the most common symptoms:

1. Duplicate Records: Customer and product data often contain duplicate entries due to inconsistent data entry processes or a lack of validation protocols. For example, a single customer might appear in the database multiple times with slight variations in name or contact information, leading to inefficiencies in communication and order processing.
2. Inconsistent Formatting: Manufacturing and distribution often involve extensive product catalogs, and inconsistencies in SKU formats, product descriptions, or units of measurement can disrupt operations. For instance, some entries might use “kg” while others use “kilograms,” confusing systems and causing inventory management and procurement errors.
3. Outdated or Missing Data: Stale data, such as outdated pricing, obsolete product details, or inactive customer accounts, can lead to misinformed decisions. Missing data, like incomplete shipping addresses or contact details, can result in delayed deliveries or lost opportunities.
4. Siloed Data Systems: Many B2B companies, especially in manufacturing, rely on disparate systems that don’t communicate effectively. A lack of integration between ERP systems, CRMs, and ecommerce platforms leads to fragmented data and manual reconciliation efforts, increasing the risk of errors.
5. Unreliable Vendor and Supplier Information: Manufacturing businesses often deal with a large network of suppliers, each with varying formats for invoices, contracts, and delivery schedules. Poorly managed supplier data can result in delayed production, stockouts, or overordering.

Why is Bad Data Governance So Prevalent in B2B Manufacturing?

Unlike B2C industries, where streamlined data processes are often a core focus, manufacturing businesses face unique challenges due to their operations’ complexity, reliance on legacy systems, and decentralized structures. Understanding why these problems are so prevalent is key to addressing the underlying causes and fostering long-term improvements.

1. Complexity of Operations: Manufacturing involves numerous moving parts—raw materials, suppliers, distributors, and customers—making data governance inherently more challenging. The sheer volume of data generated across the supply chain increases the likelihood of inconsistencies.
2. Legacy Systems: Many B2B manufacturing companies rely on outdated legacy systems not designed for modern ecommerce integration. These systems often lack robust data validation and cleaning mechanisms, perpetuating bad data practices.
3. Decentralized Operations: Manufacturing companies frequently operate in multiple locations, each with its own systems, processes, and data entry standards. This decentralization contributes to a lack of standardization across the organization.
4. Focus on Production Over Data: In traditional manufacturing mindsets, operational efficiency and production output take precedence over data accuracy. Thus, data governance investments may be considered a lower priority than equipment upgrades or workforce training.
5. Limited Awareness of the Impact: Many B2B organizations underestimate the long-term impact of bad data on their operations, customer satisfaction, and AI-driven initiatives. The focus often shifts to immediate problem-solving rather than addressing root causes through improved governance.

By recognizing these symptoms and understanding the reasons behind poor data governance, B2B manufacturing companies can take the first steps toward addressing these issues. This foundation is critical for leveraging AI and other technologies to their fullest potential in ecommerce.

Why Clean Data Governance is Non-Negotiable in the AI Era

AI thrives on data—structured, accurate, and relevant data. For B2B ecommerce, where AI powers everything from dynamic pricing to predictive inventory, clean data isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s the foundation for success. Without clean data governance, AI systems struggle to provide reliable insights, leading to poor decisions and diminished trust in the technology.

As the B2B commerce world embraces AI, those who recognize and prioritize addressing a systemic industry problem of bad data will quickly move to the front of the pack. Garbage in, garbage out. Implementing AI tools with bad data will be doomed to failure as the tools will be ineffective. Meanwhile, those who take the time to ensure they have a good foundation for AI support will overtake the competition. It’s a watershed moment for the B2B industry where those who recognize how to get the most value out of AI while those who refuse to alter their own internal workflows because “that’s the way it’s always been done” will see their market share diminish.

