Wholesale e-commerce: a B2B client portal
Wholesale sales through a website work fundamentally differently from retail: different pricing logic, a different order process, and different portal requirements.
Individual pricing and price lists
In wholesale, price almost always depends on order volume and the specific client rather than being uniform. The client portal needs to show pricing tied to the account, not a general on-site price list.
For new clients without an account, it makes sense to show a 'from' price marked 'exact price on request' — this doesn't discourage inquiries while keeping individual terms away from competitors.
Minimum order quantities and order logic
Wholesale products often sell in multiples of a case or pallet rather than individually. The cart needs to physically prevent orders below the minimum quantity rather than relying on a manager to correct it manually.
Bulk adding items via an Excel SKU list upload saves time for regular clients ordering from a fixed assortment.
Working without prepayment and payment terms
Some B2B clients operate on payment terms or invoicing rather than card prepayment. The portal needs to support placing orders without immediate payment, generating invoices and contracts.
Transaction history and the current credit limit should be visible to the client in the portal — this takes some load off accounting from calls asking 'how much do I owe'.
Order history and repeat purchases
For wholesale clients, quickly repeating a past order matters more than rebuilding the cart from scratch. A 'reorder' button with the ability to adjust quantities saves noticeable time on regular purchases.
Exporting order and invoice history to Excel or PDF is needed for the client's own accounting — a standard expectation in the B2B segment even where retail typically lacks this feature.