As you prepare to set up a business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce platform, you’re generally looking for a sophisticated, flexible, and scalable ecommerce solution.
Unlike selling directly to the end consumer, when your customer is another business, needs like bulk ordering, customizable price tiers, and advanced logistics management come into play. To deal with all of this, you need a B2B ecommerce platform that can handle the complexity and volume of your operations without draining technical resources and contributing to innovation deficit.
So, how do you choose the right ecommerce platform for your B2B business? That depends on your requirements, budget constraints, and long-term business growth strategies. This guide shares how to find the right platform for you, with a checklist of things to consider as you shortlist vendors.
What is a B2B ecommerce platform?
A B2B ecommerce platform is a digital system that facilitates online sales transactions between businesses.
Unlike a business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce platform—geared toward direct sales to consumers—a B2B platform is designed to handle a range of complex requirements. B2B companies generally offer wholesale pricing and handle bulk orders. They may have to deal with multi-currency transactions and intricate shipping logistics.
Essential B2B ecommerce platform features
- Self-service options
- Unified B2B and B2C selling
- Flexible payment options
- Personalization capabilities
- Responsive web design
- Advanced analytics and reporting
- Automation
While there are certain key features common to most B2B platforms, what are considered “must-haves” varies based on your unique operational requirements, customer experience goals, and bottom-line considerations. Here are a few essential features you may want to prioritize:
1. Self-service options
While self-service runs counter to the traditional B2B sales process, most buyers are leaning into these digital-first experiences. Gartner reports 75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free experience. That’s why 73% of B2B sellers noted an increase in demand for digital B2B sales processes over the past three years, with 14% noting a significant increase.
Self-service options on a B2B ecommerce platform empower customers to conveniently manage their orders themselves, reducing the need for constant communication with customer service representatives and salespeople. This autonomy speeds up purchasing and enhances customer satisfaction by offering flexibility and 24/7 service access.
Choose a platform that allows buyers to complete the following tasks in an online B2B customer portal without having to contact sales representatives for assistance:
- View personalized catalogs
- Unlock wholesale price lists
- Add items to their online shopping cart
- Check out and pay for their order
- View order history
Industry West has noticed the shift to self-serve firsthand. “I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve had customers log in to their trade account to see their discount, add $10,000 worth of product into their cart, then send a screenshot to a sales rep to get a formal quote,” says CMO Ian Leslie.
The furniture brand moved their B2B ecommerce operation to Shopify to encourage these buyers to self-serve. “The initial results are great,” Ian said. “The blend of our marketing with the new site has definitely made the trade customer feel more enabled to make those larger orders online. It shows we’re moving in the right direction.”
2. Unified B2B and B2C selling
If you sell products to both businesses and individual consumers, a combined B2B and B2C platform simplifies operations by providing a single interface for managing customer relationships.
Rather than using two separate ecommerce platforms, a unified commerce strategy enhances operational efficiency by maintaining consistent data across both customer groups on the same platform. Less middleware and fewer patchy integrations increase ROI by allowing you to operate one platform instead of two. This is why unified commerce platforms like Shopify have been proven to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) by up to 36%.
Take it from The Conran Shop, a furniture retailer who previously operated both channels in separate silos. Digital director Richard Voyce says, “Our greatest frustration was seeing our budgets tied up in maintaining the platform, rather than channeling those resources into creating exceptional experiences for our customers.”
The brand now relies on Shopify to power their B2C and B2B operations on a single ecommerce platform—a move that halved TCO while boosting conversion rates by 54%.
3. Flexible pricing and payment options
Business-to-business transactions differ from DTC because buyers tend to pay for items in bulk. Wholesalers rarely pay for inventory upfront—most agree to delayed payment terms that give enough leeway to turn a profit on the goods they’re selling. They also need invoices or purchase orders to document their purchases.
Flexible pricing and payment options in B2B help you prioritize customer convenience, accommodate diverse business needs, and streamline the transaction process, without the administrative burden of handling payment queries individually.
Here are specific features to look for when shortlisting B2B ecommerce platforms:
- Minimum order pricing: Implementing minimum order pricing encourages larger order volumes, balancing operational costs and revenue.