1. Accuracy and Relevance: AI models rely on historical and real-time data to make predictions and recommendations. If the data is inaccurate or inconsistent, the AI outputs become unreliable, directly impacting decision-making and customer experiences.
2. Scalability and Growth: In an era where B2B companies are scaling rapidly to meet global demands, clean data ensures that AI systems can grow alongside the business. Bad data governance introduces bottlenecks, stifling the scalability of AI-driven solutions.
3. Customer Experience: AI-powered personalized recommendations, accurate delivery timelines, and responsive customer service are critical to building customer trust and loyalty. These benefits rely on clean, well-governed data. A single misstep, like recommending the wrong product or misquoting delivery times, can damage a company’s reputation.
4. AI Amplifies Data Issues: Unlike traditional systems, AI doesn’t just process data—it learns from it. Bad data doesn’t just result in poor outputs; it trains AI systems to make flawed assumptions over time, compounding errors and reducing the ROI of AI investments.
5. Competitive Advantage: Clean data governance can be a differentiator in a competitive B2B market. Companies with well-maintained data are better positioned to leverage AI for faster decision-making, improved customer service, and operational efficiencies, giving them a significant edge.

Ignoring data governance in the AI era isn’t just a missed opportunity—it’s a liability. Poor data practices lead to inefficient AI models, frustrated customers, and, ultimately, lost revenue. Moreover, as competitors invest in clean data and AI, companies with bad data governance risk falling irreparably behind.

Clean data governance is no longer optional; it’s a strategic imperative in the AI-driven B2B ecommerce landscape. By prioritizing data accuracy and consistency, companies can unlock AI’s full potential and position themselves for long-term success.

How B2B Companies Can Address Bad Data Governance

Tackling bad data governance is no small feat, but it’s a journey worth undertaking for B2B companies striving to unlock AI’s full potential. The solution involves strategic planning, technological investment, and cultural change. Here are actionable steps businesses can take to clean up their data and ensure it stays that way:

1. Conduct a Comprehensive Data Audit
2. Standardize the Data Entry Process
3. Implement Master Data Management (MDM)
4. Leverage Technology for Data Cleaning and Enrichment
5. Break Down Silos with Integration
6. Foster a Culture of Data Ownership
7. Commit to Continuous Improvement

The first step is conducting a thorough data audit—think of it as a spring cleaning for your databases. By identifying gaps, redundancies, and inaccuracies, businesses can reveal the full extent of their data issues. This process isn’t just about finding errors; it’s about creating a baseline understanding of the company’s data health. Regular audits prevent these issues from snowballing into more significant, costly problems.

Once the audit is complete, it’s time to set some ground rules. Standardizing data entry processes is critical for ensuring consistency. Clear guidelines for formatting SKUs, recording customer details, and storing supplier information can prevent the chaos of mismatched or incomplete records. Employees should be trained on these standards, and tools like automated forms or validation rules can make compliance seamless.

Of course, even the best data entry standards won’t help if different systems across the organization aren’t communicating. That’s where Master Data Management (MDM) comes in. By centralizing data into a single source of truth, companies ensure that updates in one system are automatically reflected across all others. With MDM in place, teams can work confidently, knowing that their data is accurate and consistent.

But standardizing and centralizing aren’t enough if you’re already sitting on a mountain of messy data. Performing this step by hand is significantly time-intensive. Enter data cleaning and enrichment tools. AI-powered solutions can quickly identify and correct errors, deduplicate records and fill in missing fields. These tools don’t just clean up the past; they automate routine processes to keep data clean moving forward.

For many B2B companies, fragmentation is one of the biggest hurdles to clean data. Silos between ERP systems, CRM platforms, and ecommerce tools create inconsistencies that ripple across the business. Breaking down these silos through system integration ensures a unified flow of data, improving collaboration and decision-making across departments. This requires a thoughtful integration strategy, often with the help of IT experts, but the payoff is well worth the effort.

Clean data isn’t just a technical problem—it’s a cultural one. Companies must foster a culture of data ownership, where employees understand the importance of the data they handle and feel accountable for its accuracy. Assigning clear responsibilities, such as appointing a Chief Data Officer (CDO) or similar role, can ensure that data governance remains a priority.

Finally, data governance isn’t a one-and-done project. Continuous improvement is essential. Regular review of data policies and feedback from team members help refine processes over time. Establishing KPIs for data quality can also provide measurable insights into the success of these efforts.

By taking these steps, B2B companies can move from reactive problem-solving to proactive data management. Clean, well-governed data isn’t just the backbone of AI success—it’s a strategic asset that drives better decisions, smoother operations, and stronger customer relationships. In an increasingly data-driven world, those who master their data will lead the way.

