BigCommerce is no stranger to the “next big thing.” That’s because the Texas-based, open SaaS, composable e-commerce platform makes it a point to unveil new and exciting features semi-annually.
And when it comes to B2B-specific solutions, the company’s latest reveal did not disappoint. Announcements were plentiful at the North American BigSummit, held in late August in Austin, Texas — including capabilities and improvements around AI, omnichannel integrations, composable commerce and more.
But perhaps most impactful for B2B distributors are sales-oriented tools set around enabling salespeople to improve conversion rates by responding more quickly to online quote requests.
BigCommerce says that building on over a decade of experience with leading B2B brands has enabled it to introduce a new AI-integrated quote workflow to speed up the quote-to-cash process and improve sales rep efficiency.
Lance OwideBigCommerce
“We know the faster a salesperson responds, the more likely they are to convert and close that quote,” said Owide. “This functionality is where we are already seeing folks get excited.”
Functional Improvements, AI
Additional functionality updates focus on helping B2B sellers simplify and scale. Specifically:
Buyer role-based access control is now available to better align buyer access permissions to their level of functional account access. Admins can now assign custom roles that define buyer permissions, such as whether or not they can make purchases or submit requisition lists for approval.
Negotiating payment terms and getting paid on time is crucial. It is now easier to define account level payment terms to ensure businesses are able to better automate every bit of the process from order to invoice to ensure accurate communication and timely payments.
AI updates are also part of the story for BigCommerce. With the release of BigAI Copywriter leveraging Google's next generation AI model, Gemini 1.5 Pro, BigCommerce says “marketers can optimize their existing product descriptions or create appealing new ones that are SEO-optimized in their brand language and tone, saving time and customizing for style, tone, keywords and length.” Additionally, customers can utilize BigAI product recommendations and - soon - enhance sales and productivity with custom quote proposal emails powered by generative AI.
Fast Checkout, Fast Delivery
Now available to BigCommerce customers in the U.S., Fastlane by PayPal offers an accelerated guest checkout solution that helps drive conversion without the need to remember new logins or passwords. Once a consumer is authenticated, all their information is pre-filled and they can check out in as little as one click. BigCommerce says early results from testing Fastlane with customers showed that guest shoppers converted more than 80% of the time, converted up to 50% better than non-Fastlane users, completed checkout in as little as two minutes, and reduced time to check out by 32%.
Checkout enhancements aside, BigCommerce also dropped the news that Feedonomics, a BigCommerce company that offers product feed management for e-commerce businesses, would leverage a partnership and integration with Amazon Today. Through its new program, brands and retailers with brick-and-mortar locations will be allowed to showcase their in-store inventory on Amazon.com, giving shoppers access to same-day delivery and in-store pickup options from those local, physical storefronts.
BigCommerce says instant commerce represents a new way to address a familiar challenge – how to drive greater local inventory turnover while meeting high fulfillment expectations. They say this new partnership will allow select retailers to surface locally available inventory to Prime and non-Prime members alike on their Amazon product listings.
Owide calls this capability “incredibly powerful for sellers,” adding, “you can get much better conversions with Amazon Today because you can get that product much more quickly.”
For more information and to see the full list of updates and integrations, click here.
