Alex Sayyah03.23.22
Not so long ago, phone calls, pen-and-paper invoices and computers with monochrome displays facilitated most transactions in medical device manufacturing. Today, warp-speed e-commerce rules the roost. Convenient and customizable for the unique needs of precision manufacturers, e-commerce is imperative for business success today.
Nearly all commercial activities involving medical products rely upon e-commerce. Device makers order supplies and exchange specs online. They provide machines and manage payments with patients, insurance companies and healthcare systems online. Their attorneys and regulators who oversee compliance correspond online. No one has time to waste when just a few clicks will get the job done. That’s why the healthcare e-commerce market is forecasted to reach almost $436 billion through 2025, according to Adroit Market Research.
What makes for the best e-commerce platforms that the current and next generation of medical device manufacturers, their customers and regulators are now demanding? The same qualities that optimize any online customer experience. In fact, medical device manufacturers can learn three important lessons from many of the changes that have swept through the e-commerce world in general in recent years:
Compared to Generation X and the Baby Boomers, millennials view the Internet as their first, if not their only, means of engagement. Around 44 percent of B2B decision-makers are currently millennials, according to the Mx Group, for example. Thirty-three percent self-identify as market influencers.
A recent study found that more than 70 percent of millennials want to interact with salespeople only midway through the decision-making process. The Covid pandemic has greatly increased these rates. A current, post-pandemic study of all business decision-drivers concluded that as many as 80 percent favor digital communications or remote connections to face-to-face interaction, including telehealth. At the start of the seller-seeking process, millennials are proactive, investigating possible sellers through the web, preferring to educate themselves about the advantages and importance of items and services than listening to a sales pitch from the outset.
The future in many ways is already here. A great deal of non-millennial corporate leaders know that e-commerce is necessary to maximize business success. They have wisely invested in advanced e-commerce, including in the medical device space, in the same way they have invested in laser welding and laser cutting equipment for the most advanced devices.
Many B2C companies use omnichannel e-commerce platforms to relate data effortlessly through many media – from laptops to smartphones – so that everyone from the manufacturer to a reconditioner can conduct business through online shops, sales apps, delivery services and face-to-face interactions. These approaches are easily adaptable to medical device manufacturers. Omnichannel, compared to multi-channel and single channel, allows for the most customized consumer experiences.
To achieve these goals, more medical device companies, like B2C firms, are using subscription-based, software-as-a-service, or SaaS, solutions to join their warehouses, finance, ERP systems, digital stores and other assets. By using an array of B2C-inspired digital approaches, medical device companies can take advantage of several e-commerce benefits that include a more robust market scope, more effective management of vendors and customers, augmented engagement of clients through sales forces, and sharper insights grounded upon analytics.
Follow this trail and medical device makers arrive at their foremost goal: profit maximization through greater sales capacity of life-saving products.
Businesses at every level of the medical device market today must offer a paramount e-commerce experience. For that, they need the best e-commerce solutions in a single, robust platform. Otherwise, they may as well turn back the clock, grab a pen and paper and sit by a phone that might never ring.
Alex Sayyah is CEO of Aleran Software. He is a member of the advisory boards of ConvrtX and VYZR Technologies and is the former senior vice president of business development and sales for Transdev North America, as well as the former senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer acquisition for UpSwapIt.
Nearly all commercial activities involving medical products rely upon e-commerce. Device makers order supplies and exchange specs online. They provide machines and manage payments with patients, insurance companies and healthcare systems online. Their attorneys and regulators who oversee compliance correspond online. No one has time to waste when just a few clicks will get the job done. That’s why the healthcare e-commerce market is forecasted to reach almost $436 billion through 2025, according to Adroit Market Research.