Conclusion: Turn Your Data into a Competitive Advantage in the AI Era

In the rapidly evolving landscape of B2B ecommerce, integrating AI technologies offers unprecedented opportunities for growth and efficiency. However, as we’ve explored, the effectiveness of AI is intrinsically linked to the quality of the underlying data. Companies risk undermining their AI initiatives without robust data governance, leading to inaccurate insights and missed opportunities.

Perficient stands at the forefront of addressing these challenges. With extensive experience in implementing comprehensive data governance frameworks, we empower B2B organizations to harness the full potential of their data. Our expertise encompasses:

• Product Information Management (PIM): We assist in managing all aspects of your product data—from SKUs and descriptions to stock levels and pricing—ensuring consistency and accuracy across all platforms.
• Digital Asset Management (DAM): Our solutions help organize and distribute digital assets related to your products, such as photos and videos, enhancing the efficiency of your operations.
• Data Integration and Standardization: We streamline your data processes, breaking down silos and ensuring seamless communication between systems, which is crucial for effective AI implementation.

Investing in clean data governance is not just a technical necessity but a strategic imperative. With Perficient’s expertise, you can transform your data into a powerful asset, driving informed decision-making and sustainable growth in the AI era.

A strong and successful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is essential in the extremely competitive world of e-commerce today. You can increase the visibility, draw in more visitors, and raise conversion rates with the correct tools and strategies. Product information management (PIM) is a crucial tool for accomplishing these objectives.

What is PIM?

PIM provides a central repository for product information, ensuring that information is accurate, consistent, and up-to-date. This allows businesses to streamline the management of product data, such as descriptions, images, specifications, and other key information related to their products. Having this organized and easily accessible information can be extremely beneficial to businesses looking to improve their customer service, increase sales, and ultimately enhance their SEO performance.

By using PIM, businesses can save time and resources by reducing manual work, increasing accuracy, and eliminating redundant data entry. A PIM system can also help with managing different versions of product descriptions, images, and other data fields in different languages and currencies. This allows businesses to quickly launch products into new markets and keep them updated across multiple channels.

How can PIM help improve your SEO?

Product Information Management (PIM) systems are designed to help businesses store, manage, and distribute product information in an efficient and organized manner. It has become a popular tool for businesses looking to improve their SEO rankings.

PIM can help improve your SEO rankings in several ways:

1. High-quality Content: PIM can help ensure that product information is accurate, complete, and consistent, which can lead to better on-page optimization and search engine visibility.
2. Enhanced Product Descriptions: PIM enables the creation of detailed and optimized product descriptions, which can help improve the relevance and quality of content for search engines.
3. Better Keyword Targeting: PIM can provide insights into which keywords are most relevant for each product, enabling e-commerce websites to better target those keywords in their product pages and other content.
4. Improved Taxonomy: Taxonomy helps to improve the customer experience by making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for, and to compare products based on relevant attributes. In addition, a well-structured taxonomy can also help to improve search engine optimization (SEO) by increasing the relevance of search results, which can drive more traffic to a company’s website.
5. Cross-Channel Distribution – PIM systems also make it easy to distribute your product information across multiple channels. This helps increase the visibility of your product pages and will help improve your SEO rankings.
6. Faster and More Efficient SEO Updates – PIM can also help make SEO updates faster and more efficient. With PIM, you can quickly and easily make changes to your product information, which can then be automatically updated across all of your sales channels. This saves time and reduces the risk of errors, making it easier to optimize your product pages for search engines. With PIM, you can keep your website up-to-date with the latest product information and take advantage of new SEO opportunities as they arise.
7. Asset Management – Asset management in a Product Information Management (PIM) system refers to the process of organizing and managing digital assets, such as images, videos, and other multimedia files, associated with a product. This includes storing, categorizing, and versioning these assets to ensure that they are easily accessible and up-to-date. We can also attach metadata to digital assets to help improve the search.

