When you think about online checkout experiences, odds are retail comes to mind.
But over the past several years, digital checkout for B2B has seen an explosion in growth. In late 2021, a Gartner study revealed that 83% of B2B buyers prefer placing orders or paying for goods through digital channels.
B2B consumers want the same seamless, product-led experiences they’ve grown to love with their favorite B2C brands. And while this is all great news for small businesses looking for a way to digitize and streamline their sales process—there are major problems looming. Namely, checkout problems.
A recent study from HubSpot’s partner Stripe, a global leader in payments infrastructure, found that checkout problems are common and widespread—with 99% of leading e-commerce sites in North America making five or more basic errors in their checkouts.
A great B2B checkout experience can drive up lifetime value and retention, leading to substantial growth. But a bad B2B checkout can cause critical churn. In this blog, I’ll break down four of the most common B2B checkout challenges today. Then, I’ll dive into tactics on not only fixing each one, but how to optimize your entire B2B checkout experience for success.
4 Major B2B Checkout Challenges
2. Preferred payment not offered
3. Inability to try before buying
4. Poor mobile conversion rate
4 Major B2B Checkout Challenges
1. Not Optimized for Speed
Stripe found that 60% of shoppers say they will abandon their cart if checkout takes more than 2 minutes. Despite this, the average length of checkout still hovers around 3 minutes.
Solution: 5 tactics to optimize checkout speed
Online B2B checkout experiences should be quick and effortless to complete. Learn from B2C companies and incorporate the same best-in-class processes to optimize for speed:
- Easy registration process: Using third-party sign-in tools like Google or Facebook helps you authenticate and register new users in seconds. For customers who opt for traditional user registration, make the format as quick and simple as possible—only asking for the essentials. Use auto-fill and a straightforward CTA to maximize conversion.
- Single-page checkout experience: A single-page checkout experience boosts conversion by making it easier to complete a purchase by minimizing tabs and windows.
- Multiple payment options: Consumer payment preferences vary, so offering as many as possible—in a seamless way—will lower cart abandonment rates. I dive into more detail about this in challenge #2.
- Establishing trust: Consumers might move fast, but also do their due diligence when it comes to choosing trust-worthy vendors. This is why it’s essential to have solid security badges, seals, and customer reviews to validate your offerings.
- Customer support: B2B customers may prefer a digital checkout process, but that doesn’t mean it should be unsupported. Having customer support available to assist over Chat can help thwart any last-minute hiccups on the path to conversion. It will also help your consumers feel confident that they are making the right choice, and will have the support they need to be successful.
2. Preferred Payment Not Offered
According to Stripe, 81% of online shoppers abandon their cart if their preferred payment method is not offered. This shouldn’t be surprising, as odds are, you’ve been in the same situation. People are loyal to their preferred payment methods, which is why offering a wide variety is essential.
Solution: Embrace digital wallets.
It’s time to think beyond the standard debit and credit card payment methods. Many consumers prefer digital wallets like PayPal, Venmo, and Apple Pay. Not only do they offer added security through tokenization, but they provide a fast, frictionless checkout experience. Consumers don’t need to enter their payment information since it’s already securely stored, making the checkout process a breeze.
Payment infrastructure partners like Stripe allow for digital wallet and one-click checkouts. Plus — they offer a trust badge to ensure consumers’ preferred payment method is secure.
3. Inability to Try Before They Buy
Stripe found that 57% of subscription sites do not offer a free trial, which would allow users to try a product or service before they buy it. Here’s the thing—purchasing a SaaS product is not the same as purchasing a new pair of running shoes. It’s a much bigger expense and commitment.
Solution: Test out a free-trial or freemium model.
Offering a free-trial period or freemium model creates a low barrier to entry to test out your product and make sure it’s a good fit. And once your product is integrated into a user’s workflow and they experience the value first-hand, it’s harder for them to walk away. So when the free trial is up or they’ve outgrown the freemium features, they’re primed to convert into a paid customer.
4. Low Mobile Conversion Rate
By 2024, Juniper Research predicts that mobile wallets will be responsible for over $9 trillion in transactions. But PayPal also found that mobile shoppers have a lower checkout completion rate than their desktop counterparts. Why? Too many companies don’t prioritize mobile checkout optimization.
Solution: Create a mobile-friendly checkout experience.
Prioritizing a mobile-friendly checkout is key to offering seamless experiences that drive up conversion. Focus on minimizing the required fields and use the limited real estate to drive completion. Optimize for speed by utilizing autofill, express checkout, and digital payment options. You may also consider implementing a progress indicator and even a ‘save cart’ option for customers who aren’t able to complete the transaction immediately.
The future of B2B Checkout? Self-Service.
The B2B buyer journey has evolved drastically over the past decade. What was once a lengthy experience filled with many touchpoints, interactions, and dreaded cold calls can now be a zero-touch process.
This is great news, considering 33% of all B2B buyers desire a seller-free sales experience. And we can only expect this percentage to rise as more B2B companies embrace an easier path to customer conversion.