B2B e-commerce has fundamentally different requirements from B2C — yet most platforms try to force B2C patterns onto B2B buyers. This guide explains what B2B commerce actually needs and how to build it right.
Every B2B e-commerce project we've worked on has started with the same conversation:
"We tried [Shopify / WooCommerce / Magento]. It doesn't work for our business."
That's not because those platforms are bad. It's because they were designed for consumers buying a t-shirt, not procurement teams ordering 500 units of industrial fasteners with negotiated pricing, purchase order terms, and multi-location delivery.
B2B commerce is a fundamentally different problem. And trying to solve it with B2C tools is like using a sedan to haul construction materials — technically possible, practically miserable.
This guide explains what makes B2B different, where traditional platforms fail, and how to build a B2B commerce platform that actually works for your buyers and your business.
B2C buyer: Individual. Makes emotional decisions. Browses casually. Compares prices. Buys impulsively. Single transaction.
B2B buyer: Professional. Makes rational, committee-driven decisions. Has specific needs. Cares about compliance, reliability, and relationships. Buys repeatedly over years.
A B2C store needs to seduce. A B2B platform needs to serve.
| Dimension | B2C | B2B |
|---|---|---|
| Order value | ₹500–₹50,000 | ₹50,000–₹50,00,000+ |
| Payment | Credit card, immediate | Purchase order, net 30/60/90 |
| Pricing | Fixed, same for everyone | Negotiated, customer-specific |
| Decision-maker | Individual | Committee (3–7 people) |
| Buying frequency | One-off or seasonal | Regular (weekly/monthly reorders) |
| Catalog | Full catalog visible | Customer-specific catalogs |
| Checkout | Self-service, instant | Often requires approval workflows |
| Shipping | Standard options | Custom logistics, multi-location |
| Returns | Simple, standardized | Complex, relationship-dependent |
When you look at this table, it's obvious why Shopify — designed for the left column — struggles with the right column.
B2C is transactional. B2B is relational.
Your B2B customer isn't choosing between you and a competitor for a one-time purchase. They're choosing a partner for years of repeat business. The platform needs to support this relationship: custom pricing, account management, order history, reordering, credit limits, and dedicated support.
B2C platforms assume one price for everyone. Buy the product, pay the listed price.
B2B pricing is a matrix:
Shopify can do basic price breaks with apps. But customer-specific contract pricing, with volume tiers, across thousands of products? You're writing custom code regardless — and fighting the platform every step.
Many B2B transactions start with a quote, not a cart. The buyer says "I need 500 units of X, 200 units of Y, delivered to 3 locations — what's the price?"
The platform needs to:
This workflow doesn't exist in any off-the-shelf B2C platform. You either build it custom or use a dedicated B2B platform.
In B2B, the person browsing the catalog is often not the person authorized to approve the purchase.
A purchasing agent selects products. A manager approves orders under ₹5L. A director approves orders over ₹5L. The CFO approves orders over ₹50L.
The platform needs:
B2C platforms have no concept of "organizational accounts with internal approval workflows." This is pure custom development.
B2B catalogs have challenges B2C stores never face:
B2C: pay now, get the thing. Simple.
B2B: Invoice me, I'll pay in 30 days. Or 60. Or 90. Against a purchase order. With a credit limit that you've approved. And I need the invoice to match our PO number exactly, or accounts payable will reject it.
Features needed:
None of this exists in standard e-commerce platforms.
B2B orders often ship to multiple locations:
B2C shipping: pick a speed, get a label. B2B shipping: a logistics negotiation per order.
A B2B commerce platform should be built headless — not because it's trendy, but because B2B requires:
Our typical B2B commerce stack:
| Layer | Technology | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Frontend | Next.js | Fast, SEO-friendly, supports complex UI interactions |
| Commerce engine | Medusa.js (extended) or custom Node.js | Extensible enough for B2B logic |
| Database | PostgreSQL | Handles relational complexity (pricing matrices, org hierarchies) |
| Search | Meilisearch | Faceted search across large catalogs with complex filters |
| Authentication | Custom (role-based) | Organizational accounts with permissions |
| Payments | Stripe (for card) + Custom (for invoicing) | Flexible enough for both B2C and B2B payment models |
Phase 1: Foundation (weeks 1–3)
Organizational accounts — Companies sign up. Within each company, multiple users with different roles (buyer, approver, admin, viewer).