This can lead to improved organic search traffic and more conversions for your business but business always questions how do I know the optimization we were doing in PIM is helping us, One way to identify is utilizing Digital Self analytics.

inriver’s digital self-analytics tool, Evaluate, significantly enhances SEO optimization in several ways:

1. Content Compliance: Evaluate ensures that your product information is accurate and consistent across all channels, which is crucial for SEO. Accurate data helps search engines understand your products better, improving visibility.
2. Keyword Optimization: The tool tracks keyword performance and helps you optimize product listings for better search rankings. This includes monitoring keyword search and share-of-shelf.
3. Real-Time Insights: Evaluate provides real-time insights into how your products are performing on the digital shelf. This includes monitoring product search rankings, competitor pricing, and stock levels, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to improve SEO.
4. Engagement Intelligence: By analyzing customer interactions and engagement with your product listings, Evaluate helps you understand what works and what doesn’t. This information is vital for refining your SEO strategy to attract more traffic and improve conversions.
5. Automated Monitoring: The tool uses smart automation to constantly monitor your products, providing actionable insights that help you stay ahead of the competition and ensure your product information is always optimized for search engines.

Using inriver Evaluate, you can take control of your digital shelf, drive revenue growth, and enhance your SEO efforts with precise, actionable data.

By following these recommendations, you can make sure that you get the most out of your PIM system and improve your SEO performance. PIM can help you stay ahead of the competition in the e-commerce space. So if you’re looking to improve your SEO performance and reach more customers, it’s time to invest in PIM. For more information on this, contact our experts today.

I was given the opportunity to partner with my colleague David Stallsmith to present at B2B Connect in San Diego, CA. We were thrilled to participate in this invite-only conference and host our session, “How to Prioritize Your Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Capabilities: What Should I Do Now vs Next?” We summarized why D2C is important to many companies during our workshop and discussed the latest trends. Then, we reviewed the D2C capabilities segmented into three groups: basic, emerging, and innovative.

At Perficient, we have a framework called “Now, New, Next” in which we associate the “Now” category to current capabilities, the “New” category to emerging capabilities, and the “Next” category to innovative capabilities. We use this framework to talk about a company’s maturity and develop a roadmap to help them with many transformational business needs. The most engaging part of our workshop was when we gave the audience time to complete their own Now, New, Next exercise for D2C capabilities and opened the discussion about what they saw as important to them.

Let’s discuss what was so exciting about these insights.

What’s Happening Right Now?

Regarding the “Now” category, SEO and marketing campaigns were the most checked items on the list of current capabilities. These categories’ popularity does not surprise me – if companies want their products to be found or heard about, then SEO and marketing campaigns are crucial components of the strategy.

Following these two current capabilities closely were customer experience and customer support. It’s good to see that the majority of companies have not only already identified that focusing on the customer is of utmost importance but also made significant moves towards providing excellence in customer care. Having a commerce site with a shopping cart and transaction capabilities was also checked off the same amount.

From these insights, you can begin to see the pattern: We want our site to be able to be found, we want to market the site and the products, and we want to have a great customer experience. Items that made the list, but weren’t quite as popular, were secure payment, product information, and basic analytics.

After reviewing where most of the companies are focusing in D2C capabilities, we would recommend more focus in basic commerce capabilities to focus on product information such as overview, specifications, and imagery early on in your journey. This is crucial to the customer experience and their ability to understand your products.

New: Where It Gets Interesting

What was checked the most on the “New” list? Of all the emerging capabilities, the most popular was triggered marketing campaigns. Again, this capability follows the theme we’re seeing of wanting to be able to act on the customer’s behavior on the site and follow up on what they found important. There were several tied for the most mentioned, a group of them having to do with the promotional type of capabilities: promotion, loyalty programs, and upselling. The others with the same number of mentions were commerce-related capabilities: shipping options and returns.

Again, these capabilities were focused on advancing the promotional and commerce capabilities mentioned in the “Now” basic category. We would recommend that capabilities such as upselling and cross-selling and a guided shopping experience be included in this phase.

What Are Cutting-Edge Companies Doing?

When it comes to the “Next” category, we naturally see much less checked off. This category lists only the most cutting-edge capabilities that will be adopted in the future, but companies are only just scratching the surface now.

When it comes to the most popular item in the “Next” category, I won’t be shocking anyone: AI-driven personalization was checked off the most. As we all know, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is a megatrend, and in D2C, it is no different. Next was A/B testing, which has a lot to do with the customer experience we saw so popular in the “New” category. Finally, we saw customer surveys and chatbots.

AI is going to have a big influence in everything that we do. In D2C, we see it has a big influence in triggering a personalized customer experience, conducting analysis of the customer behaviors, and powering a more intelligent chatbot.

