3 of Our Contrarian Beliefs on B2B eCommerce 

The possibilities for B2B ecommerce in 2025 are infinite. 

There are so many new tools, far more opportunities, and a growing customer base that all set the scene for something great. 

But while most industry chatter tends to echo the same themes—speed, automation, and personalization—there are a few ideas we believe really warrant your attention this year. 

They challenge the status quo, spark endless debates, and will define the future of ecommerce success. So, here are three of our top-of-mind contrarian beliefs about B2B ecommerce software.  

1/ Plug-and-Play Isn’t Just Marketing Hype 

Let’s address the elephant in the room: are “plug-and-play” platforms all they’re cracked up to be? Or, more specifically, are they really “plug-and-play”? 

For years, businesses were promised seamless integrations, only to get bogged down in months of custom development and troubleshooting. 

This has led to the assumption that plug-and-play solutions are rigid, generic, and incapable of meeting the complex needs of B2B.  

No wonder skepticism runs high. But plug-and-play functionality is real—if you’re using the right tools. 

Today’s leading platforms are built with smarter APIs, pre-configured integrations, and user-friendly interfaces that actually deliver on this promise. 

In B2B ecommerce, plug-and-play platforms are designed with industry-specific functionalities that cater to unique business requirements, whether you’re dealing with spare parts, building materials, or intricate ERP integrations like Dynamics or SAP.

Does that mean every integration will magically happen without effort? No. But when your tech stack and processes are built to support this simplicity, you’d be surprised how far plug-and-play can go in reducing headaches and accelerating your launch timeline. 

The real power of a plug-and-play solution is its ability to get you live faster without compromising on functionality. 

These platforms are far from “set it and forget it” tools. Instead, they’re built to evolve with your business. As your needs change, the platform can adapt, allowing continuous improvements while still being speedy and efficient. 

This approach accelerates time-to-value and gives businesses a competitive edge by letting them respond quickly to market demands.

Hot take: Using a tool that’s ready to go for you is really powerful. 

And that doesn’t mean you have to compromise on functionality because there are really good platforms out there that are ready to go. 

The benefit is you can get live faster, and then change, adapt, and configure with any SaaS platform as you move forward. So, as your business changes, you can change as well, but you’ve got a faster time to value. 

When you find a great platform that’s ready to go for you, there’s a very good chance the team will understand your space and understand your integration with your ERP too. They’ll understand your vertical, so they’ll know what functionalities you’ll need. 

2/ You Don’t Need to Use an Agency 

Traditional thinking often follows the route of: idea > hire an agency > execute. 

And while agencies have their place, they’re not the only option (and definitely not always the best option for B2B businesses). 

The thing to remember here is that B2B ecommerce is worlds apart from B2C. 

It’s less about flashy front-end design and more about functionality that serves real business needs. Customers care about seeing accurate product listings, personalized pricing, order histories, ERP-integrated data, invoice management, and easy comms with customer service.

These priorities often get overlooked when the focus is solely on aesthetics, which is often what agencies home in on. 

Platforms tailored to specific industries understand these nuances better than a generalist agency. They come with pre-built features that align with common B2B workflows and so reduce costs, get rid of hidden fees, and deliver faster, more reliable results. 

Plus, working with these kinds of platforms often means fixed costs and clear deliverables, unlike the often variable pricing structures of agencies. 

Hot take: We’re not faulting agencies at all here—they can be great for many things, but it’s important to determine whether they’re right for you. 

You have to think about what’s important to the end customer. What do they really want? Ultimately, they want to know that when they go on a page, they can see the products they buy, the prices they pay, and their full order history. They want to be able to pay invoices and send messages to customer support. 

All these things are so important, but agencies tend to adopt a front-end first approach. So, if you haven’t already got all the information that customers need to transact with you in the B2B space, it’s pretty pointless. 

3/ You Can Launch Quickly Without Sacrificing Quality 

There’s a pervasive belief that launching an ecommerce site quickly means cutting corners on quality. But that’s simply not true. 

In fact, speed can be a strategic advantage if you choose the right platform.

We might sound like a broken record here, but it is all about having the right platform and tools at your fingertips. 

For example, Experlogix’s pre-built functionalities and ERP integrations are designed especially for the intricacies of B2B which means businesses can go live in as little as six weeks. 

We often encourage our first-time ecommerce customers to soft launch really quickly with a few customers to get the feedback they need to iterate and improve. You can always refine and change your direction based on what real-life customers think. 

But the sooner you’re out there, the sooner you can start getting that value and that feedback that’s really going to give you a competitive edge. 

Hot take: Fast =/= bad. 

Quick launches allow for agile, iterative improvements based on real customer feedback, rather than prolonged development cycles that delay time-to-market and revenue generation.

A fast launch also doesn’t mean you’re locked into a static product. The best platforms support continuous refinement and evolve as you grow. This approach can get you ROI quicker and give you the tools to adapt and respond ASAP to customer feedback. 

When you work with a dedicated platform built specifically for B2B companies, you’re also working with a team that understands what you want and need. They do this all the time, so they know what works and what doesn’t. This can dramatically speed up your time-to-market without sacrificing quality and customer needs.

Forget What You’ve Heard Before

Challenging “conventional” wisdom can feel uncomfortable but it can also open the door to new opportunities in B2B ecommerce.

By rethinking what “plug-and-play” really means, questioning the necessity of digital agencies, and embracing the possibility of fast, high-quality launches, you can start to carve your own pathway to ongoing success. 

No, plug-and-play doesn’t mean generic and rigid. It can be a great way to get hands-on expert advice from people who’ve been there and done it before.

No, you don’t always need an agency. Instead, focus on getting all the information your customers need first and then making your ecommerce website look nice. 

No, fast launches don’t necessarily mean sacrificing quality. In fact, launching faster comes with a ton of pros—you can get feedback quickly and iterate your strategy in real time to get to market faster. 

There’s one thread that ties all three of these contrarian beliefs together: choosing the right platform. None of this is possible if you don’t have a dedicated, B2B-specific platform on hand that understands your customers’ unique wants and needs and can evolve to match your growing business. 


Need an eCommerce solution to scale your B2B business the right way? Book an intro call with us here.