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!
One of the biggest differences between B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) buying behaviour comes down to priorities.
B2C purchases are often driven by impulse and immediacy. A buyer sees something they like, potentially compares a few options, and makes a quick decision. Price and convenience play a massive role, and the customer’s relationship with the brand may never extend beyond that single transaction.
B2B buying works very differently. Buyers are rarely thinking about a one-off order - instead, they’re typically thinking about the ease of repeat bulk purchasing, adhering to internal processes, and whether a supplier can support them consistently over time.
What do B2B buyers want from online purchasing?
Wholesale buyers expect their online experience to reflect how they actually buy in the real world. That means acknowledging the realities of procurement, approval processes, pricing structures, and complex internal workflows that often involve multiple stakeholders.
B2B buying rarely involves a single role. Procurement, operations, finance and senior decision-makers may all be involved at different stages. Your marketing and messaging need to make sense to all of them, not just the end user placing the order.
Wholesale customers care about products, of course, but they also care about whether the right price lists are displayed, whether minimum order rules are applied correctly, whether shipping rates reflect their commercial relationship, and whether their account data can be trusted.
So once you’ve decided which channels to use (Google, LinkedIn, email, social, or retargeting), the next step is refining what you say within those channels. When a buyer clicks through to your website from an ad or email, they’re not thinking about your product catalogue alone. They’re asking a much simpler question: ‘Will this make my job easier?’
Create a marketing strategy that converts
Effective B2B eCommerce marketing doesn’t rely on complicated campaigns. It relies on clear messaging, repeated consistently, that aligns with how buyers actually think and behave. The following six focus areas are about getting that messaging right.
1. Keep it simple
B2B buyers don’t want to work to understand what you do, and they shouldn’t have to decode your paid ads. One thing we see many brands do is overcomplicate their adverts in the hopes of sharing multiple marketing messages in one go.
Keeping your marketing simple means avoiding unnecessary jargon and distracting visuals. While that kind of creativity might work in some B2C contexts, B2B buyers value clarity over aesthetics and trends.
Your messaging should make it immediately obvious who you work with, what types of buyers you support, how you make ordering easier, and why that matters to their role. If that isn’t clear within seconds, you risk losing their attention entirely.
Buyers scrolling LinkedIn or searching on Google have limited patience. If you’re running paid ads on these channels, you need to communicate value quickly and directly, focusing on the benefits of ordering through you rather than trying to say everything at once.
2. Use registration pages as marketing assets
B2B registration pages are often overlooked, but they’re one of the strongest tools you have for communicating value. You can use them as landing pages for anyone who clicks on your paid ads, and they’re an extra platform to share your message.
A strong registration page doesn’t just explain how to apply. It explains who the platform is for, what problems it solves, and how buying through your store will fit into a buyer’s existing workflows. It should set expectations clearly and reassure buyers that applying is worth their time.
The worst thing you can do is host a registration page that doesn’t reinforce the benefits of signing up for an account. You might get people filling in the form, but they won’t be engaged and may be more likely to continue researching other options. To solidify strong leads, make sure you’re consistently reminding prospects why they should choose you as their B2B supplier.
For B2C customers already on your hybrid site, for example, the registration page can act as a clear signpost to your wholesale offering. For B2B buyers still in research mode, it’s a great opportunity to communicate your value before any direct interaction takes place.
3. Prioritise benefits, not just features
Features explain what your platform can do. Benefits explain why a buyer should care. Wholesale buyers aren’t excited by functionality for its own sake. They want to understand how that functionality will help them work more efficiently, reduce admin, and avoid common frustrations.
If you’re using a B2B eCommerce solution like SparkLayer, for example, explain what the platform features enable. Self-serve ordering means buyers don’t have to wait for sales reps and can place orders 24/7, on their own terms. Shopping Lists make repeat ordering faster and make it easy to involve multiple teams. A Quoting Engine supports negotiation without endless email threads.
When your ads, landing pages and emails consistently talk about these benefits in the buyer’s language, everything feels more joined up. Buyers can picture themselves using your store, which lowers friction and builds confidence.
4. Use email to maintain a meaningful presence
Email may not feel exciting, but it remains one of the most effective channels in B2B marketing because it fits naturally into how buyers work. It’s rarely about pushing for an immediate conversion. Instead, it’s about maintaining consistent touchpoints and providing reassurance over time.
B2B buyers are unlikely to order a new item simply because they’ve had an email about it. Instead, they want to place very similar orders regularly - often to restock their products. Wholesale buyers are methodical by nature, and email supports that mindset well.
The most effective B2B email strategies focus on consistency rather than urgency. Gentle reminders, helpful information, and clear next steps work far better than endless promotions and product-focused communications.
5. Build content that showcases your services
When people think about content, they often think about long blogs - but this isn’t the only option available! What buyers really want is practical information. They want to understand how buying from you works, how your platform supports their processes, and what happens after they place an order.
This kind of content might include explanations of common workflows, guidance on integrations, or examples of how other businesses manage repeat purchasing. Even setup guides and help resources can play a role in marketing, because they show prospective buyers that support will be available when they need it.
When your content reflects the language and concerns buyers already have, it naturally supports SEO as well. This is where messaging and discoverability come together, helping the right people find you at the right time.
6. Make your website the centre of the experience
Your website is where your paid ads and organic content point to. Whether they’re coming through LinkedIn posts or Google ads, your site needs to continue the experience your buyers have had so far.
If your site doesn’t reflect the same message you’ve been selling in ads, emails, LinkedIn or Google, buyers will sense the disconnect and lose confidence. Your website should reinforce your understanding of B2B buying challenges and clearly communicate the benefits of ordering through you. It shouldn’t feel like a brochure - it should feel like a tool that helps buyers make decisions.
Consistency matters more than creativity in the world of wholesale marketing. When buyers encounter the same message across ads, emails, and on-site content, they feel guided rather than sold to. That sense of alignment is what ultimately drives conversion.
So - what next?
Once your channels are in place and your messaging is clear, everything else becomes easier to optimise.
As you build consistency and track performance over time, you’ll start to see stronger leads, longer site visits, better email engagement and, ultimately, more orders. Small refinements compound quickly when your strategy is built on a clear understanding of buyer behaviour.
For more guidance on this approach, explore our Love B2B eCommerce hub. If you’d like to talk through your own messaging strategy, book a demo with our team - we’d be glad to dive in with you!