How to Prepare for a Productive B2B E-commerce Discussion

Starting a conversation about your e-commerce platform can feel surprisingly daunting. Many teams worry they won’t have the right questions, the right documents or the right level of technical knowledge. In reality, the most productive early discussions aren’t driven by perfect preparation.

Knowing what you want to achieve matters far more than knowing exactly how to build it.

Start with outcomes, not features

A common mistake is beginning with a list of features. Search improvements, new filters, automation and integrations. While these are useful, they’re secondary.

The most valuable starting point is understanding what the business needs to change. That might mean improving online conversion, reducing manual processing, supporting growth or making the platform easier to maintain. Clear outcomes help shape every technical decision that follows.

For leadership, this keeps the conversation commercial. For marketing teams, it ensures the platform supports campaign performance rather than working against it.

Bring a realistic view of current performance

You don’t need perfect analytics, but having a grounded sense of what’s working and what isn’t helps enormously. High-level metrics such as traffic trends, conversion rates, average order value and common customer queries provide useful context.

It’s also worth being candid about pain points. Slow updates, unreliable pricing, frequent workarounds or dependence on specific individuals all highlight areas worth exploring.

That clarity saves time and leads to more practical, proportionate recommendations.

Product data deserves attention early

Even if data feels operational, it sits at the centre of most e-commerce discussions. Understanding where product information lives, how it’s maintained and how confident teams are in its accuracy will shape what’s possible.

Well-designed platforms can accommodate complexity, but inconsistent data will always limit outcomes. Raising this early helps set realistic expectations and identify meaningful improvements.

For marketing, this affects conversion directly. For leadership, it influences scalability and cost control.

Know your constraints as well as your ambitions

Budget, timelines and internal capacity matter. Being transparent about them isn’t a weakness; it helps focus the discussion on what is achievable.

It’s equally important to understand what cannot change easily. ERP systems, supplier dependencies and regulatory requirements all shape the solution. Effective partners work within these realities rather than ignoring them.

This reduces the risk of overpromising and underdelivering later.

The goal is clarity

A strong early conversation shouldn’t feel like a sales pitch. It should bring structure to complex issues.

By the end of the discussion, you should understand your options, the trade-offs involved and what next steps are proportionate. Whether that leads to immediate action or further planning is a commercial decision.

Preparing with clear outcomes, honest context and a realistic view of constraints turns the conversation into a disciplined assessment rather than a leap into the unknown.