B2B platforms need to tightly integrate with the systems that control the data (e.g. an ERP, PIM, CRM or iPaaS) to ensure that B2B data is always kept in sync. This includes product, customer, and order data but may extend to shipping and tax rules.
A retailer's B2B channel can often be considerably larger than their B2C, yet the B2B design can appear tired and dated. It's important that B2B platforms offer a fresh and engaging visual experience, one that mirrors the merchant's B2C presence very closely.
B2B platforms need to give maximum control to the wholesale customer. This means giving them the tools they need to place orders and manage their account without needing customer or technical support.
For over 15 years, blubolt have been trailblazers for beautiful, bold and technically brilliant B2B eCommerce websites powered by our own proprietary platform, bluCommerce. From fashion and homeware to food and drink, our platform was known for its impressive ability to meet the bespoke needs of retailers.
Our B2B platform innovated in direct response to the real-life needs we were seeing from our clients. Ultimately, this was the ability for their B2B customers to place orders quickly and easily and for maximum automation with the systems used behind-the-scenes.
Our B2B platform had a robust foundation as we were catering to our clients’ enterprise-level requirements from the outset. This wasn’t just managing the basics like tiered pricing either. We were engineering highly-complex functionality for large retail end-users who had teams placing wholesale orders! Key to our B2B success was making life easy for the end-user, regardless of how challenging the requirements.
Having helped some of the UK’s best-loved brands grow exponentially in both B2C and B2B, we now channel our expertise into Shopify Plus. Using our technical and creative expertise, we've been able to extend the feature-set to offer a truly powerful B2B solution; one that ensures all your B2B systems are connected as well as leading self-service frontend features for your B2B customers.
What makes a great Shopify B2B eCommerce website? It needs to offer the following key self-service features for your B2B customers.
The ability to set different pricing rules for customers, whether on a group level (e.g. VIP wholesale customers) or individual level (store ABC price list).
Being able to rapidly add products to an order, adjust quantities, import products at a line-item level via CSV, and to be able to save an order to come back to.
Being able to configure tiers of customers (e.g. master accounts and sub-accounts) that set different privilege levels to what actions can be performed.
Offering support for price breaks if the customer purchases multiples of an item (e.g. buy 1 at £4.20 per unit, buy 3 at £3.80 per unit).
Allowing customers to see their full order history (ideally showing offline orders too), to view credit limits, and to be able to quickly reorder again.
Ensuring customers can purchase products in the correct volumes, e.g. packs of 3, 6, 9, etc.
As part of our service offering, we are pleased to announce the launch of our official Shopify B2B app, SparkLayer B2B. Once installed, SparkLayer connects directly to your systems (e.g. ERP, PIM) to retrieve your B2B data such as price lists and then enables a feature-rich ordering interface for your customers.
You can learn more about how SparkLayer B2B works on our dedicated website here.
"Shopify gives us the framework we need to be able to deliver leading B2B eCommerce solutions for our customers. With our own technical toolset, we can extend it even further to give a truly integrated B2B solution."
Chris Mattingly
Co-founder of bluboltHi, can you help with my eCommerce store?
Yes! We provide beautiful, powerful, reliable eCommerce solutions for fast growing brands. Click below to get started.