Here’s How Parker Hannifin Corp. Is Using B2B Portals to Boost Customer Experience

As we’ve discussed elsewhere in this article series, B2B buyers today expect the same kind of experience they receive in their B2C interactions ever when making purchases in a professional capacity.

This is leading many brands to adopt lessons from the B2C space and use those strategies and techniques to provide a customer experience more in line with customer expectations.

This trend is only going to become more pronounced as time moves on. Thanks to the proliferation of remote working brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic the lines between our working and personal lives have become increasingly blurred. As the barriers between work and life are broken down, the experiences we expect in those interactions will become similarly blurred.

Thanks to digital technology, B2B companies are now able to provide better customer experiences than ever before which is exactly what motion and control technology provider Parker Hannifin Corp. has achieved.

LORD Corporation

When it was looking to supercharge its B2B customer experience, Parker Hannifin Subsidiary, LORD Corporation knew it needed an ecommerce online ordering system which could meet the expectations of its global client base.

As a diversified technology and manufacturing company, producing adhesives, coatings, motion management devices, and sensing technologies for numerous industries, such as oil & gas, industrial, automotive, and aerospace, LORD required a robust ecommerce platform which could hold up to the pressures of modern business while providing a great customer experience.

"Our old system was on-premises," said Manager of Global Desktop Applications, Jane Mascia. "Moving forward, we knew we wanted a cloud-based solution. We also had a wish list of new features from our customers. For example, several wanted the ability to upload CSV files for bulk ordering. Mobile access, and the ability for distributors and account managers to process simple orders via the web, were important as well."

LORD Corp. needed the new platform to run on its existing SAP infrastructure and wanted to be able to facilitate easy data management with no duplication. For example, if the IT team at LORD changed business rules in SAP, they needed to be confident the changes would appear instantly in the new ecommerce portal so that customers maintained a consistent experience throughout.

"We wanted to find a vendor and solution that would let us keep everything in SAP," continued Mascia. "In other words, we didn’t want to recreate data and business rules on our eCommerce website. Our motto is, ‘If you can do it in SAP, that’s where it should stay.’ We wanted our website to be a reflection of our SAP system, not a recreation of it. And we wanted a vendor that shared our philosophy."

Focus Groups

After choosing B2B ecommerce platform provider, Corevist to bring its plans into reality, focus groups were carried out with real LORD customers by asking them why they couldn’t put the software into action immediately.

By asking this question, LORD and Corevist was able to deduce what dealers and distributers want from the ecommerce platforms they engage with and make sure the final product contained only necessary features without any superfluous addons which only serve to distract from the core experience and slow things down.

• Commerce suite with 1 microsite
• UX with rich content, intelligent search, mobile readiness, & more
• Easy bulk ordering/SKU-based ordering for power users
• Full integration to SAP ECC 6.0 (prebuilt & configurable)
• Functionality built for B2B

And it worked. Since the new portal launched, LORD has seen a 41.5% increase in monthly revenue, a 31.8% boost to monthly transactions, and a rise of 44.4% in monthly sessions.

"Overall, we’ve gotten really positive feedback," said Customer Service and Technical Support Manager, Rachel Rich. "Our customers say it’s easy to use and they really appreciate some of the new features, like the ability to bulk upload orders with a CSV file. Corevist’s implementation process is a very iterative, customer focused and extremely effective. Their agile methodology helped us stay on track and meet every single deadline – to the day."

Final Thoughts

By listening to the customer and making sure LORD Corporation’s new ecommerce portal had all the tools needed to create better customer experiences more in line with B2C sensibilities, Parker Hannifin Corp. has made all the right moves to improve engagement and sales through its subsidiary.

B2C and B2B are going to continue to become increasingly blurred as time moves on and brands would do well to take a leaf out of Parker Hannifin’s book and consider learning the same lessons.

The line between B2B and B2C is sure to be a hot topic at B2B Online Orlando 2022, taking place in November at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa, FL.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.