Partner Guest Blog by Balance

How to overcome three common objections to digital payment adoption in B2B

In B2B ecommerce, payments play a crucial role in determining a business’s success. A seamless and convenient payment process is a major customer expectation, making it essential for merchants to prioritize payment innovation.

However, despite its criticality, introducing changes to the payment process can often face resistance from stakeholders. To overcome these objections, it’s crucial for merchants to understand the common objections and how to address them effectively. By doing so, they can more easily embrace change and take advantage of the benefits that come with payment innovation in the digital age.

I don’t have the time to deal with payments

Merchants have a lot to deal with in taking their business online. And with the complex nature of payments – from collections to credit management – focusing on innovating there can feel overwhelming. Just getting a functional store, with the right platform, ERP integrations, and PIM software can feel like enough.

But the truth is, API-first platforms with strong native integrations, like Balance, are specifically designed and developed to reduce the time, effort, and resources involved in tech innovation. So while the concept that B2B payments are complex is true, digitization does not have to be time-consuming. It may take some effort of initial development, but the end result is for the long term.

That is perhaps the greatest culture shift that distributors are up against: B2B ecommerce has introduced tremendous growth opportunities for the industry—ones on a new and different scale than previously known. To meet that growth, some movement forward is required. Luckily, strong B2B payment platforms come with that agility, scale, and flexibility built in.

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I have my loyal customer base that have paid the same way for the last decade. Why should I change?

This question also ties back to the challenge of adjusting to a growth mindset. While customers might have their preferred payment method, customer acquisition is an inevitable part of the digitization of B2B. More customers will move online. And for loyal offline customers that want to purchase from you online, the experience matters. Because the trust and relationship and sales efficiency delivered offline shouldn’t be lost online, but improved.

The business buyer is ultimately a consumer and as that line becomes blurred, the online experience needs to not only enhance loyalty but build it among new segments of customers. After all, more than 80% of business buyers hold their ecommerce channel to the same or higher standard as other channels.

The long-tail segment of customers is an incredible use case for online commerce payments and terms. There are many customers in this segment, and they don’t spend much. Because of this segment’s size, extending terms can be a huge resource. But ignoring this segment means missing out on growth opportunities and sales. With fast, self-serve access to terms online, merchants can benefit from long-tail segment sales, without the overhead.

Payments do not impact my bottom line

Payment costs are often just assumed as an inevitable part of doing business. Credit granting, AR reconciliation and collections come at a cost. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement. For example, even reducing a day or two of accounts receivable can bring immediate savings.

If a merchant has to wait 30 days to get paid, that’s cash that can’t be put towards the business. And with cash tied up, margins only get thinner. Getting paid instantly and reducing the time it takes to collect outstanding payments brings immediate relief to the balance sheet by accelerating days sales outstanding (DSO).

And then there’s the sales impact. Extending terms online opens the door to sales that customers otherwise wouldn’t be able to make without access to financing. If all ecommerce sales were handled via credit card payment, you can imagine a portion of customers that would need greater value and volume amounts than a credit card could support. Offering a diverse mix of payment methods ensures that you can take full advantage of the 1.6 trillion online U.S. B2B sales opportunity.

Final thoughts

The reality is that payments can pose a significant challenge for merchants. However, by exploring the benefits of digitization, such as reducing manual and tedious AR and streamlining sales with a self-serve payment experience, it becomes a more compelling and exciting opportunity to build for the future. Reach out to Balance to learn more.

How can Calashock help with B2B ecommerce?

We are Award-winning BigCommerce specialists with 13 years of experience helping businesses accelerate their growth with sensational ecommerce transformations. We understand the unique challenges faced by B2B merchants and how to design and build tailored websites and tech stacks that maximise ROI. Whether you are looking to implement a new payment solution or re-platform your store. Get in touch with our expert team if you’re ready for the next step in your ecommerce journey.