When you’re selling to businesses, your buyers will likely request to Pay by Invoice with Net Terms or Buy Now and Pay later (BNPL). This study shows that the majority of B2B buyers prefer to Pay by Invoice when they buy online. Offering this option can therefore attract new buyers and retain existing ones while growing revenue per customer.
Knowing this, merchants and marketplaces have a choice to make: build a solution themselves or outsource this process to a B2B payments (or Buy-Now-Pay-Later) provider. Although some businesses have tried the former approach, the majority of merchants and marketplaces realize that working with a B2B payments platform provider can ensure a seamless buying journey, reduce the need for heavy tech investments, and simplify financial operations.
Given that there are many options out there, this blog is intended to help you understand what to look for and select the right B2B payment provider for your business. Let’s dive in!
Table of Content
Key Factors when Considering a B2B BNPL provider
Built-for B2B
Seamless buyer payment experience
Buyer and transaction coverage
Easy implementation and expert support
Cost-effective solution
Key Factors when Considering a B2B BNPL Provider:
When you know what to look for in a B2B BNPL solution, you’re only steps away from game-changing results. Let’s break down some of the most important characteristics:
Built-for B2B
B2B buying journeys are often more complex than B2C journeys, and most industries have their intricacies and requirements. So it’s essential to onboard a BNPL solution that can support your buying journey, payment flow, and industry-specific requirements. While a lot of providers support B2B transactions on paper, many look like consumer BNPL providers with B2B lipstick on. In particular, look for solutions that can handle B2B-specific cases like:
Multichannel commerce. Not all transactions happen online. Other times, they can take place in-store or even at a trade show. In other instances, your (tele)sales team may want to check a buyer’s credit limit through a portal then upload invoices and transactions there.
Order pricing adjustments. Often the initial order amount may differ from the final invoice amount due to unforeseen changes in the production process or updated specs. In other cases, there might be multiple invoices for a single order or vice versa. Ensure that a payment provider can handle these expectations.
Buyer approvals before the check-out. Many B2B buyers can only pay by invoice. So they want to know if they’ve been approved or not for net payment terms before arriving at the checkout (e.g. when they create an account).
Large orders are paid in installments. Big orders are common in the B2B commerce space, so buyers like the option to pay for such purchases in installments. For example, spreading the cost of a purchase over 90 days.
Your B2B BNPL solution should account for such scenarios and more to ensure correct repayment and boost conversion rates.
Seamless buyer experience
Your payment experience greatly influences how buyers perceive and interact with your company. So, it's vital to make every transaction count. This is true for every step of the payment process: from the buyer approval process, to check out, to the eventual transfer of funds.
To ensure your payment journey strengthens the relationship between you and your buyers, onboard a solution that offers frictionless B2B BNPL payments. Particularly, your provider should have:
Minimum interference in the buying process: Every step (new) buyers need to take to complete a purchase will reduce conversion and growth. Carefully scrutinize the need for buyers to create accounts or fill in forms with the payments provider and opt for a provider that offers a seamless buying experience.
Prioritize your buyer experience: Your relationship with your buyers is key. Therefore, you may consider branding a payment solution as if it were your own, to strengthen trust between you and your buyer. We suggest checking if payment providers offer their solution white label.
Localize the payment experience: can buyers pay their invoices with a payment method they prefer - including country-specific methods like iDeal or Bancontact. Additionally, can buyers transfer money to local IBANs?
Buyer coverage
B2B Commerce rarely focuses on a single market. You probably want to offer Pay by Invoice to all your buyers in different markets and don’t want to work with multiple providers to do so.
Most providers only cover a selection of 5 - 10 countries, potentially limiting the experience in markets that are important for you. Look for a provider that can cover most of your geographies - ideally all - with high coverage within the markets that you operate in.
Furthermore, assess the buyer and transaction coverage. Being present in a country is one thing, ensuring that most are accepted to Pay by Invoice is a crucial second step. Rejected applications could have negative knock-on effects like manual tasks, poor customer experience, and lost revenue. Three key metrics are important to review when selecting a provider:
Match rate: Assess how many prospects and customers your B2B BNPL provider can find during their due diligence - including businesses that are harder to find like sole proprietors.
Acceptance rate: Research how many buyers the provider typically approves. For best results, look for a provider with an acceptance rate of over 90% with automated decisions in real-time.
Credit limit: Analyze whether the credit limits offered to buyers are high enough to support their purchases. Credit limits can go anywhere from €5k to €100k depending on the provider. Furthermore, zoom in on the payment terms and check whether buyers can use their credit limits as a revolving credit line. This helps incentivize buyers to come back for multiple purchases.
Easy implementation and expert support
When onboarding new solutions to your payment stack, questions and teething issues can crop up during implementation. Confirm whether the B2B BNPL provider has a support team with knowledge of your business to ensure they’ll answer your queries quickly. Also, check the solution’s API documentation to learn if plug-ins, SDKs, or other methods are available to make integration smooth and easy.
Cost-effective solution
Price is a critical factor when selecting a service provider. While the cheapest solution doesn’t automatically mean the best, look for one that gives you the flexibility to pay for what you need.
Some merchants use a B2B BNPL provider to get paid faster, while others just want a B2B BNPL provider to offer a seamless journey and simplify financial operations. Getting paid immediately often comes at a higher cost. Meanwhile, if merchants can wait for the payment to come in later, this can reduce the fees paid. As a merchant, the flexibility to decide when you want to get paid (ideally invoice by invoice) allows you to optimize costs for your business at that moment.
Sprinque's Dynamic Settlement
allows you to select your preferred settlement date per invoice
Another area where you might want flexibility is passing the payment fees on to the buyer - or part of it. You may want to offer a certain payment term for free while offering longer payment terms at an additional charge.
Finally, it’s important to get clarity on the fees that are charged to the buyer, including late fees. Some providers charge late fees, which aren’t always clear upfront. Make sure you have all the information before you start so there are no surprises.
The steps to finding your B2B BNPL match
Implementing a B2B BNPL solution offers a fantastic way to speed up sales cycles, bolster revenue, and become a top choice for your customers. We hope this article strengthens your knowledge of what to look for in a partner.
Want to know more about how to choose the right BNPL for your B2B business? Reach out and we are happy to help.
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