Is your B2B e-commerce experience hitting the mark in today's digital-first world? Join us as we chat with Lance O-Wide, Director of B2B at BigCommerce, about the game-changing new B2B Edition and how it's revolutionizing the B2B e-commerce sector. The pandemic may have accelerated the shift towards digital-first buyers, but this change was bound to happen. Lance highlights the importance of providing a simplified, efficient, and dynamic experience for B2B buyers and shares how BigCommerce is helping businesses transition away from outdated systems to create a single source of truth for all their processes.
In our exciting conversation, we delve into the latest release of BigCommerce's B2B Edition, discussing the major improvements it brings to both merchants and customers. Discover how features like multi-storefront compatibility and an enhanced buyer portal can increase conversion rates, boost average order values, and make sales teams more efficient. We also explore the potential for creating bespoke experiences for customers, offering unique, personalized buyer journeys that set your business apart.
But that's not all! We also cover the advantages of headless commerce and its applications for the complex B2B landscape. Learn how starting with a monolithic store and adopting progressive web apps allows BigCommerce's B2B Edition to offer merchants the flexibility needed to adapt and grow their businesses. Don't miss this insightful episode as we uncover the future of B2B e-commerce and how BigCommerce is at the forefront of this revolution. Your business's success depends on staying ahead of the curve, and this conversation with Lance O-Wide is the perfect starting point.
If you missed the first episode, catch it here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Luigi Moccia (00:08):
Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of the
Big Commerce podcast.
I'm your host, Luigi, and intoday's episode I'm joined by
Lance Owide, Director of B2Bover at Big Commerce.
We were very lucky to haveLance on the show a couple of
months ago, but he's back todaytalking about the new B2B
edition, which was launched inMay.
Let's get to the show.
Hi, Lance, nice to have youback.
Lance Owide (00:30):
Thanks for having me back, luigi, and so soon as
well.
It means that the first timemust have gone, okay, i guess.
Luigi Moccia (00:36):
I think we thoroughly enjoyed the recording
that episode and listening backto it, but you've been busy
since we recorded.
Lance Owide (00:44):
We've been very busy over here at the Big
Commerce B2B HQ.
Lots to talk about.
Our big release on May 1st wentincredibly well The new release
of B2B edition.
I'm very excited to be here totalk about it.
Luigi Moccia (00:59):
Cool, Just in case anyone didn't catch the first
episode, which we'll link to whydon't you introduce yourself?
Lance Owide (01:05):
Yes, I'm Lance Owide.
I'm the general manager of B2Bhere at Big Commerce.
I look after the globalstrategy for success of our B2B
edition and B2B merchants usingthe Big Commerce platform.
Luigi Moccia (01:19):
I made a first when the new version of B2B
edition launched.
Why don't you run us throughwhat the main differences are?
Let's start off with why isthere emphasis on improving the
B2B edition product within BigCommerce?
that was fairly good anyway.
Lance Owide (01:38):
I appreciate that it was fairly good.
B2b is a huge growth area forBig Commerce and for e-commerce
more generally.
When we think about why that is, why now?
why the emphasis?
everyone talks about a pandemicand I hate that as a catalyst,
i'm sick of hearing about it now.
(01:59):
This was going to happen anyway.
Maybe the pandemic accelerateda few things, but let's start
talking about it.
The buyer has changed.
The buyer is digital first andthey want to self-serve product
research and they want to havethose offline processes move
(02:19):
online.
We're calling them self-serveevents, whether that's creating
a quote or paying an invoice oreven checking on the status of
an order.
Has it shipped?
Has it partially shipped?
The way we think about it andthe way B2B merchants, whether
they're manufacturers ordistributors, are thinking about
(02:39):
it now is it's a hybridapproach.
It doesn't matter whether youplace an order on e-procurement
or online or through the salesteam or through EDI or OCI.
You should be able to see andmanage that process for that
order in an e-commerce platform.
(03:01):
It should be self-service.
Manufacturers, distributors,from $5 million in revenue to
$50 billion in revenue are allpushing towards that Nirvana
state and they're all trying toget there.
That's about simplifying theprocess for the buyer.
(03:21):
It's about increasingconversion.
It's about improving loyalty.
Then we also think aboutexpansion.
B2b businesses are low marginby nature.
Businesses are trying to expandand find ways to capture more
of that margin, to capture morerevenue.
Expansion is a really great wayof doing that, whether that's
(03:42):
with new brands, new channels.
We're also seeing lots ofconsolidation in the market.
Distribution is beingconsolidated, lots of
acquisition occurring As youacquire companies.
One of the areas to consolidateand build efficiencies is in
e-commerce.
It's got to be really easy togrow in organically and then
scale.
This release focused on a lotof those key pain points that
(04:08):
manufacturers, distributors,suppliers, wholesalers are
struggling with today, trying totackle those key areas that
conversion, expansion and thensimplifying.
Luigi Moccia (04:20):
I'm so glad you underlined the point about
simplicity because, like you say, the B2B buyer has changed.
They are becoming younger, bitdigitally native.
They expect that B2C experiencebut at the same time there are
certain elements within B2B thatare not in the B2C space.
You can't have them at twoopposite ends of the spectrum.
(04:44):
You need to make sure that thatdifference in experience is
still fairly similar.
The simplicity then feeds downand leads into efficiencies,
like you said about the marginsand so on.
That is about the simplicity,because I think that's where,
when you've got buyers thatHaven't got time to waste and
(05:05):
they just want to make sure theygot a single source of truth,
like you say, regardless of howyou've placed that order whether
it is online, offline, you know, edi, email to the sales rep,
whatever it is they want thatkind of single source of truth.
And I guess what you're slowlydoing is moving that away from
potentially kind of an ERPportal, which some customers
(05:27):
that we've on board on, tobecome a network of God where
they kind of have this smalllittle section that the
customers can log into.
But oftentimes it's veryprimitive.
You know, you may not be ableto pay those invoices or the
bulk of invoices through thatyou can go in and check a state
of an order or download yourinvoice, but actually it's not
very dynamic And so I think youknow you're ticking a lot of the
(05:49):
boxes.
That might sound obvious butactually and not that
commonplace in the beta B space,i think you know, especially if
you look at kind of the biggercompanies that maybe have either
these kind of legacy systems orjust huge systems that are so
difficult to customize and tokind of make agile and, you know
(06:11):
, just become as kind of swoopsin and just say, look, you know,
we made it simpler.
Lance Owide (06:17):
Yeah, this interesting stat, maybe for
listeners.
The number two platform that wedisplace in beta B is custom.
It's a custom built, you knowold decrepit system that was
built on top of an ERP andthat's what we're replacing.
But I think it's reallyimportant to remember for beta B
(06:37):
, the way we think about thate-commerce site is that it
transcends transactions.
In beta C, i want to get aproduct in a cart and I want to
get to the checkout.
If, when that customer leavesmy site, chances are they're not
coming back.
That's not as true in beta B,because these relationships are
(06:59):
long term, and so the e-commercesite is about so much more than
just a transaction Right, it'sabout managing all of that
offline workflow and bringing itonline so that it's better for
the buyer and it's moreefficient for the merchant.
And that's what we've built andwhat we had in mind when we
release the new beta B Addition,and we kind of had three main
(07:22):
features of that release.
The first is multi storefront.
The second is head support forheadless and I'm sure we could
talk for hours about about thebenefits of headless and on
brand new kind of buyer portaland that's the completely new,
redesigned interface for buyersthat are logging into that
merchant site and how theymanage their invoices, their
(07:46):
quotes, their approval workflowsand their orders.
Luigi Moccia (07:50):
That's the part that we're seeing is really
differentiated for our merchantsbecause, you know, kind of go
multi store isn't for everyone,going headless isn't for
everyone, but actually givingtheir customers the ability to,
like you say, self serve.
because also I'm sure Imentioned it when we spoke a
couple of months ago You know,taking that kind of example of a
delivery company, when you havea parcel, to begin with FedEx
(08:13):
or UPS, you don't bring them upand they manually input the
address, they make you do it.
You know we're seeing in asupermarket, certainly here in
the UK, they're making you dothe checkout like it's all these
efficiencies but we'reharnessing them.
you know we're quite happy todo a lot of the legwork to kind
of, you know, reach ourobjective And you know, the
ability to be able to pay one tofive invoices to see how much
(08:36):
you owe to download an invoice.
You know I remember the timesyou have to email people and say
, can you send me a copy thatreceipt or that invoice because
I haven't got it?
And now there's so manypaulters you can go in, you can
just download it.
you can.
you know you can get stuff doneso much quicker And that's the
kind of stuff that what you'vedone clearly is kind of saying
what, what are the kind of, whatare the offline features that
(08:58):
the customers have, so, you know, be able to ring in and say can
I pay two or three or fourinvoices, can I get a statement,
can I get a copy invoice, can I, you know, prepare a quote,
whatever it is?
and you're kind of saying, youknow, we'll take that into big
commerce and we'll give thecustomer a single source of, of
a single entry point to be ableto do all that themselves
(09:19):
whenever they want, whereverthey are.
Lance Owide (09:22):
Yeah, exactly, and actually it's really interesting
that you mentioned the invoicepoint there.
I was on a call with apharmaceuticals distributor this
last week actually, in fact,and they had said B2B edition.
You know one point or theprevious version is great, but
my customers can only pay 10invoices at a time and they want
to play 50.
(09:42):
It's like, well, that'sfantastic because that's exactly
what we're building into theBia portal and what you'll be
able to do, you know, and so andso it's.
It's kind of that step functionchange almost in the
functionality that we're able tooffer and the ease with which a
buy can, can, can manage thoseprocesses.
And so, as we thought aboutthat new buyer journey and that
(10:05):
new buyer portal, we did over 40merchant interviews.
Right, the team did 40 merchantinterviews.
There's hundreds of figmascreens if you can go and see
them to walk through every stepof that journey.
I was on some of the calls.
It's really interesting whenyou're on with the researchers
and they, you know, we're onwith a merchant and they just
pull up the researcher pulls upa figma screen, says What would
you do, and the researcher getsall the you know, gets the
(10:27):
feedback, both the buyers andthe merchant and I'm just really
understand that journey, and sowe've built that by a portal to
make it as easy and simple aspossible to get products into a
cart, onto a shopping list orinto a quote And then for the
sales team to be able to respondto that quote and for the buyer
to respond and take that to thecheckout Right.
(10:49):
And you've seen a demo of thatportal.
