Love B2B eCommerce
This guide is part of our Love B2B eCommerce hub - you can find more articles like this one, case studies, and in-depth videos to support your wholesale growth right here! Schedule a personalised, 1:1 consultation with our expert team, and we’ll guide you through every step of your wholesale journey!
If you’ve already mapped out an onboarding strategy for your B2B customers, you might be wondering how it plays out in practice. Sometimes you need to see what works for other brands in order to figure out what will work for you!
If you’ve not yet built out an onboarding process for your B2B eCommerce customers, head to our how-to guide first.
We work with over 2,500 global businesses to help them scale their B2B operations, and that always starts with getting a strong onboarding process in place. We’re sharing three examples of B2B eCommerce customer onboarding done right - and how you can apply the same principles to your own business…
Resources and results - Gentec’s onboarding documentation
Gentec have a number of customers who have always ordered through more traditional methods - like over fax or email. There was some hesitation around switching to a digital self-service system. Their challenge was to simplify onboarding for a complex product range and customer structure.
The business was also replatforming and implementing SparkLayer for the first time. The team needed a way to educate customers about the new ordering processes, as well as bring their legacy buyers on the journey with them.
Gentec reimagined the onboarding process for their online B2B by focusing on simplicity, guided setup, and proactive support. They created a short how-to video showing customers what emails to expect, how to log in, and how to place their first order.
The team maintained regular check-ins with their customers, ensuring they had a key point of contact at every stage of the onboarding process. For high-value clients, Gentec’s sales team used SparkLayer’s masquerade ordering feature (the Sales Agent tool), preparing draft baskets directly in the system. This was a great way of encouraging adoption from customers who weren’t quite ready to use the platform themselves.
“When SparkLayer said they had Sales reps, when they said they had multiple price lists, we set up the call”, Mike Last, Director of Marketing and eCommerce.
As a result, Gentec saw a significant 75% reduction in manual admin, as well as an increase in adoption rates. Gentec’s success story proves that onboarding is not a one-size-fits-all box-ticking exercise - it’s an opportunity to add real value through tailored, intentional touchpoints.
Nature’s Path’s 10x B2B growth strategy
Nature’s Path started their B2B journey by selling in bulk from their original B2C Shopify setup.
As demand from wholesalers grew, they quickly realised they needed a dedicated B2B platform. They faced a common B2B challenge - helping wholesale buyers transition from manual order forms and phone calls to a digital platform.
Nature’s Path pride themselves on fantastic customer service, so it only made sense to continue this ethos in their onboarding strategy. By encouraging existing customers to self-serve through SparkLayer (while providing ongoing support where needed), the level of pressure on the team to be online at all times was relieved.
The team assigned bespoke price lists, discounts, and tiered pricing to segments of buyers, using SparkLayer’s Customer Groups feature. This means that every interaction a buyer has with Nature’s Path’s ordering portal is fully customised to them.
As a result, the business saw improvements in early adoption levels. They have also started using the Sales Agent tool to build baskets on behalf of their customers, furthering the tailored aspect of their business. This has been especially important for their legacy customers who prefer more traditional ordering methods.
Nature’s Path increased average order value by over than 400% after improving their customer onboarding B2B eCommerce experience, and 10x B2B growth. Customers are happy ordering through SparkLayer because it makes the process much simpler.
“A lot of buyers are small teams juggling a lot. They don’t have time to deal with clunky systems. SparkLayer makes it easy for them to place orders on their own time, without the back and forth”, Deanna Gee-Wing, eCommerce Digital Marketing Associate.
SNURK’s game plan for winning back inactive customers
When SNURK expanded into B2B, they needed a fast, effective way to meet customer demand and boost adoption. There were some initial challenges around legacy, manual processes that had been used across their customer base for a long time.
The team wanted an intuitive interface that would encourage migration to their online B2B setup, all while increasing adoption, buyer satisfaction, and repeat business. They also wanted to build out B2B customer onboarding best practices to keep customers engaged.
SNURK were able to quickly set up Customer Groups and segment their buyers by important variables - such as location, loyalty, and type of customer. This means that all interactions with the new online tool were personalised from day one.
This level of personalisation has seen increased buy-in from existing wholesale customers, as well as re-engagement with inactive buyers.
“There are a lot of people who we didn't originally plan to migrate as customers because they hadn’t ordered since 2022 that suddenly came out of the woodwork when we said we had a new platform… I think it rejuvenated our B2B from the old, very technical, boring system to a more beautiful system”, Sarah van Waardenburg, eCommerce Manager.
SNURK’s B2B buyers feel valued and important, and have been educated on the benefits of the platform, helping to drive stronger adoption.
How to onboard B2B eCommerce customers - common tactics
Though they operate in very different sectors, these three brands share a consistent onboarding approach that any business can replicate in three simple steps:
- Prioritise personalisation: Maintain a customer-centric mindset and remember that customer onboarding in B2B eCommerce isn’t about the platform or processes - it's about the people using it. Keep things straightforward, prioritise clarity, and guide customers at each step of the journey.
- Combine automation and human touch: While automation is great for scaling (especially for smaller teams with fewer resources), it’s important to keep human touchpoints in the onboarding process. Via bespoke emails or live training sessions, bringing customers along for the ride requires a level of human interaction.
- Keep going: Onboarding isn’t just about ticking a box once and hoping customers figure it out for themselves along the way. Instead, it’s a continuous process that involves analysing customer behaviour, understanding friction points, and making improvements based on real-time data.
Why real-world B2B onboarding examples matter
The best part about these three onboarding stories is their accessibility. None required massive budgets or complex technology - just thoughtful planning and a customer-first mindset.
If you’re wondering how to onboard B2B eCommerce customers more effectively, start small:
- Create a visual one-page quick-start guide or video tutorial
- Personalise your welcome emails by segmenting buyers
- Offer short introductory training or drop-in Q&A sessions
Even these simple steps can dramatically improve engagement and adoption. As your process matures, you can layer in automation, segmentation, and performance tracking - just like the examples above.
B2B customer onboarding best practices - next steps
In the world of B2B customer onboarding best practices, your first impression defines the overall relationship. The better you help customers succeed early, the longer they’ll stay and the more they’ll order.
Whether you use SparkLayer or another platform, focus on creating a simple, valuable, and supportive experience that puts your customers first.
For more information and insights on how to onboard B2B customers, book a bespoke 1:1 consultation with our team of experts. If you’re inspired by these examples and want to refine your own customer onboarding B2B eCommerce journey, you can explore more SparkLayer success stories.