If your customers are other businesses, a consumer-style web shop is the wrong tool. Trade buyers do not want to browse; they want to reorder the same 40 lines at their agreed prices, check stock, and get on with their day. A trade portal built for that behaviour removes hours of admin from your team and makes you easier to buy from than competitors who still take orders by email.
What trade customers actually want
- Their prices. Trade price lists, quantity breaks and negotiated rates, shown when they log in.
- Live stock. Availability, and expected dates for out-of-stock lines, so they do not have to phone.
- Fast reordering. Order history, saved lists, quick order by product code, upload a spreadsheet of codes and quantities.
- Account terms. Ordering on account with an agreed credit limit, purchase order numbers, and visibility of outstanding invoices.
- Multiple users and addresses. Several buyers per account, several delivery addresses, approval rules if they need them.
- Documents. Invoices, delivery notes and statements downloadable without asking.
What they do not want is a marketing-led product page with lifestyle photography and a consumer checkout that asks for a card every time.
The one rule: one source of truth
The portal must read prices, stock and account status from the same system your sales team uses, and write orders back into it. Otherwise you have created another place for data to be wrong. This is why B2B portals are usually an integration project as much as a web project. See what is system integration.
Your options
Shopify with B2B features. Shopify's B2B tools on its higher plans support company accounts, price lists, payment terms and quick order. Good if you already sell to consumers on Shopify and want to add trade. Needs integration to your ERP or accounts for stock and invoicing.
A portal built on your ERP. If you run Odoo, its website and eCommerce apps can present a customer portal directly from the ERP: prices, stock, orders, invoices and documents all come from the same database with nothing to sync. This is the simplest architecture and the one we recommend where the ERP is in place.
A custom portal. For unusual requirements, a bespoke web application connected to your systems by API. Most flexible, most expensive. See customer portal benefits for what these can include beyond ordering.
Features worth adding once the basics work
- Quote requests for non-stock or large orders.
- Back order visibility.
- Delivery tracking from courier integration. See courier integration.
- Product data downloads for customers who resell your lines.
- Reorder reminders based on typical buying patterns.
Getting customers to use it
Portals fail when they are launched by email and forgotten. They succeed when they are faster than the old way and when reps actively move customers across. Show it on the next visit or call, pre-load the customer's usual order, and consider a small incentive for the first online order. Track adoption monthly.
What it costs and how long it takes
Depends heavily on the option chosen and the integration needed. A portal on an existing Odoo system is the quickest route; a Shopify B2B setup with ERP integration is a mid-sized project; a custom portal is the largest. We quote each after a discovery call. Read about our eCommerce service or request a quote.
Key takeaways
- Trade customers want their own prices, their stock availability, easy reorders and account terms, not a consumer checkout.
- The portal should read from the same system as your sales team, so prices and stock are always right.
- Options range from Shopify B2B features to a portal built directly on an ERP such as Odoo.
- Adoption comes from making it faster than emailing an order, and from your reps promoting it.
Frequently asked questions
Need help with ecommerce development?
eSolution Hub is a UK company with its own engineering team in Lahore. Every project starts with a free 30 minute discovery call and a written quote. Read about our ecommerce development service or request a quote.
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