You might even now have accessto it and be using it, and I
really think of it as the mostmodern B2B buyer experience that
any e-commerce platform isoffering.
Of course, i'm going to bechallenged on that 100%, but I
genuinely believe that and Ilike to describe it.
(11:10):
You know, as a merchant,manufacturer, distributor, when
your buyers are talking in,we're all used to using apps for
just about everything, and itshould look and feel to that
buyer like you've created adedicated app that is for them
to manage all of theirinteractions with you as a
(11:30):
merchant.
And that's what that's whatwe've done with this new buy
portal.
It's mobile, responsive, mobile, reactive.
It's lightning fast to use.
So you know you can.
You can do it on your iPad oron your phone.
You can place those orders notjust place the orders, but place
the quotes, pay the invoiceswherever you are, and that
efficiency is so important tothe buyer.
Today We could reel off GartnerForrester agency research that
(11:54):
will tell you time and timeagain if you aren't offering
that kind of experience for yourbuyers, they're going to go
somewhere else And research thatsays they'll pay more for that
experience.
And that's what I find you knowmost incredible is, if you're
able to offer that experience,that purchasing efficiency, for
(12:15):
your buyer, you might actuallybe able to charge more for the
products.
Because if you're saving metime, when I'm working for big
commerce.
when I'm at work, time is money100%, so save me time and you
know we might just spend alittle bit more on the product.
So I think that's, you know,super, super important.
Luigi Moccia (12:31):
Resent trickles down to a kind of increase in
the margins And, obviously,secondly, the efficiency there.
So if you I mean we'll go intothe features in a second But if,
if you had a, i mean, what kindof pushback do you get from
merchants?
Let's kind of just let thecards out and say do you know
what?
what pushback do you get onmerchants that maybe don't
(12:52):
harness B2B e-commerce as muchas they should?
because also, let's not forget,they've got not maybe everyone,
but, depending on on what typeof business you are, you've got
Amazon nipping at your heels aswell, because we all love to
hate, but we all love Amazonbecause it's so easy to use.
You know quick reordering, just.
You know quick payment,whatever it is, it's just and
(13:14):
communication, it just works.
And we again probably mentionedon the first podcast.
But buyers need B2B companiesneed to be aware of the fact
that Amazon is nipping at theirheels.
Lance Owide (13:27):
Yeah, and there's a really interesting stat I think
it's actually from Brian Beckfor anyone who follows him.
It was something like 80% ofelectrical manufacturers in the
US are actually already onAmazon and they already have
stores set up ready for B2Bbuyers to come on and purchase
their products disintermediatingthe distributor.
(13:51):
Right, how do you compete withthat?
It's difficult and it's tricky.
And to your point, yourquestion, which is what pushback
do we get?
The pushback is it differsbased on who you're speaking to,
and I think it'd be of nosurprise to anyone that a lot of
that pushback, initially atleast, comes from a sales team
who might say e-commerce is notwhat our customers are asking
(14:14):
for.
They want to speak to my salesteam.
We win that and fight thatbattle by saying this is going
to make your sales team moreefficient.
What do your sales team want?
They want more orders, theywant higher conversion, they
want higher average order valuesbecause that's how they get
commission.
So don't think of e-commerce ascompetitive.
(14:35):
Think of it as a sales channeland a tool and a tactic that's
going to make the team moreeffective and efficient.
I can tell you, when you tellyour sales team they're going to
get paid on e-commerce orders,they're going to get commission.
They'll try and increase thataverage order value.
They'll be happy any way.
You want to increase conversionand get people onto the site,
and that's really, really, ithink, important.
(14:58):
And for some of our large, oneof my favorite manufacturing
merchants, they just forced thesales team.
They said you're not allowed totake a quote unless it comes
through B2B Edition, and that'swhat they've done, because they
want their customers comingthrough the channel, through the
e-commerce channel.
It's more efficient And theywant their sales team using it,
(15:20):
and so it kind of chickened in.
There are other pushbacks too,of course, which are we don't
have the data, the productcatalogs aren't in the right
formats and it's going to be ahuge amount of uplift and work.
The biggest are customersaren't asking for it, don't want
it, and so we hear that a lot.
But there are great PIMs outthere to help with all of that
(15:41):
product data and make sure thatyou're getting product data
organized with all the techspecifications that you need,
and so we generally are prettygood at pushing back against
those arguments.
And, if I'm honest, the biggestargument out there look at your
competitors.
They're doing it and they'rewinning, and you might be
(16:04):
falling behind not just theAmazon, but the competitors too.
Luigi Moccia (16:08):
Absolutely.
So let's talk about the latestrelease of B2B, which is, i
guess, what everyone's mostinterested in.
So let's start off with theback end maybe.
So that's probably where mostof the I mean what are the
specific changes or theimprovements that have been
implemented into the portal,into the back end, for both the
(16:31):
merchant and the customer?
Lance Owide (16:35):
Yeah, for sure.
So the way we think about itand I mentioned this earlier
which is, you know how do weallow merchants to expand,
increase conversion and simplify?
And so we kind of started withthe expand piece actually And
you mentioned it right, it's notnecessarily for everyone, but
multi-storefront And so we madeB2B edition multi-storefront
(16:57):
compatible.
What does that mean?
That means that if you're amerchant, you can have multiple
storefronts, multiple URLs thatcan use that B2B edition
functionality or, just asimportantly, not use that B2B
edition functionality.
So I can have a B2C storefront,that's just, you know, direct
(17:20):
to consumer.
There are no quotes, there'sgoing to be no invoices on it.
It's a different URL.
Because I want a slightlydifferent experience.
I can have that storefrontpowered from the same back end
as my B2B storefront, which hasthose quotes and those invoices
and all of that B2B editionfunctionality that I want.
(17:40):
And this is a huge benefit formerchants who are looking to
expand.
So potentially with, you know,new brands, you can have a
storefront per brand.
But also we hear this a lot fordistributors and manufacturers
who want to create the spokeexperiences for their largest
customers.
(18:01):
They want a bespoke, specificstorefront that is unique to
that customer to that buyer.
They can do that on bigcommerce.
You can create a storefrontthat's just for that one buyer.
It has just their catalog, ithas their specific information
And so that you know it ticksoff that use case as well, so it
(18:23):
gets a really tailoredexperience.
A really exactly, a reallyreally tailored experience,
built specifically for thatbuyer.
And you know school uniformscould be you know a bit of an
example here You spin up astorefront that's specific to
that school or that district orwhatever it might be, and that's
(18:43):
, you know, a really interesting, a huge selling point.
Luigi Moccia (18:47):
Sorry to interrupt you there, but that's a huge
selling point If you can tellyour customer like we're going
to spin up a portal just for theproducts that you sell with
your own brand.
Lance Owide (18:54):
Yeah, it's huge.
I was talking to a drinksmanufacturer, right, and they
have.
They build specific or createspecific drinks for some of
their buyers They can beexperimental new sports drinks
And they want not just to notshow the product right, which
you can do with customer groupson big commerce, you can have
(19:16):
one site and not show thoseproducts But they actually want
to create a unique experiencefor that buyer as they're coming
and purchasing that product.
And that's what they're doingAnd create bespoke experiences
by region.
Barbecue's Galore out in APAC,they've done exactly this.
(19:37):
They want to create a bespokeexperience for the different
regions And so they've usedmulti-storefront to do it.
And, as you say, it's not foreveryone, but it's a really key
feature that you know the bigcommerce competitors don't do
anywhere near as well as we doand make it so easy out of the
box And it kind of ticks thesimplify too.
I integrate my ERP, my CRM, myCPQ once into big commerce and I
(20:02):
get multiple storefronts.
I don't have to do it multipletimes.
Luigi Moccia (20:06):
And that data is segmented as well.
So if they need to startsplitting out kind of where and
orders come from, based onchannel and so on, they've got
that.
It's not necessarily funneled,it can still be kind of easy to
identify So you can then breakit down for various cost centers
and sales codes and so on, andwe've deployed on
(20:27):
multi-storefront websites And ithas.
It's also helped because it's asingle place where the
merchants need to manage thingslike marketing and promotions.
Like you haven't got to switchbetween different stores in
order to be able to do that.
You've got kind of that single.
So again, like we spoke aboutfor the customer, a single
portal.
It's the same for a merchant.
Multi-store is great from thatperspective because it also
(20:47):
gives the agility for someone tosay, okay, let's try B2C and
spin it up, and if it works,great And we'll maybe approve a
concept.
So let's spin it up quickly,let's do it cheaply, and then if
we prove the concept, then wecan actually really invest a lot
more.
But then I'll have into kind ofspin up a whole new instance
with new designs and newintegrations and everything is
(21:10):
there.
Lance Owide (21:11):
Yeah, there's a sports paraphernalia brand out
here in the US who are doingexactly that.
They were focused in baseballparaphernalia and they want to
test other sports And it's easyfor them to spin up a new store,
new URL, and test it.
Test it cheaply.
If it's successful, fantastic.
If it's not, well.
(21:32):
They didn't have to reintegratean ERP into a new e-commerce
platform.
They just had to design a nicelooking site, so much easier to
be able to test and learn,exactly as you say.
I really like that use case.
Luigi Moccia (21:47):
So, staying on the topic of front end is something
that I'm personally reallyexcited about the headless
support, which really, when Iheard Troy speaking about this
last year, kind of really piquedmy interest, because there are
brands who need a platform thatcan solidly support headless,
(22:10):
because they have differentchannels and different systems
that they need to feed data to.
So I think this is still inbeta as we're speaking.
Yes, just a disclaimer there,but let's talk about kind of why
headless is important for a b2band, i guess, for big commerce
itself.
Lance Owide (22:31):
Yeah, yeah for sure .
And I think I think there's awith the, with the Mac Alliance,
which obviously big commerce isa member of.
I think there's there's muchmore uptake and interest in in
headless in in Europe is sort ofthe leaders of the headless
revolution, more more so thanthan in the US, but it's a
(22:51):
definite trend.
We see more and more merchantsimplementing in a headless
fashion And you know what doesthat mean?
It's a decoupling of our frontend and our back end And you
think of big commerce then as aset of microservices, right.
And then you see in the catalog, check out B2B pricing that you
could call from any front end.
That front end could be anycommerce sites, it could be an
(23:14):
app, it could be me speaking toAlexa, right, and talking to her
and calling a catalog.
And then you see, in this caseit's probably not especially in
B2B, but that's that's kind ofwhat headless means.
