To help further online commerce plans with easier B2B payments, MSTS has teamed with Equip solution provider GenAlpha. The ability to create loyalty via frictionless eCommerce has taken on higher importance as manufacturing firms need to adapt quicker to digital channels because of the pandemic, according to a Monday (Sept. 21) announcement.
“The adoption of eCommerce in manufacturing has traditionally been slower than other industries, but given the sizable recent increase in online buying in light of the global pandemic, manufacturers are rapidly pivoting their strategies to meet buyer expectations and stay competitive,” MSTS President Brandon Spear said in the announcement.
Those who use Equip will now be able to simplify transactions, offer immediate onboarding and bill payments via the Credit-as-a-Service (CaaS) offering of MSTS via the collaboration. Moreover, GenAlpha clients that harness CaaS will be able to use a client portal that offers a full listing of all bills and a view into their credit lines.
Distributors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and dealers have the ability to speed up the payments process and enjoy the upsides of GenAlpha as well as MSTS technology, according to the announcement. As it stands, more than 30 manufacturing brands use GenAlpha’s Equip to supervise their aftermarket equipment business via the web.
Even with efforts to attain a business-to-consumer (B2C)-like purchasing experience, B2B manufacturers have a long way to progress before they can provide such functionality. In sectors such as heavy industrial machinery, products are complicated, and the types of choices that the clients of manufacturers require are many times far more numerous than the average shoppers might require for, say, purchasing footwear.
But Tacton Systems AB Vice President Nick Thompson told PYMNTS that technology is currently available to provide such an experience. Manufacturers require a significant mindset shift — one that transitions the focus from the seller to the purchaser — to stay competitive and please the buyer.