13 Oct
The retail industry has been long existing. The simplest transaction or exchange of goods could count as retail in the old times. However, today retail is a far more broad and sophisticated landscape. As much as it implies a B2C approach more than the B2B, we cannot exclude the B2B dynamics from this complex domain. Understanding this more and more over time, especially in an era that is influenced deeply by technology, retail experts have added metrics to read the business better. It’s interesting to see that these metrics resemble those of the B2B loyalty subject. This notion itself only is proof that we cannot interpret the retail sector, which is heavily defined by B2C dynamics, without the B2B dimension. This brings us to the importance of discovering B2B loyalty program, which are foundations for generating relevant insights for B2B, for the retail sector.
What is retail? What are the retail parameters that overlap with the necessities that brought about the B2B loyalty program?
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “retail” as the part of an economy consisting of businesses that sell goods through stores, on the internet, to the public in short.
Retail is heavily about B2C transactions. Most of this comes from the fact that retail relies majorly on wholesale. Wholesale level sales are generally B2B. However, today company selling businesses can also directly sell to individuals. Sensitive to sector intersections, or distinctions, Apex Loyalty has features that cater to all.
To understand these differences, it is better to first look at the distinctions between B2B and B2C marketing basics.
B2B marketing is marketing for products and services to other businesses. On the other hand, B2C marketing strategies are more aimed at individual customers.
This key difference causes that we usually adopt a straightforward tone when it comes to constructing a B2B marketing strategy. We focus on the information exchange the most when doing so. This is because most B2B purchase decisions are made on the basis of fulfilling the simple and rigid criteria: being compatible with the budget, and goals. On the individual purchase level, this is rarely the focus.
In addition, emotional and cognitive reasons have an impact on an individual customer’s purchase decisions. We should not ignore the fact, though, this notion is also applicable to the B2B context. This is why B2B loyalty, therefore the B2B loyalty program is necessary for the retail business. How?
When we construct our B2B marketing strategy we usually aim our efforts at the parties or individuals who can influence buying decisions. Since B2B is the commercial activity between two businesses, unline the B2C, we tend to think the opposite party we are dealing with is solely a constitution.
However, who you are reaching is still actual people within companies. In today’s business world, buying activities may result from group decisions, since there are more stakeholders in question. This implies a complex and hard to comprehend business landscape, but thanks to today’s data-driven technologies, we have a strong tool at hand. How does data become helpful?
From channel management software to B2B loyalty program, we do not have to feel overwhelmed or confused anymore.
With advanced platforms like Apex Loyalty, you can derive accurate, timely, and meaningful data. The more powerful the data becomes thanks to agile technological structures, the more relevant your approach to buyers become.
What does relevance mean here? It defines the personalized information and offers that can be distributed to the other businesses that are existing in your B2B channel.
Apex Loyalty is a cloud-based B2B loyalty, engagement, and sales incentives automation platform. It is not only great because of its novel technological structure, but also due to the mindset of its developers. The team behind Apex Loyalty comes from various sectors. Apex Loyalty is the result of years-long diverse experience blended with the know-how of today’s eCommerce.
Adopting Apex Loyalty as a retailer, you can stay connected with purchasing departments, as well as channel partners, distributors, and resellers to drive more sales.
Apex Loyalty’s power comes from its dynamic rules engine and flexibility, making it a fit for various industries.
You can read our previous post on https://www.apexloyalty.com/how-to-work-your-loyalty-program-during-covid-19/