And then from a, you know whatare the, what are the advantages
?
It's really about, i think,flexibility on top of complexity
(23:36):
, right, and there's a lot ofcomplexity in B2B.
So I have a very complexcatalog, i have lots of product
information and I have differentbuyers and I want to give them
a different experience based onwho they are, and I want the
look and feel of my site, mybuyer journey, to change based
(24:00):
on who they are, based on theyou know, the products that they
might be looking at.
That is much easier to do in aheadless framework, in a
headless setup, and to controlthat entire experience that it
is in a traditionalimplementation.
And so bringing B2B addition,the B2B functionalities quoting,
invoicing, buyer approvalworkflows to a headless
(24:23):
framework is really useful,really important for B2B
merchants that are coming to bigcommerce And I'm sure you've
got some fantastic examples ofmerchants who you know were
doing, you know awesome thingsand also had great
implementations without B2Baddition, but now they'll be
able to use that functionalityas well.
Luigi Moccia (24:44):
Where we get a lot of interest, certainly on the
B2B sorry, on both platforms,but on the B2B side we'll see in
that grow is the headless usecases more around kind of the
PWA and maybe integrating intoan app And I kind of whilst this
podcast is for all merchants,one of the things that I really
(25:05):
like about big commerce and Ialways say when we're in a pitch
is the flexibility that bigcommerce brings with it in terms
of its headless and kind ofcomposable approach is that you
can start off on monolithic bigcommerce So you can spin up a
store tomorrow with big commercefront end, big commerce back
end, on B2B.
And if you start off with zeroor you know very little GMV, and
(25:29):
then that GMV starts to growand you start seeing that you
need to add additionalfunctionality, which you can
achieve by going headless, youdon't then have to go and do a
whole new vendor selectionexercise and find new agencies
and retraining and reintegratingand everything.
It's as if you're spinning up anew store and so far as you're
saying, right, we're going to goheadless.
Back end is working fine, we'vegot the powerful APIs, we've
(25:51):
got the functionality and thefeatures, but we just need to
kind of optimize or improve thefront end, whatever reason it is
, and you're literally just kindof you know unplugging and
plugging back in again.
I mean, i've massivelyoversimplified it, but it is
that way of just saying, like wedon't have to start off on an
18 month project where we've gotto, you know, look for the
platforms and evaluate them anddo the selection, and then find
(26:13):
the agencies and do thediligence and whatever.
Lance Owide (26:16):
I really like the app example, luigi, that you use
there, and I think that's areally, really interesting one.
I was talking to a merchantthere.
They sell a manufacturer partsfor chimneys, of all things
right and they have ane-commerce site.
But they realize that whenthey're installing installers up
(26:39):
on roofs and realize they needa new piece, going to a website
just it's not that practical.
So they built an app right, andthat was they could do that
because all of the APIs werethere and available for them to
do So.
In that app they find theproduct that they need, they
take it all the way through tocheck out right and order it
(27:01):
there and then And so I thinkexactly what you're saying
allows you that flexibility toevolve as your buyers
requirements and requests evolvetoo, and that flexibility is
coming to B2B.
It's been in B2C for a while,but it's coming to B2B and
(27:21):
merchants and buyers arestarting to expect it.
Luigi Moccia (27:25):
But also look at the new technologies that are
available.
Now I was with one of ourexisting merchants in the south
of England and they're nowstarting to harness augmented
reality.
They're B2B And it's quitedifficult to do on a website And
so the next logical step is todo the app and then so many
other benefits with apps anyway,which we won't get into.
But the important piece is thatbig commerce can support that
(27:47):
integration.
You're not going to say, well,if you want an app, you've got
to look for another platform.
It's saying just tell us whereto plug in and we'll plug it in.
Lance Owide (27:55):
Exactly, plug and play.
Luigi Moccia (27:57):
And we're seeing a lot of omnichannel within B2B
now as well.
I had a conversation with amerchant in Italy, a B2B one,
who was just not agreeing withme that the B2B experience is
becoming more B2CS by the day.
Like you know, it's just withapps and then to be able to do
(28:17):
push notifications and havingthat loyalty.
you know, because there's justso many things that we're used
to doing And those lines of B2Band B2C have been fudged.
But, like you say, there'sstill some complexities which
have to remain within B2B,because if I'm a private
customer buying something fromAmazon, i don't need a VAT
invoice And I won't have stuffon credit that I need to pay
(28:38):
invoices for.
But for B2B, you get all that.
Maybe you want to.
you know you're buying a highquantity, so you want to get a
better price and you need torequest the quote from your
supplier.
So there's and it's such a, asI said, the flexibility that B,
the big commerce, b2b brings isjust making our job more
difficult in some respects,because we're able to kind of
(28:59):
just push the boundaries andjust offer so much more
functionality, which is, youknow, making us think a lot more
, but then to be able toimplement.
that is just becoming easier aswell, because it's out of the
box.
We're not.
you know we can go back five,six, seven years before the days
of B2B edition was somainstream and you know, using
store credit as a way of kind oflinking up to their you know,
(29:22):
to their credit line and so on.
Now it's just out of the box.
It's just it's there And itmakes our life so much easier.
Lance Owide (29:31):
And you know that's it's.
It's it makes life easier forthe agency which I'm glad to
hear, luigi but also, obviously,for the merchants, for the
customers, for the buyers, andthat's really what we're focused
on And it's.
You know we hear the same thingB2C and B2B.
They are very different, as youquite rightly say that there's
different workflows on for a B2Bbuyer that they'll go through.
(29:53):
I always like to pick up thepurchasing approval workflows
right.
I very rarely, unless I'masking my wife for approval to
make a purchase, there's noapproval workflows going on on
my, on my Amazon account, thereare always approval workflows
going on when I'm makingpurchases on behalf of big
commerce.
(30:14):
Now, doesn't matter how similarB2B and B2C experiences get,
that workflow has to beaccounted for.
And so I, you know I side withthe, with the merchant you were
talking to, as they're pushingback, but they're just they're
not understanding the nuancethere, which is which is that
that process of approvalworkflows is going to get and
(30:35):
feel more and more, is going toget similar to and feel more and
more like a B2C workflow.
It has to be that easy.
It can't be a junior buyergetting a CSV list of SKUs and
sending it to the senior buyerto then, you know, upload into
an EDI tool to make a purchase.
(30:56):
That's just not okay anymore.
That's not a process that isefficient for anyone And the
merchant has to help solve that.
Merchants that do help solvethat for the buyer are going to
be at an advantage versuscompetitors that aren't thinking
about it and aren't buildingthose workflows.
So I completely agree, we'reseeing that convergence, but the
(31:19):
complexity in B2B is still hasto be accounted for And that's
really important And that's whatyou know.
That's what took the core ofwhat we think about every day as
we're building that roadmap forB2B Edition.
And we take those complexprocesses and make them
self-serve events that aresimpler.
It's not called them simple.
(31:40):
It's called them simpler forthe buyer and for the merchant
because they integrated into theERP or into the CRM or into the
CPQ and were immediately syncedvia GraphQL APIs or via
Webhooks.
Luigi Moccia (31:58):
So let's just talk about that as well, because I
think the GraphQL and the APIshave had a bit of an upgrade as
well.
Lance Owide (32:06):
So that buyer portal that I mentioned is
powered by a GraphQL API, and sowe haven't unleashed it yet,
but we're about to, and so I'mreally excited for when we do,
because that's going to enableagencies like yourselves to get
(32:27):
under the hood and start tocustomize all kinds of things
that we haven't even imaginedyet.
And I love it when we do thatbecause you know we get to see
those really complex use casesthat, out of the box, you know
no one out of the box is goingto solve, but when you partner
with a great agency likeyourselves, you can solve, and
(32:49):
with powerful APIs, you're ableto.
And so I'm really excited forI'm sure you're going to be
applying for the beta, or betaaccess as I now say as a living
in the States, i call it a betanow A beta access and going to
be showing us some of theawesome functionalities and use
cases that you know you're ableto solve by getting under the
(33:11):
hood.
Luigi Moccia (33:12):
Yeah, i'm really excited about, kind of.
I mean, the API is a lifesaveranyway, but the GraphQL I'm
really excited about in generalbecause I think it just helps
merchants so much by allowing usto build those more complex
experiences.
Okay, so any other points thatwe want to talk about in terms
of the improvements that we'venot covered yet?
Lance Owide (33:32):
Yeah, i think the thing that I also kind of call
out is as a B2B merchant, youwant to make it as simple as
possible for that buyer to getthe products that they need into
a cart, into a quote and into ashopping list, and that is
(33:52):
really key.
So the buy again features andreordering features that we've
put into the new buyer portalare really fantastic.
It always amazes me the numberof buyers out there that no SKUs
off by heart.
You know rat loft SKU numbers.
Just, you know tens and tens ofthem.
So, just simple, the ability toput in the SKU in a quantity
(34:13):
and hit enter and add it intoany of those.
You know cart quotes or shoppinglist built in, basically built
into every single screen.
The ability to upload CSVsbuilt into every single screen.
Simple searching, right searchfor the product and then
bringing in that configurationinto the Bible.
(34:34):
So I'm adding an item to aquote and I need to configure it
right.
Up to 600 variants, their 250options built.
That's native within bigcommerce And so configuration is
really important in B2B Andwe've built that into the
workflows within the buyerportal.
(34:56):
You know, i think that's reallyimportant And that is, you know
, when I've been demoing toagencies and to merchants.
That's been a highlight for anumber of them.
Luigi Moccia (35:08):
So I guess, if you're a B2B merchant who is on
a platform and not harnessingB2B features, i guess just ask
yourself you know what are you?
what's the opportunity cost?
Are your customers able toupload a CSV?
Are they able to easily reorderAnd what's the search like, the
configurability, all thesedifferent things that you know
you might take for grantedbecause it's always been like
(35:30):
that, but actually there's somany ways that out of the box
big commerce that allow you tooffer such a such an enhanced
experience to your customers.
like it, you know, very littleadditional cost, i think you
know.
Lance Owide (35:43):
Yeah, i think that's a really good point.
I often get asked you know howdo we start?
This is the digitaltransformation.
It's a huge project.
We don't quite know where tostart And I always say start
with the customer.
Go and interview your customerand understand what it is that
they're doing.
What are their processes whenthey're placing an order.
