B2B ordering portals: what they are and how to choose one

A B2B ordering portal is a private website where your trade customers sign in, find your products, see the prices agreed for their account and send you an order. It replaces the price list attachment, the phone order read out from a van and the email that says “same as last time please”.

This guide explains what a good portal does, the types you’ll come across, what to watch for on price, and how to get customers using one.

Signs you need oneLink to this section#

• Orders arrive by phone, email and text, and someone retypes them.
• Customers ask “what’s my price?” because the list you sent isn’t their price.
• Orders come in at last year’s prices from an old spreadsheet.
• Your sales team spends the day taking repeat orders instead of finding new customers.
• Customers outside office hours have no way to order until you open.

What a good B2B ordering portal doesLink to this section#

For your customers

• Shows their own prices: account discounts, brand or category discounts and agreed fixed prices (see customer-specific pricing).
• Search by product code as well as by name, because trade buyers know the codes.
• Reorder the lines they buy every week without searching again.
• Works on a phone, on site or in the van.
• Costs them nothing: a portal that charges your customers for logins won’t get used.

For your team

• Imports the price list you already have, rather than making you rebuild your range product by product.
• Sends every order to the right people by email and tracks its status.
• Schedules price changes and tells each customer their own new prices.
• Lets you limit what a customer can see, such as an approved list for a contract client.
• Gives everyone on your team their own login, with a record of who changed what.

What you probably don’t need on day oneLink to this section#

• Card payments at checkout. If your customers are on account and you invoice them, an order request is enough; you invoice as usual.
• Live stock levels. Useful for some ranges, but many trade suppliers work to order or confirm availability when the order arrives.
• A full ERP integration. Start with the portal; connect your systems later through an API once it’s proving its worth.

The main types to compareLink to this section#

• B2B add-ons to an online shop. If you already sell retail on a platform such as Shopify, B2B features or apps can add trade pricing to the same store. Best when your retail shop is the centre of the business. See TradeCatalog vs Shopify B2B and vs SparkLayer.
• Full wholesale platforms. Broad systems with sales-rep apps, integrations and more configuration. Best for larger teams with complex processes. See vs B2B Wave, vs OrderSpace and vs Pepperi.
• Focused ordering portals. A trade catalogue with customer prices and order requests, set up from the price list you already have. Best when you want customers ordering online without changing how you invoice. TradeCatalog is one of these.

What it costsLink to this section#

Watch the pricing model as much as the headline price:

• Per-user or per-buyer fees add up fast when a customer has several people ordering.
• Order or revenue limits can push you into a higher plan as you grow.
• Set-up and onboarding fees are common on larger platforms.
• Currency and tax: check you’re billed in your own currency and how tax is handled.

TradeCatalog is one plan for your whole business: US$39 a month or US$390 a year in your own currency, with unlimited team members, customers, products and orders, and free buyer accounts. See pricing. There’s a 14-day free trial and no card is needed to start.

How to roll one outLink to this section#

1. Import your current price list. Check the products and prices it finds before publishing.
2. Set up your top ten customers first, with their discounts and agreed prices.
3. Invite them personally. A short email or a word from their usual contact works better than a mass announcement.
4. Keep taking orders the old way for a month. When customers see that the portal is quicker, most switch by themselves.
5. Add the rest of your customers, and announce your next price change through the portal so everyone sees their own new prices.

Questions suppliers askLink to this section#

Do my customers pay to use a B2B ordering portal?Link to this section#

They shouldn’t. On TradeCatalog, buyer accounts are free and a customer can have as many logins as it needs. You pay one subscription for your business.

Will trade customers actually use it?Link to this section#

Most do once it saves them time: their own prices, search by code, and reorders in a couple of taps. Start with customers who order often, invite them personally and keep phone and email ordering open while they get used to it.

Can a B2B portal take card payments?Link to this section#

Some can. TradeCatalog doesn’t: customers send order requests, and you confirm, invoice and take payment through your existing process, which suits customers on account.

Does it work with my accounting or ERP system?Link to this section#

TradeCatalog has no built-in accounting integration. It has a REST API for products, customer prices, customers, orders and price changes, so your ERP, stock or accounts system can be connected, and you can export your data at any time. See the developer docs.