Diving Into D2C Insights in Manufacturing and Distribution

There was a lot of logic in the feedback we received in the session, but there were also a few surprises. Of course, the companies wanted their site and products to be found, and of course they wanted to make sure they built a first-class customer experience on a commerce platform. Along with that, it’s clear that they would prioritize at least the basic shopping capabilities like good product information, shopping cart, shipping options, and returns.

But there are so many items that weren’t as popularly checked off in our categories that would be a huge difference in these areas, and we urge companies to consider making significant investments as soon as possible. Capabilities such as analyzing website traffic and customer behavior are key to informing your decisions regarding enhancements for your site. Further, guided selling is a capability that improves the customer experience by helping customers find parts that fit or complement the product they own or are thinking about purchasing.

Did you see any popular items here that aren’t on your list of capabilities? Were there any that you’re excited to prioritize in the coming months? Tap into our manufacturing industry expertise and reach out to discuss further with us the insights we’ve gathered and how to prioritize these direct-to-consumer capabilities.

Dive deeper into D2C for Manufacturers.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of B2B commerce, achieving success hinges on strategic prowess. As a Product Owner of one or more platforms in your company’s commerce ecosystem, your role in shaping the vision and effectively managing assumptions during projects or ongoing support is paramount. This guide will delve into the strategies to excel in B2B Commerce Strategy. 

 Nurturing Conversations for Comprehensive B2B Commerce Vision

 In B2B commerce, staying at the forefront requires an unyielding commitment to innovation. Initiate proactive discussions between requirements workshops with business stakeholders, customers, suppliers, and technical experts to explore groundbreaking ideas and new services. These conversations, extending beyond vendor meetings, provide diverse insights crucial for shaping a customer-centric vision. By incorporating the voices of these stakeholders, Product Owners lay the foundation for a robust B2B commerce strategy that leverages cutting-edge technology. It’s a strategic move that empowers you in multiple ways. 

Proactive Technical Analysis for Commerce: Feasibility and Scope 

Engaging in proactive discussions provides a unique opportunity to ask pointed questions about the feasibility of specific requirements early on. Doing so facilitates proactive technical analysis. Understanding the technical aspects in the initial stages is crucial, as feasibility often significantly influences the project’s final scope. Preemptively addressing technical challenges will pave the way for a more streamlined and efficient project execution. 

Empowering Strategic Decision-Making 

Being actively involved in these conversations equips you to confidently answer questions about your overall strategy. When third parties seek your insights, you can provide informed responses based on the deep understanding gained from these dialogues. The depth of your knowledge elicits better advice and sparks more questions. This iterative dialogue enhances productivity, ensuring every conversation is a stepping stone toward a more refined B2B commerce strategy. 

Productive Dialogue: Experience Better Advice and Insightful Queries 

The dialogue becomes more than just a discussion; it transforms into a productive exchange of ideas and expertise. Better advice stems from the detailed insights gained through proactive conversations. Moreover, a thorough understanding of your strategy prompts stakeholders to ask more insightful questions. These queries, in turn, lead to richer discussions, providing invaluable perspectives that further refine your B2B commerce vision. 

As a Product Owner navigating the complexities of B2B commerce strategy, proactive engagement and dialogue are your most potent tools. Integrating innovation, management, marketing, technology, and feasibility considerations into your strategic vision ensures project success and enhances visibility in the competitive digital landscape. Your expertise and proactive dialogue become a beacon guiding businesses toward innovative solutions in B2B Commerce Strategy. 

 Crafting a Cohesive B2B Commerce Vision: Bridging Perspectives

In the intricate tapestry of B2B commerce, crafting a vision isn’t merely about drafting a document; it’s about becoming its unwavering champion. As a Product Owner, you are not just a custodian but the architect, advocate, and apologist for that vision. Owning the vision goes beyond its creation—passionately championing it, defending it when necessary, and ensuring it permeates every facet of your organization. 

 Owning the Vision: A Champion’s Role 

To truly succeed, the Product Owner must embody the vision. Being its champion means living and breathing it, understanding its nuances, and fervently advocating for its realization. Owning the vision instills confidence in stakeholders, assuring them of a leader who believes in the path chosen. This ownership forms the bedrock on which every decision and action in the project stands, fostering a sense of purpose and direction among the team. 