(36:05):
If you find out that behind thescenes they've created this CSV
and weird and wonderful ways tocreate shopping lists and to
approve the workflows behind thescenes through emails or
through spreadsheets, we've gota list of SKUs and I've
genuinely been on calls wheremerchants have said they've got
(36:27):
a list of SKUs in a spreadsheetand the junior buyer comes in
and updates it, and then thesenior buyer and they put a date
and done into a spreadsheet.
Then the senior buyer comes inand sees that, okay, they've
updated it as of that date.
Great, i'm going to now approveit and then go online and add
all of those items to a cart.
When you understand thoseprocesses, that window into
(36:51):
their workflow helps a merchantbe able to define what it is
that they should be thinkingabout when they're building
their e-commerce site.
You might go to all thecustomers and they say we don't
want to shop online, we're notinterested in e-commerce.
That would be incredibly usefulto know before you go online.
(37:12):
Now, i'm not going to probablyrecommend you don't do it,
because I'm sure yourcompetitors are and your
customers or buyers.
I would question whether that'strue.
And then how are you going toget catered to new customers who
do want it?
But understanding that thecustomer desire and their
workflows and their processes?
Now, i said when we built thatbuy a portal, 40 merchant
(37:35):
interviews, sales teams aretalking to buyers every single
day.
How often they sit next andthen understand that process and
then feed that back into thecorporate So that, as we are
making those decisions aboutdigital transformation, about
e-commerce, that you'redelivering for that buyer.
(37:57):
I think that's really importantand we often forget.
Why are we doing it?
Well, we're doing it reallybecause we want to increase
revenue, increase conversion,increase loyalty.
It's all about the customer.
You can understand what it isthat they're trying to do and
their processes.
Luigi Moccia (38:15):
When I do workshops sometimes, and even
with some brands that do tens ofmillions online, they I won't
say they got there by fluke, butthey've never really challenged
the status quo.
And when we run target personaexercises.
So when you said, if youinterview your customers and you
find that they don't wante-commerce, build two different
(38:41):
or several buyer personasbecause there are people that
will want to buy online, youjust haven't maybe identified
them and therefore haven'treally tapped into that market
yet.
So I would agree with you Itall starts with the customer of
understand, because you can havethe flashest website, the
greatest product, the greatestexperience, but if it doesn't
resonate with your customer,because it doesn't meet their
(39:02):
needs and their demands, thenit's going to fail.
But I 100% second that juststarting with the customer and
putting them at the beginning ofthe experience That's the other
thing that we try to do duringdiscoveries as well is challenge
.
It's challenge again the statusquo and understand what could
we do better for the customerand what is it that your
(39:22):
customers?
because the amount of merchantsthat assume they know what
their customer wants, and that'swhere that research is vital.
Like it's super, superimportant to do that.
Ironically today orcoincidentally not ironically,
coincidentally today we're stilltalking to a merchant,
prospective merchant whobasically wants to launch a new
(39:43):
product but wants to make surethat the research has been
carried out enough to make surethat product doesn't fail, and
that isn't the norm.
I don't often hear of merchantscome to us and saying like you
know, we feel we're not, youknow we're slacking a bit on
understanding our customers.
A lot of them they're just,they're looking forwards, but
just looking purely at thewebsite, not actually looking
backwards and saying, you know,or on the other side of that
(40:05):
fence, and how can we makethings easier for our customers?
And you know we've done thatwhen we've done designs.
You know use of research anduser testing is vital Because
otherwise, you know, i think itborderline arrogance to say you
know what your customer wantsmore than your customer does
100%, i think, and as part ofthat, it helps to define how.
Lance Owide (40:26):
It helps to define what should be included or
excluded from thattransformation product.
And I think we discussed this,maybe previously.
But you know, you discover thatthe merchant comes to you and
says I need live pricing.
Okay, well, what's?
you know what's live pricing?
I need it updated.
It has to.
You know, the minute we updatea price, it's got to be updated
(40:49):
on the fly.
Okay, why?
How often is this happening?
And do you understand howexpensive it is going to be to
build that right?
That's not simple.
We can sure do it, but are yousure?
And as you start to unpack thatright as an agency, as you
start to unpack that and yourealize, okay, you're not up,
you update prices once a day.
(41:09):
Why have you mandated this?
Or the buyer is not expectingit, they don't they don't
anticipate it And that's goingto.
You know that's going to put awhole lot of complexity into
your build And then put a strainon you know that's a lot of API
calls that we're going to haveto continue updating pricing and
you know you don't need it.
And so you, as you understandthat journey, it also changes
(41:31):
the build and it changes thestructure of it, and we hear
that a lot.
You know, i was speaking to amerchant the other day who is a
prospect actually They're not onbig commerce yet And they said
personalization.
We're all about personalization.
We want to be able to send anemail to the, to our buyers,
(41:52):
based on everything that theypreviously bought and based on
the frequency with which they'rebuying it, and remind them that
hey, you, you, you bought thislaundry detergent two months ago
in this order and quantity.
We reckon it's about time youhave a refill.
Now here's a one click orderlink.
Okay, that sounds I mean, thatdoes sound fantastic.
(42:14):
That sounds great.
What are you doing today?
Oh, we don't even have awebsite today.
Luigi Moccia (42:18):
Yeah, Well, come on Crewwalk run, prioritize Yeah
let's prioritize.
Lance Owide (42:25):
I Love that for you .
I 100% think you should getthere.
But let's be real.
You know Amazon can just aboutdo it right.
They just about get there.
Let's figure out how, how, howwe, we break that up into
manageable steps and you knowit's Get on, get to get your
products online first, starttransacting.
Let's not even think about B2Baddition.
(42:46):
You know, and we have that comethose conversations a lot with
manufacturers Who just need toget products and pricing up
there first, and so you know Ithink that's really important
too is, and you knew, theagencies.
You guys have a tough job thereoften, i think, tempering the,
the wills and expectations ofMerchants who want the world.
(43:08):
But but you know, with you'vegot a, got a base that in
reality, what's possible and inbudgeting and what's going to
deliver value, what you reallywanted to prioritize, the things
gonna, they're gonna deliverthe value first, and so I think
that's that.
The kind of customer interviewsalways help to inform that
decision, those decisions too.
Luigi Moccia (43:27):
Absolutely.
I think we could do anotherepisode about kind of merchants
and, i guess, navigatingpolitically, discussions with
with merchants, because you getsome that say, well, we've
always done it this way, we'vegot all these new features, and
you know, with the only onesthat have it and the other side
of the corner It's kind of like,yes, you are the only one that
has that feature And you're notthe biggest, but Exactly, and
(43:54):
it's gonna cost you more.
I mean, we, you know it's,anyway it's.
You know we've got a Client atthe moment that is is saying
just that.
You know, we, we can changeprices, you know, a few times a
day and for a few products andwhatever, and it's like We've
got the API power to be able todo that.
You know we don't need to havea like a live connection that
(44:15):
every time you you change youknow a number All your three and
a half thousand customers needto.
You know, see that straightaway, anyway, it's exactly,
exactly.
Lance Owide (44:26):
And we have, you know, raw materials Suppliers on
big commerce who do have livepricing and need it, and they
will always need it, and so theAPI's are there and do it right,
be successful, but it's not,it's not for everyone and not
everyone needs it.
You know, you don't need thatlevel of complexity.
Luigi Moccia (44:43):
And I guess, going to that point, around the
headless and the multistorefront It's, it's there if
people need it, and if theydon't, then Then anything else
we want to talk about.
Lance Owide (44:55):
I think we go for hours.
We need to.
Luigi Moccia (45:00):
I mean, i love to talk, but especially about B2B.
I think we, just we could, wecould do mini series about this
lance.
Lance Owide (45:05):
Maybe we should, maybe we need to get a monster
teams talking Yeah, there we go.
Start with with the craziestrequests that merchants have
ever come up with, because I amnot.
Luigi Moccia (45:22):
I'm not sure Cool.
Well, before we finish, thenobviously, if people want to
learn more about become some B2Bedition big commonscom, they
can request a demo.
B2b edition revamped is nowavailable to merchants
throughout Europe, north America, globally, presuming.
Lance Owide (45:45):
Yeah, available to Everyone, correct?
So come come to the big commaswebsite.
You find me on the LinkedIn ifyou wanted to, and we'll be
happy to set up a demo.
Show you the functionality andShow you everything that all the
new features and functionalityand how you can, you can use
those To increase customerconversion, increase customer
(46:09):
loyalty, simplify and expand.
Luigi Moccia (46:13):
I'm sure we have the links to your LinkedIn and
the big commas website in theshow notes as well.
Final question Have you readany books recently?
I Have.
Lance Owide (46:22):
Last time you asked me this question and I hadn't
read any books and it I feltembarrassed.
So I think, may, i'm it can'tgive you all the credit.
I did also take a vacationbetween now and then, and so I
had time to read books, but, yes, i read a couple To that I
think.
Particularly interesting,though no rules.
Rules, which is it's aboutNetflix and Their culture, which
(46:47):
is incredibly interesting.
Effectively, we're gonna haveno company rules, except you
will do what's best for thecompany, what's in the best
interest of Netflix.
So no travel policies.
If you think it's the rightthing to travel first-class
because it's you know you'regonna arrive refreshed, then do
(47:09):
it, and I thought it was.
It's an incredibly interestingway to run a company employ in
Incredibly bright, incrediblymotivated people and give them
the freedom to do what theythink is best to make the
company successful.
So really interesting read.
You know, kind of counter to alot of way companies are run
today.
(47:29):
So very interesting.
And then Play nice but win byMichael Dell.
It's a.
It's a.
It's a nice read.
I spend a lot of time talkingabout taking the company Private
and how difficult that was, buthow he was then just able to
unleash so much growth and it'sjust an incredible story, you
know about building a company,taking it public and then taking
(47:51):
it private again, to kind ofjust unleash Just absolutely
incredible growth From thecompany when you then took it
private again.
So, again, a really interestingread.
Luigi Moccia (48:01):
Cool.
Well, we'll put notes to tothose books as well, or links
rather, in the show notes.
And I think Verena who kind ofrunning things in the back, and
we're very excited to have heardthat, so I'll, because she's
working on the Book Club, soI'll make.
Verena, sir, it's a take note,but, um, cool, well, excellent.
Well, carry on the reading.
(48:21):
I think that's one of thethings that I think I probably
Say that you know has helped meover the years is just reading
and continue improving, and it's, you know, whether it's fiction
or nonfiction, it's, it worksfor both.
But but yeah, lance, thank youvery much for your time today.
It's been great to hear aboutB2B edition.
