Building a B2B Commerce Ecosystem for the Modern Buyer
“How to Buy” on Zebra.com
Over the last couple years, an unfortunate but true joke has circulated around the Zebra offices related to the fact that it was easier to buy an actual, real-life zebra online through your favorite search engine – in no more than three clicks – than it was to use our Zebra Technologies’ website (www.zebra.com) to buy one of our products. The good news: this is no longer the case with our new “How to Buy” experience!
The case is clear: B2B buyers want the same seamless online shopping, research and purchasing experience they enjoy as consumers. They expect that process to be easy, smart and empowering. Business buyers are also banking on features and functionality that are tailored for them, especially in the small-and-medium business (SMB) segment.
Researching the Modern Buyer’s Journey
Ultimately, today’s business buyer wants to be in control. Many of them increasingly prefer to evaluate products independently, compare options and narrow choices on their own before talking to a representative. In fact, Forrester Research shows:
- 80% of B2B buyers today prefer to visit manufacturer websites (like ours) for product information.
- 75% want to shop and compare prices without having to engage with a sales representative.
- 70% are prepared to spend up to $500,000 on a single transaction.
Introducing Our "How to Buy" Initiative
With these shifting dynamics top of mind, we’re rolling out new commerce capabilities on www.zebra.com that are among the first of their kind in our industry.
The experience empowers our customers, including SMBs, to better serve themselves and:
● Research select products on their own to determine specific models needed
● Make online purchases for select products directly through our partner network
● Get faster quotes for larger volume purchases or more complex products and solutions
The cornerstone of our "How to Buy" experience is a set of new portfolio pages and frictionless experiences that allow customers to explore feature sets and configuration options for different product models as well as access practical information such as "What's in the Box." They can also learn about related products that work well together and see indicative pricing with an approximate “starting at” base price for each model.
Once visitors to our enhanced zebra.com pages determine the specific model(s) most suited to their requirements, they have two options to advance their buying journey:
- They can click on the "Buy Online" button to finalize their transactions through an e-commerce partner of their choice in their geography who has been recognized as an authorized online specialist by Zebra. In many cases, the order can be completed in just two clicks.
- They can use the "Request a Quote" button if they aren’t quite ready to buy or need additional information on volume discounts, services, integration, and consultation with one of our account managers or partners to move forward with confidence. In most cases, they will receive information within 48 hours.
Balancing Customer Self-Service with Partner Centricity
We designed the “How to Buy” experience to meet the needs of both our customers and channel partners equally. By bringing our partners into the design process of this experience early on, we better aligned this strategic initiative to help buyers answer the questions of “What to Buy” and “Where to Buy.”
Through this initiative, SMB customers will experience the benefits of pricing transparency as well as the ability to choose the path that is best for them and receive pre-sales information faster.
The benefits to Zebra partners include increasing their engagements with customers who are ready to purchase, achieving lower cost-of-sale for transactional opportunities, and remaining at the center of Zebra’s go-to-market strategy.
Enabling an Ecosystem with Digital Innovation
Historically, manufacturers like Zebra have delegated online commerce to channel partners. With this new effort, we aren't becoming a full-fledged e-commerce service. Nor are we replacing our Partner and Application Locator tool, setting market prices or minimizing the vital role of our account managers and value-added resellers. Rather, we are expanding our innovative approach by serving in the role of ecosystem enabler and value provider.
The “How to Buy” program reflects our understanding that leading companies need to provide every mode of service and support that customers of all sizes want or need. A comprehensive omnichannel strategy that lets customers research, engage and purchase the way they prefer is essential to Zebra’s long-term success.
Advancing Our Implementation and Rollout
These enhancements are initially being rolled out on Zebra products like printers, scanners and select mobile computing devices that tend to be purchased in smaller quantities by SMBs. These products typically don't require as much configuration or integration support as others in our portfolio, making them ideal candidates for a streamlined digital customer journey.
As we gather early feedback and track key performance metrics, we'll continue refining the “How to Buy” experience. Our initial launch includes a selection of 90 products on our English sites around the world. By the middle of 2025, we plan to support multiple languages, and we’ll extend the capabilities to even more of our portfolio over time.
In today’s fast-moving digital business environment, companies that embrace change and meet evolving customer expectations will flourish. With all these improvements, our goal is to create a faster and smoother path-to-purchase for everyone while delivering greater price transparency for our customers.
Check out an example of our new “How to Buy” Program here.
