As the retail world shifts to a digitally driven economy, B2B companies are looking for innovative ways to drive growth and meet customer expectations. Many are taking advantage of drop ship, a proven approach to strengthen the supply chain and cost-effectively manage inventory to get products in the hands of consumers.

Here’s a look at 7 ways the drop-ship opportunity can benefit B2B. 

  1. Meet customer expectations. Drop shipping allows sellers to offer broader inventory and selection, which enhances loyalty and drives incremental revenue.
  2. Minimize inventory exposure. With multiple suppliers on tap via the drop-ship model, distributors are ready for spikes in volume, while keeping the customer experience intact.
  3. Reduce supply chain risk. The ability of a seller to offer products that are delivered directly from a supplier to the customer, or deliver the product directly to a branch location, reduces supply chain risk and gets items to customers faster.
  4. Strategically deepen product assortment. Identify eligible product categories and work with capable suppliers and manufacturers that align to increase the assortment of sellable products.
  5. Enable assortment expansion across all B2B channels. Drop shipping can be extended into all B2B selling channels—beyond just the ecommerce website. Electronic data interchange (EDI), punch out, and other forms of electronic order entry can be served.
  6. Gain a competitive advantage. An expanded assortment drives more revenue, keeps existing customers from looking elsewhere to meet their needs (increasing wallet share), and helps acquire new customers as they search for products.
  7. Preserve capital. Drop shipping is an exceptionally capital efficient model for B2B firms. It delivers all the competitive and operational advantages of a broad assortment without the costs associated with owned inventory.

Drop-Ship Works for B2B

Some of the largest and most successful distributors, such as Grainger, Staples, and Cardinal Health, have used drop shipping extensively, and relied on it more than ever as demand has shifted to digital channels. What makes drop shipping so powerful from a return on investment (ROI) standpoint is that the risks and operating costs associated with inventory ownership are removed. And when drop shipping is effectively executed, it’s a seamless customer experience, fully aligned with your brand and the buyer’s expectations when ordering for direct delivery. 

Drop shipping, when well implemented with an experienced partner like Rithum, can arm distributors with a powerful weapon in the ongoing competitive battle for buyers’ attention, while simultaneously enabling the delivery of an exceptional customer experience. 

Click here to download The Hidden Growth Lever: B2B Ecommerce and Drop Shipping white paper developed by BECK Ecommerce in collaboration with Rithum.

Click here to watch an on-demand webinar to learn more about the B2B drop-ship opportunity.