I'm very excited as a, as anagency, to start kind of rolling
(48:43):
out to our customers and Lookforward to speaking to again
soon.
Lance Owide (48:47):
Thank you for having me, luigio, it's been an
absolute pleasure.
Luigi Moccia (48:51):
Not at all.
Thanks very much, lance.
Thank you for listening to thebig commerce podcast.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please leave us a
review on your favorite podcastplatform And if you want to
follow us on social media, youcan find us on Instagram at the
big commas podcast, and also onLinkedIn.
Alternatively, you can catch upon all older episodes on our
(49:13):
website at the big commaspodcast FM.
If You've got ideas for anyepisodes, please reach out to us
info at the big commas podcastFM.
Until next time, thank you forlistening and take care You.
Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of the
Big Commerce podcast.
I'm your host, Luigi, and intoday's episode I'm joined by
Lance Owide, Director of B2Bover at Big Commerce.
We were very lucky to haveLance on the show a couple of
months ago, but he's back todaytalking about the new B2B
edition, which was launched inMay.
Let's get to the show.
Hi, Lance, nice to have youback.
Lance Owide (00:30):
Thanks for having me back, luigi, and so soon as
well.
It means that the first timemust have gone, okay, i guess.
Luigi Moccia (00:36):
I think we thoroughly enjoyed the recording
that episode and listening backto it, but you've been busy
since we recorded.
Lance Owide (00:44):
We've been very busy over here at the Big
Commerce B2B HQ.
Lots to talk about.
Our big release on May 1st wentincredibly well The new release
of B2B edition.
I'm very excited to be here totalk about it.
Luigi Moccia (00:59):
Cool, Just in case anyone didn't catch the first
episode, which we'll link to whydon't you introduce yourself?
Lance Owide (01:05):
Yes, I'm Lance Owide.
I'm the general manager of B2Bhere at Big Commerce.
I look after the globalstrategy for success of our B2B
edition and B2B merchants usingthe Big Commerce platform.
Luigi Moccia (01:19):
I made a first when the new version of B2B
edition launched.
Why don't you run us throughwhat the main differences are?
Let's start off with why isthere emphasis on improving the
B2B edition product within BigCommerce?
that was fairly good anyway.
Lance Owide (01:38):
I appreciate that it was fairly good.
B2b is a huge growth area forBig Commerce and for e-commerce
more generally.
When we think about why that is, why now?
why the emphasis?
everyone talks about a pandemicand I hate that as a catalyst,
i'm sick of hearing about it now.
(01:59):
This was going to happen anyway.
Maybe the pandemic accelerateda few things, but let's start
talking about it.
The buyer has changed.
The buyer is digital first andthey want to self-serve product
research and they want to havethose offline processes move
(02:19):
online.
We're calling them self-serveevents, whether that's creating
a quote or paying an invoice oreven checking on the status of
an order.
Has it shipped?
Has it partially shipped?
The way we think about it andthe way B2B merchants, whether
they're manufacturers ordistributors, are thinking about
(02:39):
it now is it's a hybridapproach.
It doesn't matter whether youplace an order on e-procurement
or online or through the salesteam or through EDI or OCI.
You should be able to see andmanage that process for that
order in an e-commerce platform.
(03:01):
It should be self-service.
Manufacturers, distributors,from $5 million in revenue to
$50 billion in revenue are allpushing towards that Nirvana
state and they're all trying toget there.
That's about simplifying theprocess for the buyer.
(03:21):
It's about increasingconversion.
It's about improving loyalty.
Then we also think aboutexpansion.
B2b businesses are low marginby nature.
Businesses are trying to expandand find ways to capture more
of that margin, to capture morerevenue.
Expansion is a really great wayof doing that, whether that's
(03:42):
with new brands, new channels.
We're also seeing lots ofconsolidation in the market.
Distribution is beingconsolidated, lots of
acquisition occurring As youacquire companies.
One of the areas to consolidateand build efficiencies is in
e-commerce.
It's got to be really easy togrow in organically and then
scale.
This release focused on a lotof those key pain points that
(04:08):
manufacturers, distributors,suppliers, wholesalers are
struggling with today, trying totackle those key areas that
conversion, expansion and thensimplifying.
Luigi Moccia (04:20):
I'm so glad you underlined the point about
simplicity because, like you say, the B2B buyer has changed.
They are becoming younger, bitdigitally native.
They expect that B2C experiencebut at the same time there are
certain elements within B2B thatare not in the B2C space.
You can't have them at twoopposite ends of the spectrum.
(04:44):
You need to make sure that thatdifference in experience is
still fairly similar.
The simplicity then feeds downand leads into efficiencies,
like you said about the marginsand so on.
That is about the simplicity,because I think that's where,
when you've got buyers thatHaven't got time to waste and
(05:05):
they just want to make sure theygot a single source of truth,
like you say, regardless of howyou've placed that order whether
it is online, offline, you know, edi, email to the sales rep,
whatever it is they want thatkind of single source of truth.
And I guess what you're slowlydoing is moving that away from
potentially kind of an ERPportal, which some customers
(05:27):
that we've on board on, tobecome a network of God where
they kind of have this smalllittle section that the
customers can log into.
But oftentimes it's veryprimitive.
You know, you may not be ableto pay those invoices or the
bulk of invoices through thatyou can go in and check a state
of an order or download yourinvoice, but actually it's not
very dynamic And so I think youknow you're ticking a lot of the
(05:49):
boxes.
That might sound obvious butactually and not that
commonplace in the beta B space,i think you know, especially if
you look at kind of the biggercompanies that maybe have either
these kind of legacy systems orjust huge systems that are so
difficult to customize and tokind of make agile and, you know
(06:11):
, just become as kind of swoopsin and just say, look, you know,
we made it simpler.
Lance Owide (06:17):
Yeah, this interesting stat, maybe for
listeners.
The number two platform that wedisplace in beta B is custom.
It's a custom built, you knowold decrepit system that was
built on top of an ERP andthat's what we're replacing.
But I think it's reallyimportant to remember for beta B
(06:37):
, the way we think about thate-commerce site is that it
transcends transactions.
In beta C, i want to get aproduct in a cart and I want to
get to the checkout.
If, when that customer leavesmy site, chances are they're not
coming back.
That's not as true in beta B,because these relationships are
(06:59):
long term, and so the e-commercesite is about so much more than
just a transaction Right, it'sabout managing all of that
offline workflow and bringing itonline so that it's better for
the buyer and it's moreefficient for the merchant.
And that's what we've built andwhat we had in mind when we
release the new beta B Addition,and we kind of had three main
(07:22):
features of that release.
The first is multi storefront.
The second is head support forheadless and I'm sure we could
talk for hours about about thebenefits of headless and on
brand new kind of buyer portaland that's the completely new,
redesigned interface for buyersthat are logging into that
merchant site and how theymanage their invoices, their
(07:46):
quotes, their approval workflowsand their orders.
Luigi Moccia (07:50):
That's the part that we're seeing is really
differentiated for our merchantsbecause, you know, kind of go
multi store isn't for everyone,going headless isn't for
everyone, but actually givingtheir customers the ability to,
like you say, self serve.
because also I'm sure Imentioned it when we spoke a
couple of months ago You know,taking that kind of example of a
delivery company, when you havea parcel, to begin with FedEx
(08:13):
or UPS, you don't bring them upand they manually input the
address, they make you do it.
You know we're seeing in asupermarket, certainly here in
the UK, they're making you dothe checkout like it's all these
efficiencies but we'reharnessing them.
you know we're quite happy todo a lot of the legwork to kind
of, you know, reach ourobjective And you know, the
ability to be able to pay one tofive invoices to see how much
(08:36):
you owe to download an invoice.
You know I remember the timesyou have to email people and say
, can you send me a copy thatreceipt or that invoice because
I haven't got it?
And now there's so manypaulters you can go in, you can
just download it.
you can.
you know you can get stuff doneso much quicker And that's the
kind of stuff that what you'vedone clearly is kind of saying
what, what are the kind of, whatare the offline features that
(08:58):
the customers have, so, you know, be able to ring in and say can
I pay two or three or fourinvoices, can I get a statement,
can I get a copy invoice, can I, you know, prepare a quote,
whatever it is?
and you're kind of saying, youknow, we'll take that into big
commerce and we'll give thecustomer a single source of, of
a single entry point to be ableto do all that themselves
(09:19):
whenever they want, whereverthey are.
Lance Owide (09:22):
Yeah, exactly, and actually it's really interesting
that you mentioned the invoicepoint there.
I was on a call with apharmaceuticals distributor this
last week actually, in fact,and they had said B2B edition.
You know one point or theprevious version is great, but
my customers can only pay 10invoices at a time and they want
to play 50.
(09:42):
It's like, well, that'sfantastic because that's exactly
what we're building into theBia portal and what you'll be
able to do, you know, and so andso it's.
It's kind of that step functionchange almost in the
functionality that we're able tooffer and the ease with which a
buy can, can, can manage thoseprocesses.
And so, as we thought aboutthat new buyer journey and that
(10:05):
new buyer portal, we did over 40merchant interviews.
Right, the team did 40 merchantinterviews.
There's hundreds of figmascreens if you can go and see
them to walk through every stepof that journey.
I was on some of the calls.
It's really interesting whenyou're on with the researchers
and they, you know, we're onwith a merchant and they just
pull up the researcher pulls upa figma screen, says What would
you do, and the researcher getsall the you know, gets the
(10:27):
feedback, both the buyers andthe merchant and I'm just really
understand that journey, and sowe've built that by a portal to
make it as easy and simple aspossible to get products into a
cart, onto a shopping list orinto a quote And then for the
sales team to be able to respondto that quote and for the buyer
to respond and take that to thecheckout Right.
(10:49):
And you've seen a demo of thatportal.
You might even now have accessto it and be using it, and I
really think of it as the mostmodern B2B buyer experience that
any e-commerce platform isoffering.
Of course, i'm going to bechallenged on that 100%, but I
genuinely believe that and Ilike to describe it.
(11:10):
You know, as a merchant,manufacturer, distributor, when
your buyers are talking in,we're all used to using apps for
just about everything, and itshould look and feel to that
buyer like you've created adedicated app that is for them
to manage all of theirinteractions with you as a
(11:30):
merchant.
And that's what that's whatwe've done with this new buy
portal.
It's mobile, responsive, mobile, reactive.
It's lightning fast to use.
So you know you can.
You can do it on your iPad oron your phone.
