B2B ordering portals for distributors, dealers and wholesalers
A B2B ordering portal is a logged-in website or app where your trade buyers see their own price list, place bulk and repeat orders, and check invoices and outstanding balance. WavX builds custom portals connected to Tally or your ERP. If your rules fit Shopify B2B, that is usually cheaper, and this page says when.
What a B2B ordering portal replaces
Most distributors and manufacturers in India take trade orders in four ways at once: a phone call to the sales executive, a WhatsApp message with a photo of a handwritten list, an Excel sheet emailed on Monday, and an order booked by a salesperson on a visit. Someone in the office types each one into Tally or the ERP. The faults are predictable:
- the dealer is quoted last month's price, or another dealer's price;
- an order is accepted for a dealer who is already past their credit limit;
- quantities are entered in pieces when the dealer meant cases;
- nobody can tell the dealer, without a call, whether their order has been dispatched or what they owe.
A portal moves order entry to the buyer, with your rules applied before the order reaches your books. The sales team stops typing and starts selling.
Shopify B2B, a SaaS ordering app, or a custom portal
There are three honest routes, and the cheapest one is right for many businesses.
| Your situation | Likely fit |
|---|---|
| You already sell retail on Shopify; a few price lists; simple payment terms | Shopify B2B on your current plan |
| Wholesale only, one price list, standard catalogue, no accounting link needed beyond an export | A subscription B2B ordering app; compare two or three before building anything |
| Several dealer levels (distributor, dealer, retailer) with different prices at each level | Custom portal |
| Credit control that must follow the ledger in Tally or your ERP | Custom portal, or Shopify B2B plus an integration |
| Schemes by period, slab or product mix that change every month | Custom portal |
| Field sales booking orders on a phone, offline in some areas | Custom portal with a companion app |
| Dealers order by WhatsApp today and have never ordered online | Try the cheapest option with ten dealers first |
The step-by-step guide to building a B2B ordering portal covers the custom route in more depth.
What WavX builds into a portal
| Module | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer accounts and roles | A company, its branches, and the people who may order, approve or only view | One dealer often has an owner who approves and a store manager who orders |
| Price lists and catalogues | Each buyer sees their own prices and the products they are allowed to buy | Read from your ERP or maintained in the portal's admin; decided at scoping |
| Order rules | Minimum order value, case packs, multiples, maximum per SKU | Stops the order before it is wrong, not after |
| Quick order and reorder | Reorder last month's list, add by SKU code, upload a sheet | This is the feature that decides whether dealers use the portal |
| Credit check | Order value plus outstanding balance compared with the dealer's limit; accept, hold for approval or block | Needs a reliable read of the ledger |
| Schemes and discounts | Slab, period and product-mix schemes applied at order time | The rules are written down with your sales head before any code |
| Order status and documents | Confirmed, dispatched, delivered; invoice, credit note and ledger to download | Removes most "where is my order" calls |
| Payments | Pay an invoice or the outstanding balance online through a gateway | Optional; many portals start with offline payment and add this later |
| Sales team view | Salespeople place orders for their own dealers and see their own numbers | Can be a companion mobile app |
| Admin panel | Manage buyers, limits, price lists, schemes and approvals | For your office team, not a developer |
| Accounting and ERP integration | Orders into Tally or your ERP; stock, prices, invoices and balances back to the portal | Usually the largest single risk in the project |
The portal is a customer portal with ordering at its centre. Payment collection, when included, uses the same approach as WavX's payment gateway integration work.
The integration decides the project
The portal is only as accurate as the data it reads. Three questions settle most of the risk:
- Which system owns prices, stock and the ledger? Usually Tally or an ERP. The portal reads from it; it does not become a second source of truth.
- How fresh does each item need to be? Stock may need to update every few minutes; price lists once a day; the outstanding balance at the moment the dealer places an order.
- What happens when the link fails? Orders must queue and post later, not disappear. Someone must be told.
If orders already fail to reach your books from another channel, read orders not syncing to Tally or your ERP first. The same faults will appear in a portal unless the sync is designed for them. For the Tally side in detail, see Tally integration.