- Customer-specific B2B pricing: Look for a platform that can offer customer-specific pricing and personalized pricing structures that reflect each client's unique relationship and agreements, including Net payment terms.
- Custom discounts: Offering discounts allows sellers to reward loyal customers, accurately price complex or large-scale orders for their business customers, and incentivize big orders. (Note: Custom discounts can be set up for B2B on Shopify with Shopify Functions.)
- Multiple payment options: By offering an array of payment options, such as credit cards, bank transfers, and PayPal, you can cater to different customer requirements. An integrated invoicing workflow with automated billing also reduces manual workload and can help keep your cash flow consistent.
- Payment gateway integration:Payment gateways—virtual points of sale (POS) for online payments—allow for secure and prompt transactions for a frictionless purchasing experience. Use credit card vaulting to securely save credit card information so that additional purchases can be made without entering the card information again.
4. Personalization capabilities
Customized storefronts can create a deeper, more personal connection with each business client, enhancing their online shopping experience on your ecommerce store and boosting brand loyalty.
Adobe found that 52% of B2B companies focus on personalization—a notable jump from just 38% when a similar survey ran in 2022. Just over a third of those who aren’t executing B2B personalization say their biggest obstacle is legacy software and technology. That’s a problem the right B2B ecommerce platform can solve.
Personalization features to look for when searching for a B2B ecommerce platform that allows you to create customized storefronts tailored to individual customers include:
- Curated product selection
- Tailored branding
- Custom currencies, including applicable duties and taxes for overseas B2B customers
- Personalized payment and shipping methods
“One of the reasons we needed custom pricing for our wholesale customers was that many of them fall into different B2B categories; some have hard margins, and some we can control,” says Brylee Lonesborough, technical leader at WHO IS ELIJAH. “The custom catalog capabilities in B2B on Shopify meant we could set individual pricing categories and attach them to the various types of B2B customers we have so they get a more personalized experience.”
Simply having access to these personalization features isn’t enough—effective personalization requires accurate data. Shopify merchants have a robust customer data platform (CDP) by default, which unifies any first-party data you’ve collected on each B2B buyer.
Use Shopify’s segmentation tools to divide B2B audiences based on qualities they share, pulling data from their unified profiles to personalize the entire buying journey—whether that’s retargeted ads that showcase items they’ve left in their online cart, or tailored onsite product recommendations that highlight products they’ve discussed with a sales rep.
5. Responsive web design
While you might be designing your B2B storefront on a desktop, your B2B ecommerce platform’s user interface should be easy for visitors to use on whatever device the site is loaded on.
“Customers used to be so frustrated by our platform that they’d rather call us on the phone to place orders,” says Nicholas Lachhman, associate ecommerce manager at Dermalogica Canada. “Now we’re seeing customers be so comfortable with the experience that they’re placing orders for thousands of dollars worth of product from their mobile phones.”
As customers increasingly use mobile devices for business transactions, mobile-friendly and responsive design is an especially important feature to consider when shortlisting B2B ecommerce platforms.
A platform with responsive design helps provide a seamless user experience across multiple devices. This means the site automatically adjusts based on the screen it’s loaded on. Desktop users might get full-screen designs, while mobile users see large, finger-friendly buttons and vertical images.
6. Advanced analytics and reporting
Analytics and reporting provide valuable insights into B2B customer behavior, sales trends, and overall business performance across your online stores. These insights can empower you to make data-driven decisions and identify growth opportunities.
For example, you might generate reports to view:
- Comparisons of B2B sales vs. B2C sales
- Top B2B customers or sales locations
- Most popular wholesale products
- Average order value by customer type
- Discount usage
Shopify Analytics surfaces these insights without the need for data connectors or external software. Choose from over 60 prebuilt reports, or build your own either through custom data explorations or the ShopifyQL query editor.
7. Automation
Negotiating payment terms, processing orders, crafting personalized outreach—much of the traditional B2B sales workflow required human input. Many vendors now offer automation capabilities to take these tasks off your hands and free up time to spend on other pressing tasks that need your attention.
