We often confuse B2C and B2B psychology.

B2C Shopper: Browsing on Sunday morning with a coffee. Wants to be inspired. Wants “Engagement”.
B2B Buyer: Ordering supplies on Tuesday at 4:55 PM. Wants to finish the task so they can pick up their kids. Wants “Done”. For the B2B buyer, your website is a Tool. If the tool is slow, clumsy, or confusing, they hate you. If the tool is fast, precise, and invisible, they love you. You don’t build loyalty with “Points”. You build loyalty with Respect for Time. This article introduces the concept of TTO (Time To Order) as the primary metric for B2B retention.

Why Maison Code Discusses This

We build the Wholesale Portals for brands like Stanhome. We watch session recordings of professional buyers. We see the frustration when they have to click 50 times to add 50 products. We see the relief when they use a “Quick Order Pad” to do it in 10 seconds. We discuss this because Efficiency is a Moat. If you save your customer 1 hour a week, they cannot afford to leave you.

1. The Metric: TTO (Time To Order)

Forget “Time on Site”. In B2B, a high “Time on Site” is bad. It means the user is struggling. We measure TTO: The number of seconds between “Login” and “Order Confirmed” for a repeat purchase.

The Benchmark:

Average Site: 15 minutes. (Search -> Click -> Add -> Back -> Search -> Click -> Add).
Good Site: 5 minutes. (Collection Page -> Add -> Add -> Add).
Maison Code Standard: 60 Seconds. (Reorder Button).

If you reduce TTO from 15 minutes to 1 minute, you just gave your customer back 14 minutes of their life. Over a year (52 orders), that is 12 hours. You just gave them a paid holiday. That is why they stay.

2. Feature 1: The “Buy It Again” Dashboard

80% of B2B orders are habitual. A Salon owner buys the same Shampoo every month. A Restaurant buys the same Flour every week. Don’t make them search for it. The Solution: On the Account Dashboard, the first thing they see is “Your Frequently Ordered Items”. Not a list. A grid with “Add to Cart” buttons pre-filled with their usual quantity. One click. Done. Or better: “One-Click Reorder”. Duplicate the entire last invoice into the cart. “Same as last week, but add 2 more towels.” This is 10x faster than browsing.

3. Feature 2: The Quick Order Pad (Matrix Ordering)

(See Matrix Ordering). Professional buyers think in “Lists”, not “Pictures”. They have a SKU list on a piece of paper. SH-001, Qty 10 SH-002, Qty 5 They don’t want to see big photos. They want a Spreadsheet Interface. The Quick Order Pad:

A simple form: SKU input, Qty input.
As they type “SH-00”, it autocompletes.
They tab to Quantity. Type “10”. Enter.
Next line. It allows them to enter 50 lines in 1 minute. This is “Power User” UX.

4. Feature 3: The Barcode Scanner Integration

If your buyer is in a warehouse or a stockroom, they are not at a desk. They are holding a mobile phone. Use the camera. The Strategy:

Print QR codes / Barcodes on your product packaging.
On your mobile site, add a “Scan to Order” button.
The camera opens. They scan the empty bottle on the shelf.
It adds to cart instantly. This connects the “Physical Depletion” (Empty bottle) to the “Digital Replenishment” (Order) in real-time.

5. Feature 4: CSV Upload (The ERP Bridge)

Big buyers (Distributors) live in their own ERP (SAP, NetSuite). They generate a Purchase Order (PO) in their system. They export it to CSV. Do not make them manually type that CSV into your website. The Solution: Drag & Drop CSV Upload.

They drag the file.
You parse it.
You match SKUs.
You fill the cart.
Error Handling: “Row 42 (SKU 999) is out of stock. We substituted it with SKU 1000. Accept?” This integration makes you “Sticky”. If their ERP exports a format that only you accept, the switching cost is infinite.

6. The Approval Workflow (Budget Control)

In big companies, the person “Buying” is not the person “Paying”. The Store Manager fills the cart. The Regional Manager pays. If you force them to share a password, you create friction. The Feature: Draft Orders & Approval.

Store Manager logs in. Fills Cart. Clicks “Request Approval”.
Regional Manager gets an email. “Store 5 wants to order $500.”
Regional Manager clicks “Approve”.
Order is placed. You solved their internal governance problem. You became their “Procurement Software”, not just their “Vendor”.

7. Custom Catalogs (The Signal to Noise Ratio)

A B2B distributor might have 10,000 SKUs. But Client A only buys “Hair Care”. Client B only buys “Skin Care”. If Client A searches for “Gel”, do not show them “Skin Gel”. Show them “Hair Gel”. The Strategy: Curated Catalogs. Use Shopify Companies (B2B) to assign specific Product Catalogs to specific Comapny Locations. Reduce the noise. Show them only what they are allowed to buy / likely to buy. This reduces search time and prevents ordering errors.

8. Financial Efficiency (The Invoice Portal)

Buyers spend huge amounts of time hunting for PDFs. “Where is the invoice for Order #123? Accounting needs it.” They email your support. You reply 4 hours later. Friction. The Solution: Self-Serve Finance Portal.

“Download All Invoices (Zip)”.
“Pay Outstanding Balance (Credit Card)”.
“View Statement”. Let them solve their own administrative problems without talking to a human.

9. The Intelligent Search Bar (Typo Tolerance)

B2B buyers type fast. They make mistakes. They type “Srews” instead of “Screws”. If your search returns “0 Results”, you failed. You must implement Algorithmic Search (Algolia/Klevu).

Synonyms: “Trousers” = “Pants”.
SKU Search: They search for “123-456”.
Part Search: They search for “Blade for Model X”. The Search Bar is the most used navigation element in B2B. Optimize it like a product.

10. The Mobile Reorder (The Field Rep)

Often, the buyer is not the owner. It is a “Field Sales Rep” visiting client sites. They stand in a client’s shop and say “I’ll order that for you right now.” They pull out their phone.

“Show me my last order for this location.”
“Dupicate.”
“Checkout.” If this takes more than 60 seconds, the Rep won’t do it. They will say “I’ll do it later”, and they will forget. Mobile TTO drives Field Sales compliance.

11. The Customer Service Buffer (Deflection)

Every time a B2B buyer calls your support line, you lose money. Support calls cost $10/call. If they call to ask “Is this in stock?”, your website failed. Strategy: Expose Real-Time Inventory. Don’t say “In Stock”. Say “243 Units in Warehouse A”. If they see the number, they trust it. They don’t call. Efficiency metric: Support Tickets per 100 Orders. Drive this to zero by putting the answer on the screen.

12. Conclusion

We talk about “Delight” in B2C. In B2B, Speed is Delight. Your website is an employee of their company. It is the “Procurement Clerk”. If the clerk is slow, they fire him. If the clerk is fast, accurate, and proactive, they promote him. Make your website the best employee they have.

Is your B2B site a bottleneck?

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