You can place those orders notjust place the orders, but place
the quotes, pay the invoiceswherever you are, and that
efficiency is so important tothe buyer.
Today We could reel off GartnerForrester agency research that
(11:54):
will tell you time and timeagain if you aren't offering
that kind of experience for yourbuyers, they're going to go
somewhere else And research thatsays they'll pay more for that
experience.
And that's what I find you knowmost incredible is, if you're
able to offer that experience,that purchasing efficiency, for
(12:15):
your buyer, you might actuallybe able to charge more for the
products.
Because if you're saving metime, when I'm working for big
commerce.
when I'm at work, time is money100%, so save me time and you
know we might just spend alittle bit more on the product.
So I think that's, you know,super, super important.
Luigi Moccia (12:31):
Resent trickles down to a kind of increase in
the margins And, obviously,secondly, the efficiency there.
So if you I mean we'll go intothe features in a second But if,
if you had a, i mean, what kindof pushback do you get from
merchants?
Let's kind of just let thecards out and say do you know
what?
what pushback do you get onmerchants that maybe don't
(12:52):
harness B2B e-commerce as muchas they should?
because also, let's not forget,they've got not maybe everyone,
but, depending on on what typeof business you are, you've got
Amazon nipping at your heels aswell, because we all love to
hate, but we all love Amazonbecause it's so easy to use.
You know quick reordering, just.
You know quick payment,whatever it is, it's just and
(13:14):
communication, it just works.
And we again probably mentionedon the first podcast.
But buyers need B2B companiesneed to be aware of the fact
that Amazon is nipping at theirheels.
Lance Owide (13:27):
Yeah, and there's a really interesting stat I think
it's actually from Brian Beckfor anyone who follows him.
It was something like 80% ofelectrical manufacturers in the
US are actually already onAmazon and they already have
stores set up ready for B2Bbuyers to come on and purchase
their products disintermediatingthe distributor.
(13:51):
Right, how do you compete withthat?
It's difficult and it's tricky.
And to your point, yourquestion, which is what pushback
do we get?
The pushback is it differsbased on who you're speaking to,
and I think it'd be of nosurprise to anyone that a lot of
that pushback, initially atleast, comes from a sales team
who might say e-commerce is notwhat our customers are asking
(14:14):
for.
They want to speak to my salesteam.
We win that and fight thatbattle by saying this is going
to make your sales team moreefficient.
What do your sales team want?
They want more orders, theywant higher conversion, they
want higher average order valuesbecause that's how they get
commission.
So don't think of e-commerce ascompetitive.
(14:35):
Think of it as a sales channeland a tool and a tactic that's
going to make the team moreeffective and efficient.
I can tell you, when you tellyour sales team they're going to
get paid on e-commerce orders,they're going to get commission.
They'll try and increase thataverage order value.
They'll be happy any way.
You want to increase conversionand get people onto the site,
and that's really, really, ithink, important.
(14:58):
And for some of our large, oneof my favorite manufacturing
merchants, they just forced thesales team.
They said you're not allowed totake a quote unless it comes
through B2B Edition, and that'swhat they've done, because they
want their customers comingthrough the channel, through the
e-commerce channel.
It's more efficient And theywant their sales team using it,
(15:20):
and so it kind of chickened in.
There are other pushbacks too,of course, which are we don't
have the data, the productcatalogs aren't in the right
formats and it's going to be ahuge amount of uplift and work.
The biggest are customersaren't asking for it, don't want
it, and so we hear that a lot.
But there are great PIMs outthere to help with all of that
(15:41):
product data and make sure thatyou're getting product data
organized with all the techspecifications that you need,
and so we generally are prettygood at pushing back against
those arguments.
And, if I'm honest, the biggestargument out there look at your
competitors.
They're doing it and they'rewinning, and you might be
(16:04):
falling behind not just theAmazon, but the competitors too.
Luigi Moccia (16:08):
Absolutely.
So let's talk about the latestrelease of B2B, which is, i
guess, what everyone's mostinterested in.
So let's start off with theback end maybe.
So that's probably where mostof the I mean what are the
specific changes or theimprovements that have been
implemented into the portal,into the back end, for both the
(16:31):
merchant and the customer?
Lance Owide (16:35):
Yeah, for sure.
So the way we think about itand I mentioned this earlier
which is, you know how do weallow merchants to expand,
increase conversion and simplify?
And so we kind of started withthe expand piece actually And
you mentioned it right, it's notnecessarily for everyone, but
multi-storefront And so we madeB2B edition multi-storefront
(16:57):
compatible.
What does that mean?
That means that if you're amerchant, you can have multiple
storefronts, multiple URLs thatcan use that B2B edition
functionality or, just asimportantly, not use that B2B
edition functionality.
So I can have a B2C storefront,that's just, you know, direct
(17:20):
to consumer.
There are no quotes, there'sgoing to be no invoices on it.
It's a different URL.
Because I want a slightlydifferent experience.
I can have that storefrontpowered from the same back end
as my B2B storefront, which hasthose quotes and those invoices
and all of that B2B editionfunctionality that I want.
(17:40):
And this is a huge benefit formerchants who are looking to
expand.
So potentially with, you know,new brands, you can have a
storefront per brand.
But also we hear this a lot fordistributors and manufacturers
who want to create the spokeexperiences for their largest
customers.
(18:01):
They want a bespoke, specificstorefront that is unique to
that customer to that buyer.
They can do that on bigcommerce.
You can create a storefrontthat's just for that one buyer.
It has just their catalog, ithas their specific information
And so that you know it ticksoff that use case as well, so it
(18:23):
gets a really tailoredexperience.
A really exactly, a reallyreally tailored experience,
built specifically for thatbuyer.
And you know school uniformscould be you know a bit of an
example here You spin up astorefront that's specific to
that school or that district orwhatever it might be, and that's
(18:43):
, you know, a really interesting, a huge selling point.
Luigi Moccia (18:47):
Sorry to interrupt you there, but that's a huge
selling point If you can tellyour customer like we're going
to spin up a portal just for theproducts that you sell with
your own brand.
Lance Owide (18:54):
Yeah, it's huge.
I was talking to a drinksmanufacturer, right, and they
have.
They build specific or createspecific drinks for some of
their buyers They can beexperimental new sports drinks
And they want not just to notshow the product right, which
you can do with customer groupson big commerce, you can have
(19:16):
one site and not show thoseproducts But they actually want
to create a unique experiencefor that buyer as they're coming
and purchasing that product.
And that's what they're doingAnd create bespoke experiences
by region.
Barbecue's Galore out in APAC,they've done exactly this.
(19:37):
They want to create a bespokeexperience for the different
regions And so they've usedmulti-storefront to do it.
And, as you say, it's not foreveryone, but it's a really key
feature that you know the bigcommerce competitors don't do
anywhere near as well as we doand make it so easy out of the
box And it kind of ticks thesimplify too.
I integrate my ERP, my CRM, myCPQ once into big commerce and I
(20:02):
get multiple storefronts.
I don't have to do it multipletimes.
Luigi Moccia (20:06):
And that data is segmented as well.
So if they need to startsplitting out kind of where and
orders come from, based onchannel and so on, they've got
that.
It's not necessarily funneled,it can still be kind of easy to
identify So you can then breakit down for various cost centers
and sales codes and so on, andwe've deployed on
(20:27):
multi-storefront websites And ithas.
It's also helped because it's asingle place where the
merchants need to manage thingslike marketing and promotions.
Like you haven't got to switchbetween different stores in
order to be able to do that.
You've got kind of that single.
So again, like we spoke aboutfor the customer, a single
portal.
It's the same for a merchant.
Multi-store is great from thatperspective because it also
(20:47):
gives the agility for someone tosay, okay, let's try B2C and
spin it up, and if it works,great And we'll maybe approve a
concept.
So let's spin it up quickly,let's do it cheaply, and then if
we prove the concept, then wecan actually really invest a lot
more.
But then I'll have into kind ofspin up a whole new instance
with new designs and newintegrations and everything is
(21:10):
there.
Lance Owide (21:11):
Yeah, there's a sports paraphernalia brand out
here in the US who are doingexactly that.
They were focused in baseballparaphernalia and they want to
test other sports And it's easyfor them to spin up a new store,
new URL, and test it.
Test it cheaply.
If it's successful, fantastic.
If it's not, well.
(21:32):
They didn't have to reintegratean ERP into a new e-commerce
platform.
They just had to design a nicelooking site, so much easier to
be able to test and learn,exactly as you say.
I really like that use case.
Luigi Moccia (21:47):
So, staying on the topic of front end is something
that I'm personally reallyexcited about the headless
support, which really, when Iheard Troy speaking about this
last year, kind of really piquedmy interest, because there are
brands who need a platform thatcan solidly support headless,
(22:10):
because they have differentchannels and different systems
that they need to feed data to.
So I think this is still inbeta as we're speaking.
Yes, just a disclaimer there,but let's talk about kind of why
headless is important for a b2band, i guess, for big commerce
itself.
Lance Owide (22:31):
Yeah, yeah for sure .
And I think I think there's awith the, with the Mac Alliance,
which obviously big commerce isa member of.
I think there's there's muchmore uptake and interest in in
headless in in Europe is sort ofthe leaders of the headless
revolution, more more so thanthan in the US, but it's a
(22:51):
definite trend.
We see more and more merchantsimplementing in a headless
fashion And you know what doesthat mean?
It's a decoupling of our frontend and our back end And you
think of big commerce then as aset of microservices, right.
And then you see in the catalog, check out B2B pricing that you
could call from any front end.
That front end could be anycommerce sites, it could be an
(23:14):
app, it could be me speaking toAlexa, right, and talking to her
and calling a catalog.
And then you see, in this caseit's probably not especially in
B2B, but that's that's kind ofwhat headless means.
And then from a, you know whatare the, what are the advantages
?
It's really about, i think,flexibility on top of complexity
(23:36):
, right, and there's a lot ofcomplexity in B2B.
So I have a very complexcatalog, i have lots of product
information and I have differentbuyers and I want to give them
a different experience based onwho they are, and I want the
look and feel of my site, mybuyer journey, to change based
(24:00):
on who they are, based on theyou know, the products that they
might be looking at.
That is much easier to do in aheadless framework, in a
headless setup, and to controlthat entire experience that it
is in a traditionalimplementation.