Aside from the obvious gains to operational efficiency, choosing a B2B ecommerce platform with native automation capabilities can act as a competitive advantage. In fact, 47% of B2B sellers say their buying experience is still only somewhat automated.
Shopify Flow is a native workflow engine that lets you assemble custom workflows to automate repetitive tasks, such as:
- Creating customer segments that update in real time
- Inviting customers to place their first order
- Creating new customer accounts
- Generating invoices and purchase orders
- Following up with buyers post-purchase
Allied Medical migrated to Shopify after searching for a customizable, advanced commerce solution. The platform’s automation capabilities influenced their decision—something Victoria Madden, delivery manager at the brand’s ERP integration partner CyberWorkshop, says “helped to reduce manual processing time and empowered their team to shift their focus from repetitive tasks to customer support, improving the level of service.”
Allied Medical has seen notable improvements in both the customer experience and back-end operations as a result of these automations. They cut the time spent on back-end tasks by 40%, while experiencing a 14% increase in transactions across both B2B and B2C channels.
Key considerations when choosing a B2B ecommerce platform
- Cloud-based vs. on-premise
- Open source vs. out of the box
- Support for the entire purchase cycle
- Strong customer service and technical support
- Integration with existing systems
- Pricing structure
- Compliance with security and data protection regulations
- Business scalability
There are other factors worth considering to ensure your B2B ecommerce platform meets your basic requirements. These recommendations can help you select the right platform that not only aligns with but also enhances business success:
Cloud-based vs. on-premise
A cloud-based B2B ecommerce platform is hosted on the service provider’s servers and accessed by you, the user, via the internet. Cloud-based platforms like Shopify offer advantages such as scalability and lower upfront costs, since you’re typically not required to purchase and maintain hardware or software. These platforms provide remote accessibility, ease of use, and reduced IT maintenance for B2B ecommerce businesses.
On the other hand, an on-premise platform is installed and runs on a company’s local servers. This setup gives you complete control over the system, allowing for greater customization. However, it comes with higher initial investment costs for hardware and software. Ongoing maintenance costs are also higher than with hosted solutions, as you need an in-house IT team or outsourced service to manage server upkeep, software updates, and security measures.
Open source vs. out of the box
An open-source ecommerce platform is a system with publicly available source code, allowing for extensive customization and modification. This openness offers endless creative freedom for tailored functionality and design. However, it requires dedicated support and expertise from software developers, because you’re responsible for implementing updates, security patches, and any customer features you need, as opposed to relying on a prebuilt solution.
An out-of-the-box platform such as Shopify provides immediate usability with predefined features and unlimited flexibility for customization. This type of service offers a wealth of built-in features, including customizable one-click checkout, built-in security, compliance, data encryption, and fraud and bot protection, plus seamless integrations that can help you save time on development and ensure a smooth launch.
Support for the entire purchase cycle
The average B2B business loses 21% of potential sales because of negative customer experiences in the digital sales process. Minimize these losses by opting for a B2B ecommerce platform that can streamline buying processes and make the purchasing journey easy for the customer—from product discovery to order fulfillment.
Features like personalization, self-service portals, and flexible pricing options cater to B2B buyer preferences while reducing the administrative burden on your team.
You can also ensure your platform provides robust after-sales service features like easy reordering, simple returns, and efficient customer support to enhance the customer experience and promote repeat business.
Customer service and technical support
Businesses lose revenue every minute their B2B ecommerce website is unavailable. High-quality customer service allows you to promptly resolve issues and minimize downtime. Look for a B2B ecommerce solution with 24/7 support, extensive self-help resources, and dedicated account managers who provide email or phone support.
Integration with existing systems
Your B2B ecommerce platform can act as the centralized “brain” for your business. But not all business functions are covered by the platform by default. You might have a standalone inventory management or order management system to manage B2B orders, for example. Check that your shortlisted vendor offers integrations with these systems.
Don’t just think about the integrations you currently need—consider which systems you might add as your business grows. That might include:
- B2B marketplaces
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems
- Customer relationship management (CRM) tools
Shopify, for instance, offers powerful API capabilities and a wide range of plug-and-play integrations. DARCHE integrates the B2B ecommerce platform with its ERP system to let customers and sales reps confirm inventory availability before buyers place their orders.
