B2B e-commerce requirements: the checklist for distributors and manufacturers

A B2B online store has to do three things well before anything else: stay in sync with the ERP as the system of record, show every account its own contract pricing, and keep access closed to verified business customers. Around that core sit the requirements buyers feel every day: quick reorder, order guides, ship-tos, net terms, punchout and EDI, exemption certificates, mobile scan. This checklist covers all twelve.

Which twelve requirements belong on the list?

Not every distributor needs all twelve on day one, but each should be a conscious decision. Check the ones that apply and ask every vendor to demo them with your data.

• 01

  ERP integration: the ERP stays the system of record

  Items, prices, customers, and orders live in the ERP; the storefront reflects them instead of duplicating them. Without two-way ERP integration you get stale inventory, retyped orders, and two versions of every price.

• 02

  Account approval and closed access

  Negotiated terms do not belong on the open web. New accounts register, get reviewed, and only then see prices and order. Ask how the approval workflow assigns price list, payment terms, and catalog visibility on approval.

• 03

  Contract pricing, price lists, and quantity breaks

  After login, every account sees exactly its negotiated terms. Customer-specific pricing, price lists, quantity breaks, and pack sizes come from the ERP, not a copy in the storefront. A 3/8-in. hex bolt, box of 100, is $18.40 for one account and $16.95 for another; both must be right.

• 04

  Quick order, reorder, and order guides

  B2B buyers do not browse, they replenish. Quick order by SKU or pasted spreadsheet, reorder from history, and saved order guides per location cut the path from "we're low" to "ordered" to a minute. This item decides adoption.

• 05

  Multiple ship-tos, bill-to, and buyer roles

  One account, many locations: a contractor or multi-site facility manager orders for several ship-tos under one bill-to. The platform should mirror the ERP's ship-to list, let buyers pick a location per order, and support requester and approver roles with spending limits.

• 06

  Net terms, credit limits, and payment options

  The default B2B payment method is the invoice on the terms stored in the ERP, not a credit card. The storefront must respect those terms, honor credit limits and credit holds, and still offer card or ACH for accounts without terms through your payment provider.

• 07

  Sales tax and exemption certificates

  Resellers, manufacturers buying for production, and many institutions are exempt from sales tax on qualifying purchases and owe you a valid certificate. Ask how certificates are stored per account and ship-to state, how expirations are flagged, and how exemption status reaches the tax calculation (ERP, Avalara, TaxJar).

• 08

  Punchout catalogs and EDI

  Larger accounts buy from inside their procurement system: a cXML or OCI punchout catalog lets an Ariba, Coupa, or Jaggaer user browse your storefront at contract prices and return the cart to their PO; EDI 850/855/856/810 covers PO, acknowledgment, ship notice, and invoice.

• 09

  Live inventory, availability, and units of measure

  Buyers plan against the availability you show them; wrong numbers turn into calls and backorders. Inventory by warehouse, lead times, minimum order quantities, and units of measure (each, case, pallet, 50-lb bag) come from the ERP and refresh often.

• 10

  Multiple storefronts from one installation

  Several brands, divisions, or customer groups should not mean several platforms. A multi-tenant setup serves separate storefronts with their own catalogs and pricing from one installation and one ERP connection.

• 11

  Mobile and barcode scan-to-reorder

  Reorders start on the shop floor or in the stockroom, not at a desk. A storefront that runs in the browser on a phone or rugged handheld and lets a buyer scan bin labels into a cart at contract prices removes the last excuse for phoning the order in.

• 12

  Operations, security, and hosting

  A B2B store is a system you run, not a project with an end date. Updates, monitoring, backups, a named contact for incidents, and a hosting model that fits your security requirements (vendor cloud, EU, or your own cloud environment) belong on the list from the start.

Frequently asked questions