Software for B2B businesses has been around for some time now.

However, much of the most talked about B2B eCommerce software right now is a relatively recent development. There are still numerous solutions that are new to many businesses — especially the most recent advancements — and many companies are often hesitant to adopt new technology.

However, today, any truly successful B2B business or B2B marketplace would find it nearly impossible to function without using some kind of B2B eCommerce software, often several. There are now a wide variety of different B2B eCommerce platforms, frequently with their own proprietary B2B eCommerce software as its foundation.

The best B2B platforms have entire suites of features at their customers' disposal. Many have pretty much everything a brand needs to run their business from start to finish, either as a built-in component of their platform or available through seamless integrations.  

As you might imagine, having the most advanced and useful technology with a constantly expanding and updating collection of the best features to streamline and automate all areas of business comes at a cost. It takes many people with specialized knowledge and skills a lot of time and effort to build, maintain, and expand these B2B platforms.

While there are several options available at different price points and many have various plans to work with a range of budgets, there are always those seeking a way to avoid paying for these tools. They usually go out in search of free eCommerce platforms to use instead.

There's a reason this isn't a very popular strategy, though. You don't see top B2B eCommerce platforms forced to slash their B2B eCommerce software prices to compete with free eCommerce platforms because software is one of those areas where you definitely get what you pay for.

It's extremely unlikely that a free B2B platform would receive the same amount of support, time, and effort that dedicated B2B eCommerce software on a reputable B2B eCommerce platform would have. It would be difficult to dedicate the resources required to a free option.

It's also improbable that it would have as many highly trained experts developing it, the same quality of features available, or be able to provide the same caliber of eCommerce environment that a trusted B2B eCommerce software brand with a time-tested B2B platform can provide.

Is it possible to find free options? Absolutely, but they just can't match up to paid versions or offer the same results and level of success. The reason so many businesses are happy to pay a big B2B eCommerce platform for comprehensive and advanced B2B eCommerce software is because the value they provide far outweighs the cost, often leading to companies saving several times more money than they paid.  

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While there are a ton of software options on the market directed at businesses of all types,

many would say that B2B eCommerce websites have the most to gain from implementing software solutions into their business operations. This is due to the unique and complex nuances of the B2B industry.

B2B customers often have more complex and specific needs that B2B eCommerce software is more capable of meeting. They also frequently have higher expectations than the average B2C consumer likely will. That's why it's especially important to put a lot of thought and effort into the B2B eCommerce website development process. B2B consumers expect a certain level of professionalism and a company's website is often the first touchpoint.

The best B2B eCommerce websites have a clean and visually appealing B2B eCommerce website design that always prioritizes user experience (UX) and usability. Find some of the most successful businesses in your niche to use as B2B eCommerce website examples. Get a feel for what they're doing right and what elements you think would work well for your own site.

Don't worry, nobody expects you to be able to create your own website on par with the best B2B websites in the world all by yourself. You can hire a professional web designer to do it for you or use a website builder. There are a ton of platforms that let you create your website without any code and most of them have B2B eCommerce website templates to get you started.

When starting your search to find the best B2B eCommerce platform for your business, you might want to look at some aggregated lists.

A lot of websites publish annual lists of what they consider to be the top B2B platforms. These lists can be found on sites in a variety of different industries, some more relevant to the subject matter than others.

The sites you choose to use don't have to be in your niche to be useful. However, typically, websites focused on B2B eCommerce software (or even just business software generally) or ones connected to your niche will produce the best results for you. Those are the sites that will know what makes something a good B2B eCommerce software option or what needs your industry requires.  

There is a wide range of public B2B marketplaces and global B2B platforms out there. The best way to choose one is to know your business's needs and find the option that meets them most closely. A consumer goods retailer will have different needs than a manufacturer and businesses in the high-tech or medical devices industry might have advanced needs and specific requirements unique to them.

B2B wholesale platforms are a niche market that can especially benefit from B2B eCommerce software.

They often serve many large businesses, have extremely high order volumes, have to track and manage a lot more inventory, and deal with many other unique situations that require special attention.

That's why it's often the case that wholesale eCommerce platforms, B2B wholesale suppliers, and B2B wholesale apps are the most in need of excellent B2B software solutions to help make their business run more smoothly. One of the things these software solutions and platforms are best at is making business processes more efficient.

Some of the best B2B wholesale platforms made their way to the top by finding B2B eCommerce software solutions that could streamline their workflows and automate away many of their repetitive tasks. That's what makes leveraging this kind of business software so powerful.