B2B webshop platform

Everyone knows what a webshop is: an online shopping environment where customers can order products. Whereas a B2C webshop is there for consumers, a B2B webshop is there for companies. B2B stands for business-to-business. The B2B webshop is intended for sales between companies. Here, entrepreneurs sell products or services to one another in a business e-commerce environment.

To create a B2B web shop, you need software. Software is the foundation of every web portal.

A simple web shop application can sometimes be developed in-house, but for B2B applications there are often specific requirements that make the software development complex. Unlike B2C, here you have to deal with, for example, bulk packaging, volume calculations, repetitive purchases or connections to administrative systems in a company. In B2B, you have customers with different prices, agreements and contracts. Also, integrations with ERP (transactional data), PIM/DAM (product data) and CRM (customer data) systems are important.

It is wise to properly identify the requirements and then find a good software developer to match them.

The next step is the platform. What kind of platform are you going to offer your B2B shop on?

If you choose SaaS software, you don’t have to arrange all that yourself. SaaS stands for Software as a Service. You pay a periodic subscription fee to the SaaS provider for the use of the software platform. Hosting and maintenance are almost always included. Another option is to purchase open source software. Open source is source code that is made freely available on the Internet. You can further modify this code yourself, but you must also maintain the continued development and maintenance of the platform yourself.

Furthermore, there are choices to be made between an open platform and a platform with a login. An open webshop platform is a web portal that is visible and accessible to everyone. This is particularly useful for entrepreneurs who offer standard business products without too much customization. With a closed platform, users can only see the web portal after logging in. There are many companies that appreciate a closed web shop channel for their customers. In such a closed customer portal, customers can find their own products and order history, sometimes even in the look and feel of their own company. Approval processes or budget allocations are easy to integrate.

Ordering certain business products or services online requires customization. For example, when it comes to ordering printed materials.

Print products come in many shapes and sizes and they will need to be created only after an order is placed. A customer chooses from the many options in the web shop to put together the product, such as size, material or weight. Often the product can be personalized with a new design. For instance, a flyer or business card with a personal design. After forwarding the order, a supplier begins manufacturing the product.

All this makes an online store for printing a custom B2B webshop. It requires software with all the ordering options for print products, including all the different price calculations and tiered pricing.

Do you want a specialist for a custom B2B printing webshop?

Then Prindustry is the right partner!

This software developer is market leader in the BeNeLux with webshops for printing. The software is specially developed for graphic entrepreneurs. This means that custom applications for online print sales are standard in the platform. All quantity calculations, product construction, quotation, budget or invoicing modules. Moreover, connections are available with (other) graphic producers.

The ordering process is fully automated. It is delivered on the basis of SaaS software. Prindustry takes care of hosting, maintenance and further development of the software.