Why a DXP is a game changer in B2B

Digital Experience Platform as a catalyst for digital transformation

The digital transformation has been occupying companies for almost two decades. While some only see the effort involved, others benefit greatly from the advantages of digital processes: Companies not only save time and increase their efficiency. They also reduce their costs and increase their turnover. They also have a wide range of opportunities to get in touch with their target group - and stay in touch. Accordingly, companies around the globe are in the midst of extensive digitalization projects. When asked about the most urgent projects, the majority of companies are opting to introduce high-performance systems for content management and e-commerce. And for good reason: buyers expect nothing less than the best possible digital experience - at all touchpoints. Corporate websites and online stores are among the most important channels of all. A Digital Experience Platform (DXP) forms an optimal basis on which companies can create inspiring experiences for their customers and prospects across all channels.

DXPs for omnichannel experiences

What was only true for B2C for a long time is now also standard in B2B: potential customers first search for decision-relevant information online. According to a survey by McKinsey, B2B buyers regularly use ten or more channels to find out about products, prices and providers. According to Forbes, potential customers have already gone through 70 percent of the decision-making process before they contact the sales department of the provider of their choice. And by this point, interested parties have consumed three to five pieces of content from the company in question. Against this background, it is important to convince potential buyers at every single point of contact and offer them precisely the information that will steer their decision in the direction of your own offer. However, it is quite challenging to create inspiring omnichannel experiences. A DXP is an indispensable tool - provided that it supports certain functions.

Standard integration of CMS and store solution

User-friendly websites and online stores that are intuitive to use and provide the desired information quickly and easily are the cornerstones of any digital business model. Accordingly, companies should opt for a DXP that integrates CMS, store solution including relevant B2B functions and product information management system (PIM) out of the box. A mini software suite of this kind offers a decisive advantage - along with a number of others: consistency and simplicity. Usually, medium-sized and larger B2B companies use a large number of different individual solutions with which they store content for their website and online store in a decentralized manner and then publish it - adapted for countries in general and target markets in particular. With a DXP, content can be consolidated centrally and distributed from a backend to the desired channels. This means that it is possible to maintain dozens of national websites and online stores from a single data pool, which is available as standard without any additional integration effort. This not only reduces the complexity of the distribution process, but also lowers software licensing costs.

Headless data management

To ensure that data and information can be used across all channels, it should be available headless in the backend. Headless is a special software architecture in which the front and back ends are separated from each other. The information stored in the backend flows via connectors into the desired frontend, which is headless up to this point - from websites and online stores to customer and supplier portals, apps, chatbots and the like. Only there does the data receive the desired graphical presentation. This means that all information that companies enter into their CMS for publication on the website, for example, is also available for all other output channels.

Modular structure

The headless concept really comes into its own when the DXP has a modular structure. It should be possible to expand the mini software suite with relevant third-party systems as required - just as is the case with classic best-of-breed approaches, which are usually diametrically opposed to the suite concept. With a modern DXP, companies get the best of both worlds: They can connect the tools they want, such as for marketing automation, email marketing, analytics and the like, to their suite via standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) with just a few clicks. This provides companies with a platform solution that is seamlessly integrated into their IT system landscape and optimally maps their individual requirements. As a result, companies not only benefit from greater dynamism and agility, they also reduce their running costs. Even if such a DXP has a certain price, it is still lower than investing in various individual solutions - especially as customizing, operation, maintenance and support have to be paid for in addition to the pure acquisition - for each individual tool.

Segmentation of target groups and personalization of content

While it used to be common practice in B2B to only communicate the costs of the desired product during a personal sales meeting, B2B buyers now want to find out about prices and configuration options in advance. 54% of interested parties want to find out how much a product costs as soon as they make their first search query. In addition, it is common in B2B to offer individual prices for new or regular customers as well as graduated prices. If an online store fails to meet these customer expectations, customers will abandon their purchases. This is why a DXP must be able to display personalized prices. The basis for this is a Customer Data Platform (CDP), which is integrated into the DXP. If both individual and company accounts, including various roles, are stored in a CDP, retailers can segment target groups based on certain criteria, such as company affiliation, visitors to a store page, abandoned purchases, turnover and the like, with the help of AI. A DXP with a CDP component enables store operators, for example, to create content centrally in the backend and play it out to specific target groups in a personalized manner. The same applies to target group-specific prices or personalized newsletters that certain recipient groups receive. Retailers can provide target group-specific content not only in the store, but also on their corporate website. Not only the CMS and the store solution can serve as source systems, but also all other solutions that are linked to the CDP. This means that if a customer looks at a specific product in the shopping app, the next time they visit the website they will be shown information that corresponds to the relevant product category.

Powerful search

In view of extensive product ranges and countless product variants, search plays a particularly important role in B2B - just think of a mechanical engineering company that puts together huge production systems for its customers individually and configures them to meet their needs. Against this background, the search function must support complex queries and deliver the desired hits quickly. To achieve this, it is essential that all product data is stored centrally in the PIM and - depending on the search term - is available in the respective front end: be it the online store that the user visits via desktop PC or the website that they access on their smartphone. When searching for machines or systems, for example, there should also be a filter function that allows users to narrow down the results and gradually find the right product variant. Ideally, it is even possible to configure the desired machine according to your own requirements and combine it with others to create a larger system. A state-of-the-art DXP not only provides B2B companies with all these functions. Thanks to centrally stored data, users also benefit from very short response times when searching.

Available, scalable, secure, customer-oriented

Of course, a modern DXP does not run on its own servers; instead, companies obtain it from the cloud as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). This operating model has several advantages: Not only do companies benefit from the high availability and individual scalability of the DXP, they also don't have to worry about maintenance and updates themselves. When selecting a platform, companies should ensure that the provider hosts the DXP within the EU for reasons of data protection and data security. It is also important that the functional development of the software is geared towards the needs of customers and that there are regular new releases. Last but not least, if the provider has a network of experienced service providers who customize the DXP according to individual customer requirements, B2B companies are well on the way to actually achieving their goal of an inspiring omnichannel experience.

Further information can be found in the white paper "Guide to optimizing B2B purchasing processes", which can be downloaded here free of charge.

Author: Radek Paluszak