What it costs: a planning range
These figures come from the WavX software cost estimator. They are planning ranges, not quotes. The quote follows scoping.
| Configuration | Cost model inputs | Subtotal | Planning range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer ordering portal: logins, price lists, order rules, admin panel, one accounting integration | Custom web application ₹4,50,000 + auth and roles ₹60,000 + third-party integrations ₹60,000 + admin panel ₹90,000 | ₹6,60,000 | ₹5,61,000 to ₹8,25,000 |
| As above, plus online payment and exports and reporting | + payments ₹90,000 + exports and reporting ₹50,000 | ₹8,00,000 | ₹6,80,000 to ₹10,00,000 |
| As above, plus a companion app for field sales and live order notifications | + companion mobile app ₹2,00,000 + real-time and notifications ₹70,000 | ₹10,70,000 | ₹9,09,500 to ₹13,37,500 |
Assumptions: standard design and small scale (up to about 1,000 users). The estimator multiplies the subtotal by 1.3 for a growing user base and by 1.25 for custom UI design. The range runs from 15% below to 25% above the subtotal.
Running costs sit on top: hosting, the gateway's transaction fees if online payment is used, and maintenance. WavX's published maintenance band is 15 to 25% of the build cost per year, explained in app maintenance cost per year.
Timeline
The software cost estimator gives 8 to 14 weeks for a subtotal under ₹9,00,000 and 14 to 22 weeks for one under ₹16,00,000. So the first two configurations above sit in the 8 to 14 week band, and the version with a field-sales app in the 14 to 22 week band. A typical sequence:
- Scoping. Dealer levels, price lists, schemes, credit rules and who approves what, written down with your sales and accounts heads. Sample exports from Tally or the ERP.
- Integration first. The read of prices, stock and balances is built and tested against your real data before any screens.
- Ordering screens and admin. Reorder, quick order, cart rules, approvals.
- Pilot. Ten to twenty dealers who already order often use it for two or three order cycles. Their questions show what is unclear.
- Rollout. The rest of the dealers are invited, with the sales team showing each one how to reorder.
What makes a portal fail
- Dealers were not asked. If the portal is slower than a WhatsApp message, they will keep sending WhatsApp messages.
- The sales team loses out. If salespeople are paid only on orders they book, they will discourage portal orders. Credit them for their dealers' portal orders.
- Prices drift. If the portal holds its own copy of the price list and someone updates only the ERP, dealers order at the wrong price. One owner per piece of data.
- Schemes were never written down. If the scheme rules live in one person's head, they cannot be coded. Writing them down is part of scoping.
When not to build one
- You have fewer than a few dozen trade buyers and they order monthly. A shared price list and a well-run WhatsApp Business account may be all you need.
- You run on Shopify and your rules fit Shopify B2B. Configure it; it is included in the plan you already pay for.
- A subscription ordering app covers your rules. Paying a monthly fee is cheaper than a build until the app's limits cost you orders or staff time.
- Your price lists and credit limits are not yet kept in one place. Fix that in your accounting system first. A portal built on inconsistent data shows the inconsistency to every dealer.
B2B ordering portals are part of WavX's e-commerce development work, alongside custom storefronts and multi-vendor marketplaces.
Frequently asked questions
How is a B2B ordering portal different from an online store?
A store shows one price to everyone and takes payment at checkout. A B2B portal shows each buyer their own prices and catalogue, allows orders on credit within a limit, enforces minimum quantities and case packs, and keeps the buyer's invoices and ledger in one place. The buyer is a business that orders again and again, not a one-time shopper.
Can the portal check a dealer's outstanding balance in Tally before accepting an order?
Yes, if the balance can be read from Tally or your ERP on a schedule or on demand. The portal compares the order value plus the outstanding amount against the dealer's limit and either accepts the order, holds it for approval, or blocks it. The rule is yours; we build it to match how your accounts team works today.
How much does a custom B2B ordering portal cost?
From the WavX software cost estimator, a dealer portal with logins, price lists, an admin panel and one accounting integration works out to a planning range of about ₹5.6 lakh to ₹8.3 lakh. Adding online payment and reports takes it to about ₹6.8 lakh to ₹10 lakh. These are planning ranges, not quotes; the quote follows scoping.
Should we use Shopify B2B instead?
If you already sell retail on Shopify, have a few price lists and simple payment terms, Shopify B2B on your current plan is usually the cheaper answer. A custom portal earns its cost when wholesale is the main business, with several dealer levels, credit control tied to your books, schemes, and field sales booking orders.
Will our dealers actually use it?
Only if ordering through the portal is faster for them than a phone call or a WhatsApp message. That is why the build starts with reorder in two taps, a pilot with a small group of dealers, and a sales team that is paid on portal orders too. A portal nobody logs in to has failed however well it is built.
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