To help licensed B2B sellers boost sales and success, we’ve compiled a list of Best Practices vendors should consider when building, maintaining, promoting, or optimizing their Cultivera Market B2B menu and order portal.
Setting Up A Cultivera Market B2B Order Portal
We built the Cultivera Market platform to connect licensed vendors with qualified B2B purchasers at the click of a button. With such high value, the Cultivera Market platform continues to grow and expand, year after year. As it does, we know more and more operators have questions about successfully utilizing this popular e-commerce system.
While this is especially true for new vendors just getting started, it also applies to those who’ve used the Cultivera Market for years. Because ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether you’re brand new or have been selling in the Marketplace since its launch. There’s never a bad time to evaluate your B2B order portal for opportunities to optimize, and give it a boost!
For example, when first getting started, many vendors begin by setting things up to be everything as easy for their team, or as fast, as possible. Though this makes sense initially, it can backfire.
The workflows that seem most convenient for internal teams may not always create the most engaging, or successful, shopping experience for potential buyers. And unfortunately, when these kinds of things happen your team may not always know the reason activity is low. That’s why it’s so important to regularly review your menu for opportunities to improve.
To help sellers get the most success out of their Cultivera Market order portal as possible, we’ve compiled a list of best practices to consider when setting up or updating any Cultivera Market menu.
So if you’re a vendor looking to set up your Cultivera Market online menu, or improve a menu you’ve had for a while, this article is for you! Check out the following list of five simple ways you can boost the success of any Cultivera Market B2B order portal.
1. Utilize Listings
In the Cultivera Marketplace, Listings allow you to separate inventory based on categories, type, brand, or however makes sense for your products.
Since Listings are the first thing retail shoppers will see on your menu, it is a good idea to utilize these categories for your products, using at least 3-5 different Listings, or as many as makes sense for your inventory.
Using too few Listings can result in multiple types of products being lumped into a single Listing, which makes it harder for Retail shoppers to find what they may be looking for. If multiple types of product categories are housed in one Listing, they may not show up in search results.
For this reason, Listing names should include the keywords retailers will most likely use when searching for products within that category.
Utilizing multiple, clearly named Listings helps the correct categories to appear when keywords are entered in the Search bar. As a result, this makes it easier for purchasers to find individual products.
Altogether, properly segmenting these categories allows shoppers to quickly find what they’re looking for, saving them time while increasing the chances of them placing an order.
Did You Know?
The fastest way to fill a cart is using the Add To Cart buttons in any vendor’s Main Menu!
These shortcuts allow purchasers to choose from any products in that Listing and instantly return to the Menu, without being diverted to their Cart!
2. Include Descriptions
We highly recommend utilizing the custom Description sections of all individual Listings and Products, to maximize your menu’s appeal.
As retail purchasers are shopping the Cultivera Marketplace without assistance from your sales team, they want to know more about products than just their name, price, and percentages. That’s where Descriptions come in.
Listing Descriptions appear on individual Listing pages, below the Listing Photo on the right. Listing Descriptions are a great place to describe that category of product, guide the shopper toward new and highlighted inventory, or tell your brand story. Some vendors even use this space to post updates of seasonal information, such as promotional sales, or lists of currently available strains/cultivars.
Product Descriptions are visible when any product’s Information button is selected. This is the ideal place to share details about the product, or highlight what’s unique about it.
Think of your menu portal as a shopping catalog, and give your products descriptions that clearly demonstrate its value. Some vendors use this space to detail plant lineage, or describe package sizes or availability.
3. Upload Photos
When it comes to selling products, there’s a rule that retailers across the country keep in mind: if shoppers can’t see it, they can’t buy it. This makes Product Photos critical to building interest in your products!
In the interest of time, some new Market vendors may utilize as few photos as possible, even reusing the same photos for multiple Listings, Products, and Inventory. However, this may backfire and cause less interest in individual products, saving time initially but possibly losing money in the long run.
Although related products can have the same images, we highly suggest using unique photographs for each product as often as possible.