And so bringing B2B addition,the B2B functionalities quoting,
invoicing, buyer approvalworkflows to a headless
(24:23):
framework is really useful,really important for B2B
merchants that are coming to bigcommerce And I'm sure you've
got some fantastic examples ofmerchants who you know were
doing, you know awesome thingsand also had great
implementations without B2Baddition, but now they'll be
able to use that functionalityas well.
Luigi Moccia (24:44):
Where we get a lot of interest, certainly on the
B2B sorry, on both platforms,but on the B2B side we'll see in
that grow is the headless usecases more around kind of the
PWA and maybe integrating intoan app And I kind of whilst this
podcast is for all merchants,one of the things that I really
(25:05):
like about big commerce and Ialways say when we're in a pitch
is the flexibility that bigcommerce brings with it in terms
of its headless and kind ofcomposable approach is that you
can start off on monolithic bigcommerce So you can spin up a
store tomorrow with big commercefront end, big commerce back
end, on B2B.
And if you start off with zeroor you know very little GMV, and
(25:29):
then that GMV starts to growand you start seeing that you
need to add additionalfunctionality, which you can
achieve by going headless, youdon't then have to go and do a
whole new vendor selectionexercise and find new agencies
and retraining and reintegratingand everything.
It's as if you're spinning up anew store and so far as you're
saying, right, we're going to goheadless.
Back end is working fine, we'vegot the powerful APIs, we've
(25:51):
got the functionality and thefeatures, but we just need to
kind of optimize or improve thefront end, whatever reason it is
, and you're literally just kindof you know unplugging and
plugging back in again.
I mean, i've massivelyoversimplified it, but it is
that way of just saying, like wedon't have to start off on an
18 month project where we've gotto, you know, look for the
platforms and evaluate them anddo the selection, and then find
(26:13):
the agencies and do thediligence and whatever.
Lance Owide (26:16):
I really like the app example, luigi, that you use
there, and I think that's areally, really interesting one.
I was talking to a merchantthere.
They sell a manufacturer partsfor chimneys, of all things
right and they have ane-commerce site.
But they realize that whenthey're installing installers up
(26:39):
on roofs and realize they needa new piece, going to a website
just it's not that practical.
So they built an app right, andthat was they could do that
because all of the APIs werethere and available for them to
do So.
In that app they find theproduct that they need, they
take it all the way through tocheck out right and order it
(27:01):
there and then And so I thinkexactly what you're saying
allows you that flexibility toevolve as your buyers
requirements and requests evolvetoo, and that flexibility is
coming to B2B.
It's been in B2C for a while,but it's coming to B2B and
(27:21):
merchants and buyers arestarting to expect it.
Luigi Moccia (27:25):
But also look at the new technologies that are
available.
Now I was with one of ourexisting merchants in the south
of England and they're nowstarting to harness augmented
reality.
They're B2B And it's quitedifficult to do on a website And
so the next logical step is todo the app and then so many
other benefits with apps anyway,which we won't get into.
But the important piece is thatbig commerce can support that
(27:47):
integration.
You're not going to say, well,if you want an app, you've got
to look for another platform.
It's saying just tell us whereto plug in and we'll plug it in.
Lance Owide (27:55):
Exactly, plug and play.
Luigi Moccia (27:57):
And we're seeing a lot of omnichannel within B2B
now as well.
I had a conversation with amerchant in Italy, a B2B one,
who was just not agreeing withme that the B2B experience is
becoming more B2CS by the day.
Like you know, it's just withapps and then to be able to do
(28:17):
push notifications and havingthat loyalty.
you know, because there's justso many things that we're used
to doing And those lines of B2Band B2C have been fudged.
But, like you say, there'sstill some complexities which
have to remain within B2B,because if I'm a private
customer buying something fromAmazon, i don't need a VAT
invoice And I won't have stuffon credit that I need to pay
(28:38):
invoices for.
But for B2B, you get all that.
Maybe you want to.
you know you're buying a highquantity, so you want to get a
better price and you need torequest the quote from your
supplier.
So there's and it's such a, asI said, the flexibility that B,
the big commerce, b2b brings isjust making our job more
difficult in some respects,because we're able to kind of
(28:59):
just push the boundaries andjust offer so much more
functionality, which is, youknow, making us think a lot more
, but then to be able toimplement.
that is just becoming easier aswell, because it's out of the
box.
We're not.
you know we can go back five,six, seven years before the days
of B2B edition was somainstream and you know, using
store credit as a way of kind oflinking up to their you know,
(29:22):
to their credit line and so on.
Now it's just out of the box.
It's just it's there And itmakes our life so much easier.
Lance Owide (29:31):
And you know that's it's.
It's it makes life easier forthe agency which I'm glad to
hear, luigi but also, obviously,for the merchants, for the
customers, for the buyers, andthat's really what we're focused
on And it's.
You know we hear the same thingB2C and B2B.
They are very different, as youquite rightly say that there's
different workflows on for a B2Bbuyer that they'll go through.
(29:53):
I always like to pick up thepurchasing approval workflows
right.
I very rarely, unless I'masking my wife for approval to
make a purchase, there's noapproval workflows going on on
my, on my Amazon account, thereare always approval workflows
going on when I'm makingpurchases on behalf of big
commerce.
(30:14):
Now, doesn't matter how similarB2B and B2C experiences get,
that workflow has to beaccounted for.
And so I, you know I side withthe, with the merchant you were
talking to, as they're pushingback, but they're just they're
not understanding the nuancethere, which is which is that
that process of approvalworkflows is going to get and
(30:35):
feel more and more, is going toget similar to and feel more and
more like a B2C workflow.
It has to be that easy.
It can't be a junior buyergetting a CSV list of SKUs and
sending it to the senior buyerto then, you know, upload into
an EDI tool to make a purchase.
(30:56):
That's just not okay anymore.
That's not a process that isefficient for anyone And the
merchant has to help solve that.
Merchants that do help solvethat for the buyer are going to
be at an advantage versuscompetitors that aren't thinking
about it and aren't buildingthose workflows.
So I completely agree, we'reseeing that convergence, but the
(31:19):
complexity in B2B is still hasto be accounted for And that's
really important And that's whatyou know.
That's what took the core ofwhat we think about every day as
we're building that roadmap forB2B Edition.
And we take those complexprocesses and make them
self-serve events that aresimpler.
It's not called them simple.
(31:40):
It's called them simpler forthe buyer and for the merchant
because they integrated into theERP or into the CRM or into the
CPQ and were immediately syncedvia GraphQL APIs or via
Webhooks.
Luigi Moccia (31:58):
So let's just talk about that as well, because I
think the GraphQL and the APIshave had a bit of an upgrade as
well.
Lance Owide (32:06):
So that buyer portal that I mentioned is
powered by a GraphQL API, and sowe haven't unleashed it yet,
but we're about to, and so I'mreally excited for when we do,
because that's going to enableagencies like yourselves to get
(32:27):
under the hood and start tocustomize all kinds of things
that we haven't even imaginedyet.
And I love it when we do thatbecause you know we get to see
those really complex use casesthat, out of the box, you know
no one out of the box is goingto solve, but when you partner
with a great agency likeyourselves, you can solve, and
(32:49):
with powerful APIs, you're ableto.
And so I'm really excited forI'm sure you're going to be
applying for the beta, or betaaccess as I now say as a living
in the States, i call it a betanow A beta access and going to
be showing us some of theawesome functionalities and use
cases that you know you're ableto solve by getting under the
(33:11):
hood.
Luigi Moccia (33:12):
Yeah, i'm really excited about, kind of.
I mean, the API is a lifesaveranyway, but the GraphQL I'm
really excited about in generalbecause I think it just helps
merchants so much by allowing usto build those more complex
experiences.
Okay, so any other points thatwe want to talk about in terms
of the improvements that we'venot covered yet?
Lance Owide (33:32):
Yeah, i think the thing that I also kind of call
out is as a B2B merchant, youwant to make it as simple as
possible for that buyer to getthe products that they need into
a cart, into a quote and into ashopping list, and that is
(33:52):
really key.
So the buy again features andreordering features that we've
put into the new buyer portalare really fantastic.
It always amazes me the numberof buyers out there that no SKUs
off by heart.
You know rat loft SKU numbers.
Just, you know tens and tens ofthem.
So, just simple, the ability toput in the SKU in a quantity
(34:13):
and hit enter and add it intoany of those.
You know cart quotes or shoppinglist built in, basically built
into every single screen.
The ability to upload CSVsbuilt into every single screen.
Simple searching, right searchfor the product and then
bringing in that configurationinto the Bible.
(34:34):
So I'm adding an item to aquote and I need to configure it
right.
Up to 600 variants, their 250options built.
That's native within bigcommerce And so configuration is
really important in B2B Andwe've built that into the
workflows within the buyerportal.
(34:56):
You know, i think that's reallyimportant And that is, you know
, when I've been demoing toagencies and to merchants.
That's been a highlight for anumber of them.
Luigi Moccia (35:08):
So I guess, if you're a B2B merchant who is on
a platform and not harnessingB2B features, i guess just ask
yourself you know what are you?
what's the opportunity cost?
Are your customers able toupload a CSV?
Are they able to easily reorderAnd what's the search like, the
configurability, all thesedifferent things that you know
you might take for grantedbecause it's always been like
(35:30):
that, but actually there's somany ways that out of the box
big commerce that allow you tooffer such a such an enhanced
experience to your customers.
like it, you know, very littleadditional cost, i think you
know.
Lance Owide (35:43):
Yeah, i think that's a really good point.
I often get asked you know howdo we start?
This is the digitaltransformation.
It's a huge project.
We don't quite know where tostart And I always say start
with the customer.
Go and interview your customerand understand what it is that
they're doing.
What are their processes whenthey're placing an order.
(36:05):
If you find out that behind thescenes they've created this CSV
and weird and wonderful ways tocreate shopping lists and to
approve the workflows behind thescenes through emails or
through spreadsheets, we've gota list of SKUs and I've
genuinely been on calls wheremerchants have said they've got
(36:27):
a list of SKUs in a spreadsheetand the junior buyer comes in
and updates it, and then thesenior buyer and they put a date
and done into a spreadsheet.
Then the senior buyer comes inand sees that, okay, they've
updated it as of that date.
Great, i'm going to now approveit and then go online and add
all of those items to a cart.
When you understand thoseprocesses, that window into
(36:51):
their workflow helps a merchantbe able to define what it is
that they should be thinkingabout when they're building
their e-commerce site.
You might go to all thecustomers and they say we don't
want to shop online, we're notinterested in e-commerce.
That would be incredibly usefulto know before you go online.
