B2B Ecommerce Agency UK: Trade Portals Built Around Your Prices, Credit Terms and ERP

B2B ecommerce means one business selling to another business online. Instead of a trade customer phoning, emailing or sending a PDF order, they log in to your website, see their own prices and stock, and place the order themselves. The order then flows into your accounts or ERP system. It is the same idea as online shopping, with the rules trade buying needs added on top.

Yes. Ecommerce is not only for shoppers buying for themselves. UK manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors use B2B ecommerce so trade customers can order online at any hour. The ONS counts sales through websites and through EDI, a direct computer-to-computer ordering link, as e-commerce. Most B2B websites we build sit behind a login so only approved trade accounts can see prices and order.

B2C (business to consumer) sells to the public, usually at one price, paid by card at checkout. B2B (business to business) sells to trade accounts. Each account can have its own prices, its own product range, credit terms, several buyers with different permissions, and large repeat orders. DTC (direct to consumer) is a brand selling straight to the public. Many businesses run B2B and DTC from one catalogue.

A B2B portal, often called a trade portal, is the logged-in part of your website that only approved business customers can use. Inside it, a buyer sees their own prices, their order history, open invoices and account balance, and can reorder, request a quote or download documents. Buyers stop phoning and emailing for routine orders, so your sales team can spend its time on the conversations that need a person.

A B2B ordering platform is the software trade customers use to place orders online. It can be a full B2B ecommerce website with a public catalogue and a trade login, or a simpler private ordering portal for existing accounts only. The core jobs are the same: show the right prices, check stock, take large orders quickly, allow pay on account, and pass each order to your ERP.

A food wholesaler letting cafés and shops reorder weekly online. A manufacturer of building products giving merchants a trade login with their agreed prices. A distributor of engineering parts offering search by part number and bulk order upload. A homeware brand running a public DTC shop and a trade portal for retailers from the same stock. We have built this kind of B2B setup for Bombay Petals.

For most UK trade businesses, yes. ONS figures show website sales by UK businesses grew 28.8% between 2019 and 2021, and your buyers now expect to check stock, prices and invoices themselves. The case is strongest when your team spends hours keying in orders from emails and PDFs. A trade portal takes that work away and makes ordering from you easier than from a competitor.

There is no single best one. Shopify Plus B2B suits most wholesalers who want a fast, hosted platform and often run DTC too. Adobe Commerce B2B suits very large catalogues and complex quoting and approval rules. BigCommerce B2B Edition sits well in the mid-market. WooCommerce B2B suits smaller catalogues and WordPress teams. The right answer depends on your catalogue, pricing rules and ERP.

Yes, on Shopify Plus. Shopify Plus B2B includes company accounts with several buyers and locations, customer-specific catalogues and price lists, volume pricing, quantity rules and payment terms. It suits most wholesalers and brands selling to retailers, especially if you also sell to the public. It is less suited to very complex quote and approval chains, which usually point to Adobe Commerce.

Yes, and it is the deepest option for complex trade selling. The B2B features, such as company accounts, shared catalogues, negotiable quotes, requisition lists and purchase approvals, come with Adobe Commerce, the paid version of Magento. Magento Open Source can do B2B too, but through extensions and custom work. It needs more hosting and developer care than a hosted platform like Shopify Plus.

For most UK wholesalers, Shopify Plus B2B or BigCommerce B2B Edition, because they are hosted, quick to run and handle trade pricing, minimum order quantities and payment terms. If you have a very large catalogue, many buyer roles per account, or long quote negotiations, Adobe Commerce is usually the better fit. Small wholesalers already on WordPress can start well with WooCommerce B2B.

At minimum: trade account login and approval, customer-specific prices, quick order by SKU, bulk order upload, one-click reorder, quotes for large or custom orders, pay on account with credit limits, VAT-correct invoices, live stock, and ERP integration. Larger businesses also need several buyers per account with spending limits, approval steps, and a sales rep view. We list twelve in detail on this page.

