Reviewed by the SEOPointz team · Last reviewed June 2026. Platform pricing in B2B is heavily negotiated, so we flag where public “total cost” figures come from the vendors themselves. SEOPointz may earn a commission from some links; it never changes what we recommend.
Selling to businesses online is no longer a watered-down version of selling to consumers. A purchasing manager buying $40,000 of components needs contract pricing, a credit line, a reorder history and an approval chain before anything ships — none of which a standard retail checkout handles. The encouraging news is that B2B buyers actually want to do this themselves: McKinsey research puts self-service at roughly 34% of B2B revenue, and Gartner finds that 61% of buyers now prefer a rep-free buying experience. The question for most companies isn’t whether to build a B2B store, but how to build one that respects how businesses really buy.
Why B2B buying breaks a normal store
A consumer adds an item, pays with a card and leaves. A business buyer rarely does any of that. They expect to see their negotiated price, not the list price. They order in case quantities, not units. They often pay on net-30 or net-60 terms rather than upfront. And the person browsing is frequently not the person who can approve the spend, so the order has to route through someone else first. Surveys now show B2B buyers touching an average of around ten channels — sales rep, website, marketplace, email, phone — across a single decision. If your store can only do anonymous card checkout, you’re forcing those buyers back to PDFs and phone calls, which is exactly the friction they’re trying to escape.
The features that actually matter
Strip away the marketing and a workable B2B store needs a short, specific list of capabilities:
- Customer-specific catalogs and pricing — each account sees its own products and negotiated rates after logging in.
- Quotes and RFQ — a buyer can request a quote, and a rep can respond with adjusted pricing or freight before the order is placed.
- Company accounts with roles — multiple buyers under one company, with a manager who approves orders above a threshold.
- Net terms and purchase orders — checkout that accepts a PO number and bills later, not just a credit card.
- Reorder and requisition lists — one-click repeat of last month’s order, because most B2B volume is replenishment.
A useful rule of thumb: an order should start as a quote whenever pricing, terms, freight or approvals still need review, and as a fast repeat order when the contract terms are already stable.
Choosing a platform
Three platforms dominate serious B2B conversations in 2026, and they make genuinely different trade-offs.
| Platform | Native B2B depth | Best fit | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Commerce | Deepest out of the box — RFQ, negotiable quotes, multi-level approvals, requisition lists, buyer-specific catalogs | Complex catalogs and custom logic where you need control of the application layer | Highest total cost of ownership and needs developer resources to run |
| BigCommerce B2B Edition | Polished native B2B suite (built on its BundleB2B acquisition) | Mid-market distributors and manufacturers wanting strong B2B without full self-hosting | Open SaaS is extensible but has a customization ceiling |
| Shopify B2B (Plus) | Solid and improving; company profiles, price lists, net terms | Brands wanting speed, low maintenance and the largest app ecosystem (10,000+ integrations) | Deepest workflows may need apps; verify each is supported |
You’ll see confident total-cost-of-ownership claims — for example that Adobe and BigCommerce run roughly 40% and 30% higher than Shopify respectively. Treat those carefully: the most-cited version of that comparison is published by Shopify itself. The honest takeaway is directional, not precise: hosted SaaS platforms usually cost less to operate, while Adobe Commerce buys you control at a higher running cost. Get a real quote against your own catalog size and order volume before believing any single number.
Don’t skip the unglamorous integrations
The part of a B2B build that quietly decides success is the back office. Your store needs to talk to your ERP or accounting system so that inventory, customer-specific pricing and credit limits stay in sync, and to a payment provider that supports invoicing and net terms rather than card-only. If pricing lives in your ERP, the website has to read from it — maintaining a second price list by hand is how stores end up quoting the wrong number to a long-standing customer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell B2B and B2C from the same store?
Yes, and many companies do. The usual pattern is one storefront that shows public retail pricing to anonymous visitors and switches to logged-in account pricing, net terms and reorder tools once a business customer signs in.
Do I really need net terms, or can I require card payment?
You can require cards, but you’ll lose deals. Offering credit terms is a competitive expectation in most trade sectors. If cash-flow risk worries you, look at third-party net-terms providers that pay you upfront and take on the collection risk.
How long does a B2B build take?
A focused launch on a SaaS platform can take a couple of months; a heavily customized Adobe Commerce build with ERP integration commonly runs two to three times longer. Scope the integrations first — they, not the storefront design, are what stretch timelines.
For the platform selection details that apply to any online store, see our guide to choosing the right ecommerce website, and if Shopify is on your shortlist, our comprehensive Shopify guide walks through setup step by step.