Listing Photos act as cover images for each Listing category. Since they are the first things shoppers will see in your Main Menu, these photos are a great way to give shoppers an overall idea of the products within that Listing.
Product Photos are ideal for showing off each product at its best. While having professionally done photographs is the gold standard, the most important thing is that all images are clear, and products are fully visible.
When photographing packaging, try to make sure all text is legible. If you can’t, it’s a good idea to include any packaging text in the relevant Description, so shoppers get a complete understanding of the product.
Don’t forget that you can attach multiple photos per product, so feel free to utilize multiple visuals within each product to show off your inventory!
We suggest a combination of photos that show products from multiple angles, both in and out of its packaging. Having multiple photos like this allows potential purchasers to get a 360° view of the product. This is also a great place to put product-specific branding or promotional images, like labels, product line logos, or graphics that illustrate the strain name.
A Note On Utilizing Animations
The Cultivera Market platform allows you to upload animated .gif files for most images. These are a fantastic way to help your brand and product visuals stand out from the crowd.
Some vendors utilize animated gifs in their Logo, Listing Photos, or Product photos. Many even change these animations out seasonally, to highlight upcoming holidays or promotional sales. Check out a few examples on the right.
4. Consider The Buyer's Experience
As mentioned above, it’s fairly common for new Cultivera Market vendors to initially try setting up their Marketplace quickly, in a way that seems the fastest, easiest, or most convenient to their team. While completely understandable, this process often leaves out the most critical part of any e-commerce portal: the purchaser.
Remember to always browse your menu from the Buyer’s side. While browsing, click around, build a cart, and think about what your potential purchasers are experiencing at every level of the shopping process.
Consider how your Menu, Listings, Images, Descriptions, COAs, and Products appear to retailers looking at your menu, and keep the following questions in mind:
- Is your Logo clear and visible?
- Are the photos clear and packaging text legible?
- What images, information, or value points might be missing?
- Do any sections feel too small, too large, or overwhelming to the viewer?
- Are your current promotional sales, or seasonal product lists, visible?
This is a critical last step in setting up your menu. Since the simplest workflows for your team may not create the most engaging experience for potential customers, always check to make sure they’re having the shopping experience you expect.
Your Cultivera Market B2B order portal is essentially a catalog that allows Retail Purchasers to shop your products any time, without assistance. So make sure potential purchasers can easily find and read about the products you want to get out the door.
5. Promote Your B2B Menu
When ready, don’t forget to promote your Cultivera Market portal! Whether it’s through regular email updates to retailers, social media posts, or using “Find Us On Cultivera Market” badges on websites or email signatures, it’s time to get the word out!
Take the time to promote your Cultivera Market B2B order portal by sharing it with your existing (and potential) retail partners. All you have to do is let potential purchasers know where they can find your menu! This can be done with a unique landing page that diverts potential buyers to your current menu, email updates or newsletters, or with banners that send users to the Cultivera Market login page when clicked.
Promoting a Cultivera Market B2B order portal is even easier now that Washington vendors can utilize direct menu links to send connected retailers straight to their menu.
In the past, some vendors have directed potential purchasers to the Cultivera Market demo sign-up page. However, it’s worth noting that over 96% of Washington of retailers already shop Cultivera Market! This means that most i502 Retail purchasers may already have an account, and don’t need to sign up.
So, when not linking directly to your B2B menu, it’s best to link to the Cultivera Market login page, where existing users can easily log in and find your menu in the available markets page.
Plus, when developing creative content don’t forget to reach out to our team for our easy-to-use promotional assets. We offer a selection of simple badges and banners for promoting your order portal, such as the “Find Us On The Cultivera Market” badge, pictured on the left.
New and existing vendors can also reach out about our Cultivera Market Promotion Guide, currently available by request only! ✨
Learn more about promoting your B2B order portal on the blog, in “3 Ways to Promote Your Online Market,” and “How To Drive B2B Traffic To Your Cultivera Market Portal.”
More About Cultivera Market
If you still have questions about setting up your Cultivera Market menu in any way, check out the setup and configuration resources available in our Self Help Library.
You can also give our Support team a shout by email any time!
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