What makes for the best e-commerce platforms that the current and next generation of medical device manufacturers, their customers and regulators are now demanding? The same qualities that optimize any online customer experience. In fact, medical device manufacturers can learn three important lessons from many of the changes that have swept through the e-commerce world in general in recent years:
- E-commerce platforms should be unified. That is, they should offer every feature that a given business needs in one application, from regulatory certification to end-of-life services. Requiring multiple solutions defeats the purpose of any e-commerce system, creating friction rather than reducing it.
- They should be simple, with end-to-end solutions, flexible payment methods and self-service functionality. If nobody can integrate them into their workflows, they’re useless. Medical device manufacturers especially have steps that must be included in their sales, including testing, demonstrations and demanding documentation management.
- They must take advantage of automation that offers personalized service. There’s no reason to replicate sales order management processes time and again when an application can perform those functions just as well or better while adapting to the needs of individuals.
Catering to the Next Generations
It’s especially important that manufactures offer services where younger professionals, especially millennials, are comfortable at completing orders on their e-commerce platform. Millennials are the next generation of medical device manufacturing leaders and customers — if they aren’t already — and their attitudes toward e-commerce points the way to the future.Compared to Generation X and the Baby Boomers, millennials view the Internet as their first, if not their only, means of engagement. Around 44 percent of B2B decision-makers are currently millennials, according to the Mx Group, for example. Thirty-three percent self-identify as market influencers.
A recent study found that more than 70 percent of millennials want to interact with salespeople only midway through the decision-making process. The Covid pandemic has greatly increased these rates. A current, post-pandemic study of all business decision-drivers concluded that as many as 80 percent favor digital communications or remote connections to face-to-face interaction, including telehealth. At the start of the seller-seeking process, millennials are proactive, investigating possible sellers through the web, preferring to educate themselves about the advantages and importance of items and services than listening to a sales pitch from the outset.
The future in many ways is already here. A great deal of non-millennial corporate leaders know that e-commerce is necessary to maximize business success. They have wisely invested in advanced e-commerce, including in the medical device space, in the same way they have invested in laser welding and laser cutting equipment for the most advanced devices.
Omnichannel Platforms and SaaS
These shifts reflect the striking parallels between customer demands in the healthcare space in general, and medical devices in particular. Customers in both sectors want more options when paying for goods and services, whether they are devices, medicines or face-to-face care. Medical device companies need to provide those options or face losing business.Many B2C companies use omnichannel e-commerce platforms to relate data effortlessly through many media – from laptops to smartphones – so that everyone from the manufacturer to a reconditioner can conduct business through online shops, sales apps, delivery services and face-to-face interactions. These approaches are easily adaptable to medical device manufacturers. Omnichannel, compared to multi-channel and single channel, allows for the most customized consumer experiences.
To achieve these goals, more medical device companies, like B2C firms, are using subscription-based, software-as-a-service, or SaaS, solutions to join their warehouses, finance, ERP systems, digital stores and other assets. By using an array of B2C-inspired digital approaches, medical device companies can take advantage of several e-commerce benefits that include a more robust market scope, more effective management of vendors and customers, augmented engagement of clients through sales forces, and sharper insights grounded upon analytics.
Follow this trail and medical device makers arrive at their foremost goal: profit maximization through greater sales capacity of life-saving products.
The Customer Still Comes First
E-commerce is ever-changing, but the age-old adage stays the same: the customer always comes first. Whether shopping digitally or at physical locations, customers insist without fail upon modernized and stable purchasing experiences. For this reason, more than 80 percent of business buyers want the same experience that they enjoy when they are a retail consumer. No matter the price of the item, or the product itself, e-commerce must be designed for individual decisionmakers.Businesses at every level of the medical device market today must offer a paramount e-commerce experience. For that, they need the best e-commerce solutions in a single, robust platform. Otherwise, they may as well turn back the clock, grab a pen and paper and sit by a phone that might never ring.
Alex Sayyah is CEO of Aleran Software. He is a member of the advisory boards of ConvrtX and VYZR Technologies and is the former senior vice president of business development and sales for Transdev North America, as well as the former senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer acquisition for UpSwapIt.