B2B companies on Ecommerce sidelines, but promotional products distributors shouldn't be

Only 25 percent of B2B companies have an internet presence, according to StrategicSourcerer, a website devoted to best practices in procurement, spend control and other areas.

The reason, according to the website: The infrastructure doesn't exist to meet B2B needs. More accurately, the infrastructure doesn't exist for most industries. So while online business climbs toward $1.4 trillion per year globally, the vast majority of the B2B community, including distributors and suppliers, are sitting on the sidelines while retailers tap an online sales market that is growing in nearly every way. 

Don't be misguided. Promotional products distributors know that eCommerce needs to be a part of their future. The so-called lack of infrastructure is just an excuse and, in the promotional products industry, it's simply not true.

"Fortunately for distributors and suppliers a proven solution exists,” comments Eric Alessi President & CEO of Essent Corporation. "Essent provides solutions that allow distributors and suppliers to compete and thrive in the online marketplace, making the tools that were once only available to the biggest companies available to everybody. Essent has been delivering eCommerce and eProcurement solutions to the promotional products industry for years,” continues Mr. Alessi. 

Essent PunchOutNow web storefront is the industry's only Ariba-verified PunchOut Catalog, integrating major eProcurement systems including Ariba, Coupa, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP and more to fully integrate procurement into operations and to control and track spend. PunchOutNow integrates with popular ERP/Business Management Systems and is fully integrated out-of-the-box with Compass.

The Essent Compass Business Management System is the only business management system tailor made for promotional products, featuring tools for purchasing, inventory control, fulfillment, shipping and more.

And for promotional products distributors who need to establish a true full-featured online presence, there's Essent SiteBuilder Pro, which allows distributors and suppliers to implement both consumer and B2B websites with an integrated Product Configurator for demanding marketplaces like found in the promotional products industry.

Essent has a solution for every facet of online commerce, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM), no matter if it's on the desktop, table, mobile or anything in between.