(37:12):
Now, i'm not going to probablyrecommend you don't do it,
because I'm sure yourcompetitors are and your
customers or buyers.
I would question whether that'strue.
And then how are you going toget catered to new customers who
do want it?
But understanding that thecustomer desire and their
workflows and their processes?
Now, i said when we built thatbuy a portal, 40 merchant
(37:35):
interviews, sales teams aretalking to buyers every single
day.
How often they sit next andthen understand that process and
then feed that back into thecorporate So that, as we are
making those decisions aboutdigital transformation, about
e-commerce, that you'redelivering for that buyer.
(37:57):
I think that's really importantand we often forget.
Why are we doing it?
Well, we're doing it reallybecause we want to increase
revenue, increase conversion,increase loyalty.
It's all about the customer.
You can understand what it isthat they're trying to do and
their processes.
Luigi Moccia (38:15):
When I do workshops sometimes, and even
with some brands that do tens ofmillions online, they I won't
say they got there by fluke, butthey've never really challenged
the status quo.
And when we run target personaexercises.
So when you said, if youinterview your customers and you
find that they don't wante-commerce, build two different
(38:41):
or several buyer personasbecause there are people that
will want to buy online, youjust haven't maybe identified
them and therefore haven'treally tapped into that market
yet.
So I would agree with you Itall starts with the customer of
understand, because you can havethe flashest website, the
greatest product, the greatestexperience, but if it doesn't
resonate with your customer,because it doesn't meet their
(39:02):
needs and their demands, thenit's going to fail.
But I 100% second that juststarting with the customer and
putting them at the beginning ofthe experience That's the other
thing that we try to do duringdiscoveries as well is challenge
.
It's challenge again the statusquo and understand what could
we do better for the customerand what is it that your
(39:22):
customers?
because the amount of merchantsthat assume they know what
their customer wants, and that'swhere that research is vital.
Like it's super, superimportant to do that.
Ironically today orcoincidentally not ironically,
coincidentally today we're stilltalking to a merchant,
prospective merchant whobasically wants to launch a new
(39:43):
product but wants to make surethat the research has been
carried out enough to make surethat product doesn't fail, and
that isn't the norm.
I don't often hear of merchantscome to us and saying like you
know, we feel we're not, youknow we're slacking a bit on
understanding our customers.
A lot of them they're just,they're looking forwards, but
just looking purely at thewebsite, not actually looking
backwards and saying, you know,or on the other side of that
(40:05):
fence, and how can we makethings easier for our customers?
And you know we've done thatwhen we've done designs.
You know use of research anduser testing is vital Because
otherwise, you know, i think itborderline arrogance to say you
know what your customer wantsmore than your customer does
100%, i think, and as part ofthat, it helps to define how.
Lance Owide (40:26):
It helps to define what should be included or
excluded from thattransformation product.
And I think we discussed this,maybe previously.
But you know, you discover thatthe merchant comes to you and
says I need live pricing.
Okay, well, what's?
you know what's live pricing?
I need it updated.
It has to.
You know, the minute we updatea price, it's got to be updated
(40:49):
on the fly.
Okay, why?
How often is this happening?
And do you understand howexpensive it is going to be to
build that right?
That's not simple.
We can sure do it, but are yousure?
And as you start to unpack thatright as an agency, as you
start to unpack that and yourealize, okay, you're not up,
you update prices once a day.
(41:09):
Why have you mandated this?
Or the buyer is not expectingit, they don't they don't
anticipate it And that's goingto.
You know that's going to put awhole lot of complexity into
your build And then put a strainon you know that's a lot of API
calls that we're going to haveto continue updating pricing and
you know you don't need it.
And so you, as you understandthat journey, it also changes
(41:31):
the build and it changes thestructure of it, and we hear
that a lot.
You know, i was speaking to amerchant the other day who is a
prospect actually They're not onbig commerce yet And they said
personalization.
We're all about personalization.
We want to be able to send anemail to the, to our buyers,
(41:52):
based on everything that theypreviously bought and based on
the frequency with which they'rebuying it, and remind them that
hey, you, you, you bought thislaundry detergent two months ago
in this order and quantity.
We reckon it's about time youhave a refill.
Now here's a one click orderlink.
Okay, that sounds I mean, thatdoes sound fantastic.
(42:14):
That sounds great.
What are you doing today?
Oh, we don't even have awebsite today.
Luigi Moccia (42:18):
Yeah, Well, come on Crewwalk run, prioritize Yeah
let's prioritize.
Lance Owide (42:25):
I Love that for you .
I 100% think you should getthere.
But let's be real.
You know Amazon can just aboutdo it right.
They just about get there.
Let's figure out how, how, howwe, we break that up into
manageable steps and you knowit's Get on, get to get your
products online first, starttransacting.
Let's not even think about B2Baddition.
(42:46):
You know, and we have that comethose conversations a lot with
manufacturers Who just need toget products and pricing up
there first, and so you know Ithink that's really important
too is, and you knew, theagencies.
You guys have a tough job thereoften, i think, tempering the,
the wills and expectations ofMerchants who want the world.
(43:08):
But but you know, with you'vegot a, got a base that in
reality, what's possible and inbudgeting and what's going to
deliver value, what you reallywanted to prioritize, the things
gonna, they're gonna deliverthe value first, and so I think
that's that.
The kind of customer interviewsalways help to inform that
decision, those decisions too.
Luigi Moccia (43:27):
Absolutely.
I think we could do anotherepisode about kind of merchants
and, i guess, navigatingpolitically, discussions with
with merchants, because you getsome that say, well, we've
always done it this way, we'vegot all these new features, and
you know, with the only onesthat have it and the other side
of the corner It's kind of like,yes, you are the only one that
has that feature And you're notthe biggest, but Exactly, and
(43:54):
it's gonna cost you more.
I mean, we, you know it's,anyway it's.
You know we've got a Client atthe moment that is is saying
just that.
You know, we, we can changeprices, you know, a few times a
day and for a few products andwhatever, and it's like We've
got the API power to be able todo that.
You know we don't need to havea like a live connection that
(44:15):
every time you you change youknow a number All your three and
a half thousand customers needto.
You know, see that straightaway, anyway, it's exactly,
exactly.
Lance Owide (44:26):
And we have, you know, raw materials Suppliers on
big commerce who do have livepricing and need it, and they
will always need it, and so theAPI's are there and do it right,
be successful, but it's not,it's not for everyone and not
everyone needs it.
You know, you don't need thatlevel of complexity.
Luigi Moccia (44:43):
And I guess, going to that point, around the
headless and the multistorefront It's, it's there if
people need it, and if theydon't, then Then anything else
we want to talk about.
Lance Owide (44:55):
I think we go for hours.
We need to.
Luigi Moccia (45:00):
I mean, i love to talk, but especially about B2B.
I think we, just we could, wecould do mini series about this
lance.
Lance Owide (45:05):
Maybe we should, maybe we need to get a monster
teams talking Yeah, there we go.
Start with with the craziestrequests that merchants have
ever come up with, because I amnot.
Luigi Moccia (45:22):
I'm not sure Cool.
Well, before we finish, thenobviously, if people want to
learn more about become some B2Bedition big commonscom, they
can request a demo.
B2b edition revamped is nowavailable to merchants
throughout Europe, north America, globally, presuming.
Lance Owide (45:45):
Yeah, available to Everyone, correct?
So come come to the big commaswebsite.
You find me on the LinkedIn ifyou wanted to, and we'll be
happy to set up a demo.
Show you the functionality andShow you everything that all the
new features and functionalityand how you can, you can use
those To increase customerconversion, increase customer
(46:09):
loyalty, simplify and expand.
Luigi Moccia (46:13):
I'm sure we have the links to your LinkedIn and
the big commas website in theshow notes as well.
Final question Have you readany books recently?
I Have.
Lance Owide (46:22):
Last time you asked me this question and I hadn't
read any books and it I feltembarrassed.
So I think, may, i'm it can'tgive you all the credit.
I did also take a vacationbetween now and then, and so I
had time to read books, but, yes, i read a couple To that I
think.
Particularly interesting,though no rules.
Rules, which is it's aboutNetflix and Their culture, which
(46:47):
is incredibly interesting.
Effectively, we're gonna haveno company rules, except you
will do what's best for thecompany, what's in the best
interest of Netflix.
So no travel policies.
If you think it's the rightthing to travel first-class
because it's you know you'regonna arrive refreshed, then do
(47:09):
it, and I thought it was.
It's an incredibly interestingway to run a company employ in
Incredibly bright, incrediblymotivated people and give them
the freedom to do what theythink is best to make the
company successful.
So really interesting read.
You know, kind of counter to alot of way companies are run
today.
(47:29):
So very interesting.
And then Play nice but win byMichael Dell.
It's a.
It's a.
It's a nice read.
I spend a lot of time talkingabout taking the company Private
and how difficult that was, buthow he was then just able to
unleash so much growth and it'sjust an incredible story, you
know about building a company,taking it public and then taking
(47:51):
it private again, to kind ofjust unleash Just absolutely
incredible growth From thecompany when you then took it
private again.
So, again, a really interestingread.
Luigi Moccia (48:01):
Cool.
Well, we'll put notes to tothose books as well, or links
rather, in the show notes.
And I think Verena who kind ofrunning things in the back, and
we're very excited to have heardthat, so I'll, because she's
working on the Book Club, soI'll make.
Verena, sir, it's a take note,but, um, cool, well, excellent.
Well, carry on the reading.
(48:21):
I think that's one of thethings that I think I probably
Say that you know has helped meover the years is just reading
and continue improving, and it's, you know, whether it's fiction
or nonfiction, it's, it worksfor both.
But but yeah, lance, thank youvery much for your time today.
It's been great to hear aboutB2B edition.
I'm very excited as a, as anagency, to start kind of rolling
(48:43):
out to our customers and Lookforward to speaking to again
soon.
Lance Owide (48:47):
Thank you for having me, luigio, it's been an
absolute pleasure.
Luigi Moccia (48:51):
Not at all.
Thanks very much, lance.
Thank you for listening to thebig commerce podcast.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please leave us a
review on your favorite podcastplatform And if you want to
follow us on social media, youcan find us on Instagram at the
big commas podcast, and also onLinkedIn.
Alternatively, you can catch upon all older episodes on our
(49:13):
website at the big commaspodcast FM.
If You've got ideas for anyepisodes, please reach out to us
info at the big commas podcastFM.
Until next time, thank you forlistening and take care You.
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