Customer-specific pricing — Each company sees their negotiated prices. Volume discounts apply automatically. The pricing engine is the heart of the system.
Product catalog with advanced filtering — Faceted search (filter by material, size, certification, availability). Product data sheets and technical documentation available per product.
Cart and checkout — Supports PO reference, delivery notes per line item, multi-location shipping selection, and payment method selection (card, invoice, wire transfer).
Order management — Order history, tracking, reorder functionality, and order modification requests.
Phase 2: Business logic (weeks 3–5)
Quote/RFQ system — Request for quote workflow with internal routing, salesperson tools, and buyer approval.
Approval workflows — Configurable approval chains based on order value, product category, or custom rules.
Invoice and payment terms — Generate invoices, track payments, enforce credit limits, handle overdue accounts.
Reordering — One-click reorder from past orders. Saved order templates for recurring purchases. Scheduled automatic reorders.
Phase 3: Integration and optimization (weeks 5–7)
ERP integration — Sync inventory, pricing, and orders with SAP, NetSuite, Tally, or custom ERP.
Advanced reporting — Sales by customer, product performance, inventory velocity, outstanding receivables.
Email automation — Order confirmations, shipping notifications, invoice reminders, abandoned cart recovery.
The single most important technical decision in B2B commerce is the data model. Get it wrong and everything downstream is painful. Get it right and the system grows naturally.
Key entities and relationships:
Organizations
└─ Users (with roles: admin, buyer, approver, viewer)
└─ Price Lists (customer-specific pricing)
└─ Credit Terms (limits, payment terms)
└─ Shipping Locations (multiple addresses)
Products
└─ Variants (size, color, material combinations)
└─ Pricing Rules (volume tiers, bundle discounts)
└─ Categories / Collections
└─ Technical Documents (PDFs, spec sheets)
└─ Compatibility Relationships (goes-with, requires)
Orders
└─ Line Items (with per-line shipping destinations)
└─ Approval Status (pending, approved, rejected)
└─ Purchase Order Reference
└─ Invoices (linked to orders, with payment tracking)
Quotes
└─ Quote Items (with negotiated pricing)
└─ Validity Period
└─ Approval Chain
└─ Conversion to Order
| B2B platform type | Complexity | Cost (fixed) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple B2B storefront (catalog + pricing + orders) | Basic | ₹12L–₹20L | 3–4 weeks |
| Full B2B platform (quotes, approvals, invoicing) | Medium | ₹20L–₹35L | 5–7 weeks |
| Enterprise B2B (ERP integration, multi-region, configurator) | Complex | ₹35L–₹60L+ | 8–12 weeks |
These costs include the complete build — frontend, backend, admin panel, deployment, and training. Ongoing maintenance is typically ₹1.5L–₹3L/year.
Compare this to enterprise B2B platforms like SAP Commerce Cloud (₹50L+ per year in licensing alone) or BigCommerce B2B (₹5L+/month), and custom development starts to look very attractive.
Your first B2B customers might be small accounts that are comfortable with self-service ordering. Start there. Build the catalog, pricing engine, and checkout. Get it working for self-service buyers.
Then add the quote system, approval workflows, and sales tools as you move upmarket. Don't build everything at once.
Your sales team lives in their CRM. Your finance team lives in Tally or QuickBooks. Your warehouse team uses a WMS. The e-commerce platform should feed data into these systems, not replace them.
Plan integrations early, even if you build them later. The data model needs to support them from day one.
B2B buyers don't browse on their phones like consumers. But they do:
The mobile experience should be functional and fast, focused on these use cases. It doesn't need to be a consumer-grade shopping experience.
Your B2B platform isn't just for buyers. Your sales team needs:
Build sales tools into the platform from the start, not as an afterthought.
B2B e-commerce requires a fundamentally different platform from B2C. Traditional platforms can't handle the pricing complexity, organizational structures, approval workflows, and payment terms that B2B demands.
Building custom is an investment — but it's an investment that pays for itself through:
Building a B2B commerce platform? Book a free discovery call — we've built B2B platforms across industries and can help you plan the right approach for your business. Or request a free audit if you have an existing platform that's not meeting your needs.
If this guide resonated with your situation, let's talk. We offer a free 30-minute discovery call — no pitch, just honest advice on your specific project.
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