New B2B Features in CSM for BigCommerce –
With the latest release of CSM for BigCommerce, Suite Engine is excited to announce the addition of support for a number of B2B-oriented features. B2B is rapidly becoming more prevalent within the eCommerce space, and with the introduction of these new features, Business Central users looking to manage their B2B relationships from within the ERP will be pleased.
Record Types
A key difference between B2C and B2B business models is the structure of the customer-vendor relationship. Under a B2C model, products are sold to an individual consumer; with B2B, relationships are formed with entire businesses, with each business potentially having multiple users who can place orders on behalf of the organization. To accommodate this structure, a number of new record types have been introduced to CSM:
- CSM Companies: these represent the companies with which the B2B relationship is formed. These are mapped to Business Central customers.
- CSM Company Contacts: these represent the individuals within a company that can place orders. These are mapped to Business Central contacts.
- CSM Company Locations: these represent the different company locations or addresses to which orders can be shipped. These are mapped to Business Central customer and ship-to addresses.
Using these new record types, a user can set up a new customer with its associated contacts and ship-to addresses in Business Central, then send all of this information to BigCommerce to create a new company there. In addition, when B2B orders placed on BigCommerce are retrieved into Business Central, CSM can properly identify both the company and the contact for that order.
The addition of B2B-centric capabilities is an exciting step in the evolution of Channel Sales Manager. When CSM was initially developed, the primary focus of online retailers was on the B2C space, and so naturally that was where Suite Engine spent its efforts. What we’ve noticed over the past few years is that more and more companies are turning towards B2B, either as something that sits alongside a B2C practice or in some cases the sole manner of doing business. B2B relationships have different requirements than B2C, and it’s great to see CSM be able to address these needs and support the changing nature of our users’ business.
~ Steve Reynolds, Senior Product Manager
Expect More
Although this release specifically supports the B2B capabilities of BigCommerce, many of these changes were made to CSM’s underlying Core library, meaning that the structure is in place to support these types of company/contact relationships for any eCommerce channel. Suite Engine plans to add B2B capabilities to some of its other out-of-the-box platform extensions in the months to come; stay tuned for more exciting announcements.
Note: BigCommerce’s B2B functionality requires the licensing of BigCommerce’s “Enterprise” level plan. In addition, download and installation of a dedicated “B2B Edition” application from the BigCommerce marketplace is required.
Please see our CSM Release Notes for complete details of the latest release.
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