Solution
B2B shop with customer prices and ERP integration
We build you a B2B shop in which dealers, resellers and installers order around the clock at their own prices. Customer prices, volume tiers and stock levels come from the ERP, and every order lands there as a sales order without anyone keying it in. Several buyers per company, approvals, order templates and purchase on account are included.
Who it is for: For manufacturers and wholesalers whose business customers reorder regularly, from around 300 orders a month, with an ERP such as Abacus, Business Central, SAP Business One or Odoo.
Starting point
How the process runs today
Your regular customers order the way they have for years: by phone, by email or with a PDF order form. The sales office keys every line into the ERP, looks up the customer price, checks availability and sends a confirmation. You may already have an online shop. But it only knows list prices and one buyer per account, so it does not work for business customers.
What it costs
- The sales office spends hours keying in orders instead of advising and selling.
- Wrong prices or item numbers only come to light on the invoice or at the customer.
- Orders only arrive during office hours, and customers wait for callbacks on price and delivery date.
- The existing shop cannot handle customer prices, volume tiers, approvals or several buyers per company.
Process
What the process looks like afterwards
01
Range and customer prices
Items, stock levels and each customer's prices come from the ERP. They are maintained only there.
02
Registration and activation
Business customers register with company details and VAT number. Existing customers are matched to their customer number and activated.
03
Quick ordering
By item number, from an order template or from previous orders. The customer sees their price and availability.
04
Approval at the customer
The customer's staff place orders, and above a set amount an authorised person approves them.
05
Sales order in the ERP
The order is created automatically as a sales order with customer number, terms and delivery address. Nobody keys anything in.
06
Invoice and status
Order confirmation by email, purchase on account, delivery status and invoices in the customer account.
What a B2B shop must offer business customers
After logging in, each customer sees their prices, discounts and volume tiers from the ERP. Basket, order confirmation and invoice show the same amount.
Customers who know their item numbers type them in with the quantity or upload a list, instead of clicking through categories.
Customers save recurring orders as templates. Previous orders can be repeated with one click.
Several people per customer company order with their own login. Above a set amount, an authorised person approves. Delivery addresses per branch or site are stored.
Existing customers order on account, new customers pay by card or TWINT, for example. The invoice comes from the ERP as usual, as a QR-bill if required.
What does a B2B shop cost and when does it pay off?
A B2B shop with customer prices and ERP integration costs CHF 30,000 to 180,000 and goes live in 3 to 8 months. A simple shop with standard products is possible with Shopify or WooCommerce from around CHF 12,000. Maintenance and operation add 15 to 20 per cent of the project costs per year.
Whether it pays off depends mainly on the number of orders your sales office enters today. We calculate with 8 minutes per order, CHF 70 per hour internally and maintenance of 15 per cent of the project costs per year. We also assume that only 60 per cent of orders come through the shop, because not every customer switches. These are assumptions. In the calculator on this page you enter your own figures.
Project costs and annual savings compared
+Show values as a table
| Value | Project costs | Savings per year after maintenance |
|---|---|---|
| 500 orders, customer prices | CHF 60'000 | CHF 24'600 |
| 1,000 orders, approvals, warehouses | CHF 150'000 | CHF 44'700 |
| 100 orders a month | CHF 30'000 | CHF 2'200 |
Medium volume: 500 orders at 8 minutes each come to around 67 hours a month. If 60 per cent come through the shop, you save 480 hours or CHF 33,600 a year. After CHF 9,000 maintenance, around CHF 24,600 remains. A shop costing CHF 60,000 pays for itself in just under two and a half years.
Larger business: 1,000 orders a month, plus approvals, several warehouses and variants. With project costs of CHF 150,000 and CHF 22,500 maintenance, around CHF 44,700 a year remains. The investment pays off after just over three years.
Small volume: 100 orders a month save around CHF 6,700 a year, and around CHF 2,200 remains after maintenance. A B2B shop for CHF 30,000 only pays off after more than 13 years. Here a standard shop is enough.
Not included are orders outside office hours and fewer keying errors.
Extend your B2C shop or build a dedicated B2B shop?
Extending the existing shop is enough if
- Business customers get a flat discount or a few price groups.
- Your shop platform offers B2B features that cover your cases.
- One person per customer company orders, without approvals.
- Consumers and business customers buy the same range in the same way.
