Boost checkouts with these B2B ecommerce features
Make sure your ecommerce website is designed with the right features to encourage completed sales.
Most B2C online stores are centred around a transaction: click and buy. Everything is designed around making it as easy and fast as possible to complete a sale.
Speed and ease are important in B2B ecommerce sites, but it’s not a one-and-done process. That’s because a B2B purchase is the start of a relationship. Conversations can happen at any point in the buying process to help verify that the product is a good fit for the customer.
With that in mind, B2B ecommerce sites should be designed to support any conversations that need to happen before, during, or after the purchase. They should also provide the self-service features that buyers expect to streamline their search.
Search and product filtration
Ecommerce sites themselves have a simple function: help buyers find products and purchase them. In B2B, that can look pretty complex behind the scenes.
“Some B2B websites are more like marketplaces than shops,” says Ryan Iusi, Technical Program Manager at Motum B2B. “They don’t just sell their own products but also products from other vendors. That necessitates a really good search engine and product finder.”
Even if your product lineup is relatively simple, product filtration can significantly improve a buyer’s experience by streamlining the process of finding the right solution. They should be able to narrow down choices by selecting applicable filters like industry, application, or product type. They may also want to search by inputting technical specs — for example, someone in a manufacturing setting might filter products by equipment capacity or temperature resistance.
In many cases, B2B products aren’t simple enough to be sold off-the-shelf or without special configurations. That’s when you might choose to replace an “Add to cart” button with one that lets the user choose customizations or contact a sales rep to configure it for them.
From a sheer data organization perspective, selling products across multiple brands, product types, and SKUs comes with its fair share of technical challenges.
“It goes beyond basic search,” says Ben Reimer, Senior Front-End Developer at Motum B2B. “There can be many layers of logic that specifically look for product SKUs and combinations of SKUs, and there’s a lot of code involved in taking apart all the possible combinations.”
Programmers need to find elegant technical solutions to sort through all this data without adding stress to data storage — all while making sure the user’s experience is seamless.
Conversation starters
Some B2B businesses hesitate to implement ecommerce in the first place, maybe because the nature of their product requires a two-way conversation. To support the relationships needed to complete sales, B2B ecommerce sites can focus on features that connect users with the vendor’s team.
“There’s a heavier focus on features like requesting a quote and talking to live agents, rather than just clicking ‘Buy’,” Ben explains. “It gives the site a more human touch.”
“The technical challenges are greater in a B2B space, which often means the products themselves need to be vetted before they’re sold,” adds Ryan. “Your site should create opportunities at almost every point that would allow users to add something to a cart, speak to a specialist, or request a price.”
A conversation can be built into any step of the site’s user journey, including post-purchase. For vendors with more complex B2B products and services, this is often a non-negotiable feature.
Buyers can add a product to their cart and check out as usual, but before the purchase is confirmed, the vendor will have an opportunity to manually review the information to verify whether that product is the right fit, check shipping requirements, or calculate any additional fees. If everything is correct, they can confirm the order and charge the payment method provided by the customer. If not, they can contact the customer to recommend a solution.
“They don’t ship it and forget it,” says Chris Fantauzzi, Front-End Lead at Motum B2B. “The end of the buying chain can be the start of a relationship, and it involves more of a conversation.”
With the right relationship-building tools, B2B ecommerce sites can provide the best of both worlds: a self-serve, low-friction experience for the customer and an important validation step for the vendor.
A different spin on the essentials
To keep up with 2026 standards, all ecommerce sites need to have mobile optimization, strong accessibility, and fast page load speeds. These are the non-negotiables that encourage users to stay on the site and complete sales.
“Reducing friction is an overall theme,” says Chris. “These basics streamline going from adding products to the cart, opening up the cart, and checking out.”
One aspect of reducing friction is making product data easily searchable within the website. Technical specifications, downloadable datasheets, and any other applicable resources should all be within easy reach to help the user validate their purchase.
When it comes to the sale, abandoned cart emails are just as important in B2B as in B2C. If a buyer adds products to a cart and leaves before checking out, a customized email campaign can provide them with additional product information or answers to potential questions and concerns.
Some businesses offer incentives to complete the checkout process. We’ve worked with clients who offered gift cards for purchases over a certain order amount, with special callouts showing how much more you need to spend to reach that threshold. You could also use a points system or discounts for first-time purchases to encourage checkouts.
Don’t underestimate website planning
The exact capabilities you need depend on the nature of your business and its products and services. You may need features to change depending on the shopper’s region, the availability of products, or whether they must be configured before a sale.
“In the B2B space, it’s hard to use an off-the-shelf solution. There’s a deep level of customization that has to occur due to the highly custom nature of the business,” Chris explains.
To get that customization right, your website needs a blueprint with several components. “It starts with an audit to understand the current state of the site, where information is housed, what core functionality is required, and how the build will be maintained in the future,” says Ryan. “Later, we talk through the website’s goals and success criteria. What are the outcomes you want to achieve?”
That requires several steps of gathering data, developing user journeys and website structures, and uncovering all the details, assets, and features required to achieve those end goals. It also requires a need for integration, and making sure all the tools a site needs to function are interconnected and speaking to each other.
It’s complex work with a lot of angles to investigate. “We’re building something closer to amazon.com than your average shop,” Ryan explains. “Understanding the technical side is very important. We need to be as detailed as possible.”
With the right approach, B2B ecommerce sites can be more than marketplaces — they can be the start of new relationships with customers.
Connect your site to your strategy
To understand how the underlying tech of an ecommerce site connects to your marketing and sales objectives, partner with a B2B marketing agency that speaks your language. Our experienced web development team can help you pinpoint the features you do and don’t need to drive sales. To start that conversation, just get in touch.