Episode 69: Why Agile Process Is So Important For B2B eCommerce

The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerce podcast The Hard Truth About B2B eCommerce podcast continues onto the next episode by welcoming Ben Sharir, Director of B2B eCommerce for Estee Lauder, to discuss how agile processes affect the growth of B2B eCommerce.

Ben Sharir has been in eCommerce for decades and helped many companies scale to incredible sizes in eCommerce. He is currently the director of B2B eCommerce for Estee Lauder, one of the largest CPG firms in the world. Ben Sharir believes that agile is critical to the growth of B2B eCommerce because it can actually de-risk projects by either failing fast or figuring out key problems early on. This can lead to much better outcomes versus the analysis paralysis that often comes with waterfall-based projects.

Episode 69: Why Agile Process Is So Important For B2B eCommerce

In this episode, co-hosts Isaiah Bollinger, CEO of Trellis, and Timothy Peterson, President & COO of Speir Digital, Inc, are welcoming Ben Sharir, Director of B2B eCommerce for Estee Lauder, to discuss:

• Expanding to international marketplaces to generate over a million dollars in profits 
• Best practices to manage eCommerce technical projects
• Why API is replacing EDI slowly, and which one is better for your business
• How to create an individualized store approach
• What makes B2B more complex than B2C and why B2C is still ahead in adopting eCommerce strategies
• Converting existing B2B businesses to become digital
• How to have one integration and different experiences for B2B and B2C customers through technology consolidation
• Why B2B should look into headless architecture
• Real purpose of a B2B portal
• How the resistance of sales teams against eCommerce changed over the years
• How to compliment and empower your sales reps with eCommerce technology instead of competing with them
• Agile framework and how it is different from waterfall processes
• Some agile myths
• Importance of being involved into building the B2B community

This podcast’s origin story

Podcasts are still a relatively new medium for content, but just because they are new doesn’t mean they lack power. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Podcasts have a unique ability to reach people on their time, whenever it is convenient for them – a way that previously did not majorly exist. Podcast listeners can take the information wherever they go and absorb it as they see fit. And that’s exactly what we are looking to do here. We want to reach a new audience of B2B eCommerce enthusiasts.

This podcast is all about B2B eCommerce. B2B is a different breed of eCommerce and it needs a different breed of Podcast. We get into the nitty-gritty of integrations, adoption, platforms, data and so much more regarding what makes B2B difficult to make successful for eCommerce!

We noticed that a few B2C podcasts exist on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, but nothing designed for the B2B eCommerce community. B2B and B2C eCommerce have a lot of overlap, but even more differences. Each has a different set of requirements and customer demands that impact project scope. Let’s call a spade a spade. B2B is harder, more complicated, and harder to market. But it is also a bigger piece of the pie. The eCommerce B2B roadmap to success is not as cut and dry as B2C and that’s why we have started this podcast.

B2C platforms like Magento and Shopify have large communities that support and have done the entre-level work of most projects. The same community does not exist for B2B, but we are starting to build it. The ecosystem may not be as mature, but as experts in the space, we hope this podcast will help some people wake up and reevaluate their online sales strategy.

The first podcast examines major trends around B2B eCommerce as well as answering all of the above questions.  Take a listen for yourself and let us know what you think!

We will be posting new episodes with special guests weekly. You can listen on our dedicated podcast website and download the podcast on all major channels: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Overcast, Pocket Cast, Castro, Castbox, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Deezer, Listen Notes, and RSS Feed.