 Internal Marketing of the Vision 

A cohesive B2B commerce vision goes beyond the boardrooms; it must infiltrate every level of your organization. Cross-pollinating perspectives involves disseminating the picture to various stakeholders, ensuring a broad consensus. When diverse voices echo the same vision, it creates a unifying force, fostering collaboration and cooperation. This broad buy-in is not just a stamp of approval; it’s the lifeblood of seamless implementation. 

 The Impact of Buy-In on Collaboration and Cooperation 

Collaboration and cooperation flourish in an environment where the vision is accepted and embraced. When stakeholders share a collective faith, obstacles become opportunities, and challenges pair with innovative solutions. Conversely, lacking buy-in can stall progress, making technical and business impediments linger longer. Strong and broad support from internal stakeholders acts as a catalyst, expediting the resolution of issues and ensuring the implementation journey is smooth and efficient. 

 Crafting a cohesive B2B commerce vision isn’t just a document—it’s a shared belief, an inspiring narrative, and a rallying point for everyone involved. By owning the vision and fostering broad buy-in through passionate advocacy and strategic communication, Product Owners pave the way for collaborative success. 

Aligning with B2B Commerce Scope: Balancing Vision and Reality

The B2B commerce scope is the equilibrium between vision, schedule, costs, and business objectives. It delineates the project’s boundaries, ensuring alignment with the overarching marketing and technology integration strategy. Product Owners must make decisions that uphold this scope, safeguarding the project’s trajectory within time and budget constraints while exploring innovative products and processes. 

 Assumption Management: Key to B2B Commerce Strategy

 Assumption adjustments are inherent in projects, with their impact varying from trivial tweaks to significant alterations. Product Owners must diligently manage moderate-impact assumptions, especially at the feature level, where they can be more subtle and often accumulate into substantial budget or timeline changes to the surprise of executives with a less specific view. Product owners safeguard the project’s alignment with the B2B commerce strategy by proactively tracking and mitigating these changes, ensuring seamless delivery and an enhanced customer experience. 

 Proactive Mitigation for Sustainable B2B Commerce Success

Vigilance is the watchword for Product Owners. Product Owners maintain project alignment and optimize for features that bring the best ROI by proactively mitigating assumption changes and strategically adjusting the scope when necessary.  

In conclusion, the role of a Product Owner of the B2B commerce platform transcends project management; it involves crafting the future of commerce experiences by integrating innovation, management, marketing, and technology. As you navigate the complexities of B2B commerce delivery and strategy, remember that your decisions impact the project and your online presence, making your expertise accessible to businesses seeking innovative solutions in B2B Commerce Strategy.  Talk with our Commerce experts about your vision and how to achieve it.

We’re excited to share some wonderful news with you all! Perficient achieved the Köerber 2023 Evolve Partner Award for New OMS Partner of the Year North America. We see this as a shared achievement, one that wouldn’t be possible without the support of our incredible team and partner Köerber.

Recognizing Excellence in the Supply Chain

The Evolve Partner Awards have been established to recognize the efforts of Köerber’s partners in key Sales and Customer Success categories, which are related to some of the most significant challenges in the supply chain today. Perficient has been nominated as the New OMS Partner of the Year, which signifies their investment in OMS certification and gaining expertise to deliver exceptional results for their clients. We take pride in our commitment to quality and our drive to exceed expectations, and we are honored to receive recognition for it.

A Celebration of Our Engagement

We believe in the power of collaboration and the importance of building strong relationships with our clients. The New OMS Partner of the Year award reflects Perficient’s proactive engagement in sales, marketing, and lead development.

A Memorable Event

The winners received their awards at the Evolve Partner Summit event held on April 21 in San Diego, CA. We celebrated our accomplishments with peers at this unforgettable event.

Looking Forward

As we celebrate this achievement, we remain focused on our mission to deliver high standards for our clients. We are excited about the future and look forward to continuing our journey of excellence.

Thank you to Köerber for this honor! Congratulations to our dedicated team at Perficient for their commitment to excellence. This award is a reflection of our collective efforts and a symbol of the great things we can achieve together. Here’s to a future filled with more success and innovation!