One customer. One B2B eCommerce website.

Say that again?

Yes, that’s right.  An entire B2B website for a single client.

Corevist has been underwritten to implement our cloud based SAP Integrated B2B eCommerce service  by a distributor of networking equipment and services to support ONE of their customers.  Granted they are a nationwide customer with hundreds of locations, but they are only a single SoldTo in SAP.  It’s one of the conditions that that customer made before they signed the contract with our client. The ultimatum was simple:

“Unless you have a B2B eCommerce website in place before the end of this year, you don’t get our contract.”

That’s how much they valued the convenience of having an SAP integrated website to manage quotations for products and services from their distributor, but also the ability to self-service all of their order tracking and accounting needs online.

We not only have to deliver quickly (less than 10 weeks) but since it’s only going to be initially used by one customer, it had to be affordable.  No million dollar and one year in duration projects allowed.

I’ve been in this business for close to 20 years and I’ve never seen this happen.  We are definitely at the B2B eCommerce crossroads when a Distributor who has no eCommerce capability is forced into the game by a single customer AND the economics are such that they can move forward.   The margins on the first month’s orders from this one customer will probably payback the cost of implementing Corevist’s eCart and eTrack services.

Amazing.

If that’s not the definition of business Agility, I have no idea what is.

Once we get this one customer into production, will that be the end of it?  I certainly hope not since our client has hundreds of other customers that would benefit from interacting with them via a B2B eCommerce website.   Now that they have an SAP Integrated B2B eCommerce platform in place, how will they make it available to the rest of their customers?  What is a reasonable expectation for the number of their customers that will want to use the website?  How will they recruit them?  How will they support them?

Answering those questions, and more, will be the subject of my next blog post.

Until then, here is to ushering in the age of the ultimate in B2B eCommerce personalization…an enterprise website for ONE!

Sam

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