Most of us are familiar with the online shopping experience. And most of us likely have online retailers that we prefer. 

What attracts you as a shopper when you have several ecommerce stores that sell the same merchandise? What is it about a specific user experience that may earn your loyalty? 

Many merchants realize two specific areas can make or break the customer experience. And it shouldn’t be too surprising that they go hand in hand with the in-person experience shoppers expect when they shop in physical stores. 

They expect to be able to see—and maybe even touch—the items they’re considering purchasing, and they want the checkout process to be quick and painless. Everyone hates long lineups at the cashier, and even worse a cashier who doesn’t know what they’re doing. 

For the online shopper, that means they like the ability to see what they’re buying, and if they can magnify items, that’s a bonus. It also means a smooth checkout process. 

Why Should Your Wholesale Customers be Treated Any Different? 

There are a lot of wholesale websites online. Unfortunately, for the most part, it seems as though wholesale shoppers don’t get the type of user experience a consumer expects. 

Many wholesale websites are a mere step up from being nothing more than a data dump. An SKU, a brief description, pricing, and if a buyer is fortunate a teeny, tiny image. And all of this is simply laid out in a table format, line after line. 

To be fair, many of these sites have been online for decades. And these wholesales seem to be doing just fine.

But why shouldn’t wholesale shoppers, perhaps those in your downstream, get an exceptional shopping experience? If not an identical experience to what they get when personal shopping online, at least close to it? 

Give Your Wholesale Customers a Loyalty Inducing Experience

Startups or small business owners likely don’t have the flexibility or freedom that well-established businesses such as those mentioned above might have. 

A great way to build loyalty is to make sure all customers are happy. Give them what every shopper expects. 

Flowsmith provides the tools to do exactly that. This QuickBooks Desktop add-on provides downstream customers and even sales reps with a portal to look at merchandise, check stock, and place their orders. A portal that looks like any other ecommerce storefront. A look and feel they would be familiar with. 

They say a picture paints a thousand words. Have you ever held off purchasing something online either because there was no image, or the image wasn’t sufficient? This isn’t an issue with Flowsmith. Customers don’t need to guess about products, they can see them. And if products are available in different options, such as a selection of colors, there’s a way to provide a visual of that as well. 

And remember, it’s not just about giving someone the ability to see a product they’re interested in purchasing. As stated above, once a purchase decision is made, buyers want the checkout process to be as painless as possible. 

In many wholesale environments, customers need to place orders via sales reps, or phone, fax, or email. With Flowsmith, they are in control. Just like a typical ecommerce site, once they have made their selection and added it to the shopping cart, they can just breeze through the checkout process. 

Are you a new or existing wholesaler looking for a way to make happy customers? Happy customers, that become loyal customers? 

Consider adding Flowsmith to your software stack. 

‍