A B2B ordering portal your trade customers actually use
A B2B ordering portal is a closed online store where trade customers log in to order at their own prices, discounts and terms, reorder from their history and pay on invoice. Tsunami Digital, a software studio in Zagreb, builds one to measure or as an upgrade to your existing web shop.
Overview
A B2B ordering portal is a private, login-only shop for your business customers. Unlike a consumer web shop, it does not show one public price to everyone: a retail chain, a contractor and a small café each see their agreed prices, discounts, delivery terms and the products they are allowed to buy. They place and repeat orders themselves, at any hour, and your team checks and dispatches orders instead of transcribing them. The portal works alongside the stock and accounting software you already use.
It pays off when most orders are repeats, when customers have individual price lists that only the sales reps really know, or when wrong orders keep costing you credit notes and returns. It is not worth building if you have a dozen customers who order twice a year, or if a ready-made B2B platform already handles your price rules - then we will tell you to use it and build only what it is missing.
Signs you need it
- Most orders arrive by e-mail, phone or WhatsApp, and someone re-types them every morning.
- Every customer has different prices and discounts, and only the sales reps know them all.
- The same customers order the same products every week, yet send a new list each time.
- Customers call to ask whether an item is in stock or when their delivery leaves.
- Larger customers want a buyer to prepare the order and a manager to approve it, and you have no tool for that.
What a custom B2B ordering portal includes
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Customer-specific pricing
Price lists, volume tiers, discounts and promotions per customer or customer group, shown only after login and applied the same way every time.
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Fast reordering
Order history, saved lists and quick entry by product code or from a file, so a regular order takes a few minutes instead of a phone call.
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Quotes and negotiated orders
Customers request a quote for large or special orders, your sales team adjusts it in the portal, and an accepted quote becomes an order in one click.
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Company accounts and approvals
Several users under one customer, each with a role: buyers order, managers approve above a set amount, accounting sees invoices and open items.
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Pay on invoice or by card
Payment terms and credit limits per customer, card payment for new or smaller customers, and open invoices visible in the account.
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Ordering by sales reps
Field reps place orders on a customer's behalf from a phone or tablet, with exactly the prices the customer sees.
How we work
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Map the price rules
We start with how you really sell: price lists, exceptions, payment terms and who orders for whom. This becomes a written scope and a fixed price for the first version.
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Pilot with real customers
The first version goes to a small group of regular customers, so we see how they order before the portal opens to everyone.
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Roll out and move customers
We import customers, products and price lists, open accounts and give your sales team a short guide for moving customers off e-mail ordering.
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Your development team
After launch we stay on a monthly basis as your development department: maintenance, new price rules, new customer groups and the features customers ask for.
No project price list. A fixed price before we start.
Every project is different, so the price depends on what you need and how much of it. The first call is free of charge, and you always get a fixed price in writing before any work starts - no surprises.
- 01The first call is free and commits you to nothing
- 02You get a fixed price in writing before work starts
- 03You own the code and data once the work is paid for
- 04Hourly work and extra developers: €40-60 per hour
- 05After launch: software maintenance and development, monthly
Proof from our own products
Further reading
- 01 B2B web shop: what a wholesale ordering portal needs A B2B web shop is not a B2C store with a login. What a wholesale ordering portal needs: customer-specific pricing, invoice payment, ERP-driven catalogues.
- 02 Custom software vs SaaS: when does each actually pay off? When to pick off-the-shelf SaaS vs custom software: real costs, control, and when custom code ends up cheaper for your business.
Related solutions
- 01 Product configurator and quote calculator Configure-price-quote software: valid options only, prices from your own rules, a PDF quote and a clean order for production.
- 02 Client portal A secure place where clients upload documents, follow the status of their work, approve drafts and message your team.
- 03 Web shop maintenance and upgrades Takeover, maintenance and upgrades of existing web shops: speed, checkout, updates, new features and re-platforming when it pays off.
Services behind it
- 01 Web shop development Web shops and B2B ordering portals with Croatian payment gateways, fiscalization, and ERP, stock and shipping integrations.
- 02 Custom software development Web apps, mobile apps, internal tools and platforms built around your processes - including takeovers of existing code.
- 03 Business process automation Orders, invoices, reports and approvals that move between your systems on their own, with people only where judgement is needed.
Questions
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01 Do I need a B2B ordering portal?
You need one if you have regular trade customers who order often, with their own prices and discounts, and orders still arrive by e-mail, phone or through sales reps, so someone retypes them. With a handful of customers who order rarely, e-mail and a good price list are enough, and for a large range with the same prices for everyone a ready-made B2B platform is often enough too.
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02 What is a B2B ordering portal?
A B2B ordering portal is a private online shop where your business customers log in and order at their own agreed prices and terms. It supports what a consumer shop does not: payment on invoice, quotes, reorders from history and several users per company with approval rules. Customers serve themselves, and your team handles exceptions instead of routine orders.
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03 Is a B2B portal the same as a B2B web shop?
The terms overlap. A B2B web shop often means a public shop with a trade login added, while a portal is usually closed to the public and built around the customer account - prices, history, invoices and approvals. What matters more than the name is whether it supports your price rules and the way your customers buy.
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04 Should we use a ready-made B2B platform or build a custom portal?
If a SaaS platform or a B2B add-on for your current shop covers your price rules and roles, it is the cheaper route, and we will say so. A custom portal pays off when your pricing logic, approval flows or customers' ordering habits do not fit the templates, or when per-user licence fees grow with every customer you add. A common middle ground is extending an existing shop with the B2B part it lacks.
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05 How do we get customers to actually order through the portal?
Start with the customers who order most often and make their first order easier than an e-mail: their usual products already in a saved list, and a login link sent by their own sales rep. Keep taking phone orders for a while, but enter them in the portal so customers see their history there. Moving customers over is part of the plan, not an afterthought.
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06 Can consumers and trade customers order in the same shop?
Yes. A portal can run on the same product data as your consumer web shop, with trade prices and terms visible only after login, or as a separate site only for business customers. The choice depends on whether the two groups need a different range, content and checkout. We recommend one after mapping your price rules.
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07 How much does a B2B ordering portal cost?
It depends on scope - how many price rules, user roles and customers there are, and how much data has to be moved. That is why we do not publish a price list. The first call is free, and the price is agreed in writing before work starts. We often begin with a smaller first version for regular customers and extend it from there.
Still taking orders by e-mail?
Tell us how your customers order today. The first call is free, and the price is agreed in writing before work starts.
Completely free. No commitments.
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