Pricing structure
To make an informed decision, scrutinize the pricing structure of the B2B ecommerce solutions you’re comparing. Look beyond the base fee to include development, maintenance, and transaction fees. A transparent and value-based pricing structure is well-suited for businesses scaling rapidly.
If you sell both B2B and B2C, unifying both sales channels on a single commerce platform reduces total cost of ownership. A platform like Shopify acts as a centralized business brain to manage your sales channels, inventory, data, and operations to offer the omnichannel experiences B2B buyers demand—without patchy middleware and expensive integrations that contribute to technical debt.
“Our old solution wasn't scalable enough,” says Chiel Versteeg, platform lead at Tony’s Chocolonely, on the brand’s decision to migrate to Shopify. “We had to do patchwork fixes and custom integrations for everything. We were limited in our flexibility and we couldn't experiment—it was time to look elsewhere.”
Compliance with security and data protection regulations
Compliance with industry security and data protection standards is critical to protect your business and build customer trust. Make sure that your shortlisted B2B ecommerce platforms offer security features to safeguard sensitive business data, including:
- Data encryption
- Regular security updates
- Secure payment processing with payment tokenization
- Role-based user permissions with multi-factor authentication
- SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 compliance
- Compliance with standards like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
Platforms like Shopify are PCI-compliant, offering robust security measures to safeguard sensitive customer payment card information, ensuring you can operate your B2B ecommerce business safely.
Business scalability
Scalability is key for retailers planning for future growth. Ensure that your new platform can handle increased traffic to your B2B ecommerce website, more products, and higher transaction volumes over time.
Shopify is a scalable ecommerce platform designed with high-volume merchants in mind, offering features like ecommerce automation to support your business as it grows.
“We needed to confirm that Shopify was serious about investing in the B2B space,” says Steve Durran, associate director of global commerce at Carrier. “When we took a closer look, we saw thousands of developers, strategic partnerships, and a clear path to being a part of the conversation about Shopify’s roadmap. Ultimately, the answer was yes, and we were very excited to bring Shopify into the Carrier tech stack.”
Carrier’s move to Shopify paid off. They can now launch new ecommerce experiences in just 30 days—compared to 9–12-month lead times on their previous platform. The cost of development has been significantly reduced, too—from up to $2 million per ecommerce website to just $100,000 with Shopify.
Shopify’s B2B ecommerce platform is built for growth
Buyers aren’t just settling for self-service—they’re leaning into B2C-style experiences they’ve become accustomed to while making personal purchases. Your B2B ecommerce platform shouldn’t be holding you back from capitalizing on these high-value online sales.
Shopify is the perfect partner for scaling B2B ecommerce brands. Not only does it include the advanced features we’ve outlined, but it’s built for growth—meaning no need to replatform again later down the line.
But don’t just take our word for it. Shopify was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions B2B, Q2 2024 in our first year of participation. “Shopify has strength in innovation, as evidenced by the rapid pace of delivering features for its core B2B audience,” the report says.
How to choose a B2B ecommerce platform FAQ
What are B2B ecommerce platforms?
B2B ecommerce platforms are the technology that business-to-business retailers use to sell products online. The best platforms include features such as wholesale price lists, customer portals, responsive design, and workflow automation.
Which ecommerce platform is best for B2B?
The best ecommerce platforms for B2B include:
- Shopify Plus
- Oracle NetSuite SuiteCommerce
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud
- Adobe Commerce
- Virto Commerce
- OroCommerce
- Amazon Business
Is Amazon a B2B platform?
Amazon Business is the marketplace’s version of a B2B ecommerce platform. It works similarly to the DTC marketplace: wholesalers can list their products for sale and use Amazon’s payment processor to sell B2B.
Is Shopify B2B worth it?
Shopify is worth investing in if you operate a B2B ecommerce business. It has advanced features to help you sell online, including self-service B2B customer portals, custom pricing, and workflow automation to not only make more revenue, but operate more efficiently.