Yes. We often build one catalogue and one stock pool with two faces: a public shop that shows retail prices, and a trade login that shows each account its own prices, terms and range. That keeps product data, images and stock in one place instead of two. Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce and BigCommerce all support this, in slightly different ways.

Usually not at first. Headless means the website front end is built separately from the commerce platform behind it. It gives full design freedom and speed, but it adds build and maintenance work. It makes sense when you have several brands or sites, a complex product configurator, or specific performance needs. Most UK trade businesses get more value from a well-built standard theme.

We integrate B2B ecommerce with the ERP and accounts systems UK trade businesses actually run, including Sage, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, NetSuite, SAP Business One and Xero. Where an established connector exists, we use it and configure it properly. Where it does not, or your data is unusual, we build the integration. Either way you own the setup and the documentation.

Usually products and stock levels, customer accounts and their price lists, credit limits and payment terms, orders, invoices and dispatch status. The rule we follow is that each piece of data has one owner. Your ERP normally owns prices, stock and credit. The website owns the buying experience. That stops two systems fighting over which price or stock number is right.

Yes. Approved accounts can check out on account, for example on 30-day terms, while new or cash customers pay by card. The website reads each account’s credit limit and balance from your ERP. If an order would take them over the limit or they are overdue, it can be held for your credit team to approve rather than blocked outright.

HMRC says a VAT-registered business must issue a VAT invoice to a VAT-registered customer, with limited exceptions, and normally within 30 days of the tax point. Trade buyers need that invoice to reclaim the VAT. We set the website so VAT numbers are captured on the account, prices show ex-VAT for trade, and invoices come from your ERP or accounts system with the right details.

It can, for some sectors. The reverse charge means the customer, not the seller, accounts for the VAT. It applies to certain building and construction services, some specified goods, and to services received from outside the UK. If any of your trade sales fall under it, invoices and checkout must show it correctly. Your accountant confirms which rules apply, and we build the website to match.

Yes, indirectly. Under Making Tax Digital for VAT, VAT-registered businesses must keep certain VAT records digitally in compatible software, with digital links between programs. That means orders and invoices from your website should flow into your accounts or ERP automatically, not be retyped from a spreadsheet. A properly integrated B2B ecommerce build makes that easier, not harder.

It depends on scope, not a price list. The main cost drivers are the platform, the number of products and price lists, how many ERP and warehouse systems we connect, how complex your quoting and approval rules are, how much data needs cleaning and migrating, and whether you also run DTC. We scope after a free first call and give you a fixed quote per stage.

A focused trade portal on a hosted platform with a standard ERP connector can go live in weeks. A larger build with several price structures, a custom ERP integration, quotes and approvals, and a migration from an old site takes a few months. We agree a stage-by-stage timeline in the discovery stage, before you commit to the full build.

A B2B ecommerce agency designs, builds and supports online ordering for businesses that sell to other businesses. The difference from a normal ecommerce agency is the back office work: trade pricing, credit terms, ERP integration, quotes and approvals. A good one spends as much time on your order process and data as on how the website looks, and stays on after launch.

Names that come up often include 9xb in Leeds, magic42 in Birmingham, Rixxo in Bristol, PushON in Manchester, and Williams Commerce, with offices in Leicester, London and Edinburgh. Each has a different platform focus. We list them, including FactoryJet, further down this page with a neutral note on each, based on their own websites. Talk to two or three before you choose.

In stages, not overnight. We start with your most regular reorderers, load their past orders so reordering is one click, and give your sales team a way to place orders for customers inside the portal. Phone and email stay open. Most customers move once they see their own prices and history online. We help you plan the invites and the first few weeks.

Yes. The theme, custom code, integrations and documentation are yours, and the platform account is in your name. We are not a platform you rent. If you move the work in-house or to another agency, it keeps running. We would rather keep you because the support is good than because you are locked in. That is the opposite of agencies that disappear after launch.

Yes. We work with manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Projects run remotely with video workshops, shared plans and a staging site you can test. Where it helps, we spend time understanding how your warehouse and sales office really handle an order, because that shapes the build more than any design choice.