A dedicated B2B shop pays off if
- Customer prices, volume tiers and framework agreements from the ERP must be exactly right.
- Business customers see a different range, different units or pack sizes.
- Ordering has to be fast: by item number, from templates or on a mobile at the building site.
- Extensions to the existing shop are already reaching their limits.
Project timeline: an ordering portal in 3 to 8 months
Weeks 1 to 3
Preliminary study with cost ceiling
Clarify pricing logic, customer groups, approvals, ERP access and shop platform. Fixed price CHF 4,000 to 9,000.
from month 1
Data and ERP access
Check customer prices, item data and images. Your ERP partner sets up access and a test environment.
from month 2
Implementation in stages
First range and customer prices, then orders into the ERP, then approvals and templates.
before launch
Pilot with regular customers
Selected customers place real orders, and your team checks prices and sales orders in the ERP.
Months 3 to 8
Go-live
Customers are invited step by step.
afterwards
Operation and maintenance
15 to 20 per cent of the project costs per year.
What to prepare before the project
Clean customer prices in the ERP
The shop shows what is in the ERP. Special prices in Excel lists or in the heads of field sales staff belong in the ERP first. Spot-check prices in the ERP against recent invoices.
Item data and images
Every item needs a unique number, a clear description, unit, pack size and a consistent image. If the images are in the ERP, the shop takes them over automatically, as in the Bandex project.
Customers and buyers
Decide which customers should order first and who approves on their side. Clean up duplicate customers and old delivery addresses.
Access from your ERP partner
Your ERP partner sets up a technical user and a test environment and charges for this separately. Find out early how much lead time they need.
Integrations
Which systems are connected
The ERP leads for customer prices, items and stock levels, and the shop takes them over automatically. We also connect SAP Business One and Business Central through their interfaces. In the Bandex reference project, the shop is connected to SAP.
- ERP and accounting
- Abacus
- bexio
- Odoo
- Banking and payments
- QR-bill
- Shop and PIM
- Medusa
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
Make or buy
Off-the-shelf or custom?
Off-the-shelf software is enough if
- You sell standard items, and business customers get a few fixed price groups.
- One person per customer company orders, and no approvals are needed.
- Your sales office enters fewer than around 100 orders a month.
Finished products for this case: Shopify and WooCommerce offer B2B features depending on the plan or through extensions. There are also ready-made connectors from the ERP vendors and integration platforms such as Zapier or Make.
Custom is worth it if
- Each customer has their own prices, volume tiers or framework agreements maintained in the ERP.
- Several people per customer company order, with roles and approvals above a set amount.
- Customers order by item number, from templates or for several delivery addresses.
- Consumers and business customers need separate prices, payment methods and processes.
Effort
Price range and duration
- Price range
- CHF 30'000 to 180'000
- Duration
- 3 to 8 months
Non-binding estimate, excl. VAT.
What drives the effort
The lower end is a shop with customer prices and orders into the ERP for a manageable range. Approvals, several warehouses, variants or a configurator push it upwards. A simple shop with standard products is possible with Shopify or WooCommerce from around CHF 12,000.
The price becomes binding after the fixed-price discovery phase.
Your case in numbers
- Hours per year tied up
- 800
- Cost per year today
- CHF 56'000
- Possible saving per year
- CHF 33'600
480 hours freed up for other work
Rough calculation based on your figures. Not a quote.
B2B shop with customer prices and ERP integration
Frequently asked questions
Medusa, Shopify or WooCommerce: which do you recommend?
For a shop with standard products and standard prices, Shopify or WooCommerce is enough. We recommend Medusa when customer-specific prices, configurable products, approval processes or a close ERP integration are required. We make the decision in the discovery phase, based on your requirements.
Is Zapier or an off-the-shelf connector enough to link our shop and ERP?
Yes, if there is a proven connector for your shop and ERP, you sell at list prices and you handle only a few orders a day. Subscriptions for integration platforms start at around USD 20 per month, plus setup. As soon as customer-specific prices, variants or multiple warehouses come into play, a custom integration is the more robust choice.
When do you advise against custom software?
Whenever a standard product covers 80% of the case and the remainder is not a competitive advantage. For accounting, simple appointment booking or a small shop, there are good off-the-shelf solutions. We will tell you so in the intro call. Custom software pays off where several systems have to work together or your process departs from the norm.
Let us talk about your case.
20 minutes are enough to find out whether a custom solution is worth it for you.