Choosing the Best eCommerce Platform for Wholesale

By Nick Spooner
CEO at Salesorder.com | Software and expertise for wholesaler optimization

The benefits of B2B eCommerce have made an eCommerce platform essential for modern wholesale businesses. With an eCommerce platform, wholesalers can easily sell their products online, manage their business efficiently, and increase their revenue.

An eCommerce platform for wholesalers differs from a traditional eCommerce platform in that it is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of wholesalers. These platforms offer tailored features, such as advanced ordering capabilities and sophisticated inventory management, to provide a streamlined experience for both B2B businesses and B2B customers.

Choosing the best eCommerce platform for wholesale is critical for your B2B business’s success. With so many eCommerce platforms available, it can be challenging choosing a B2B eCommerce platform for your wholesale business.

In this article, we outline 10 of the top wholesale eCommerce platforms to help you make an informed decision.
  1. Salesorder.
  2. Adobe Commerce.
  3. Shopify.
  4. BigCommerce.
  5. WooCommerce.
  6. Shift4Shop.
  7. PrestaShop.
  8. SuiteCommerce.
  9. X-Cart.
  10. OroCommerce.
best ecommerce platform for wholesale

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Best ECommerce Platforms for Wholesale

We have outlined 10 wholesale eCommerce platforms for B2B businesses:

Salesorder

Salesorder B2B eCommerce platform is your wholesale eCommerce solution.

Salesorder offers Trade Acceleration Portal (TAP), an eCommerce platform designed specifically for B2B wholesalers. This customizable, multi-storefront platform offers a range of features that are beneficial for both B2B businesses and customers, such as order management and shipment tracking. It is also fast and easy to implement, allowing you to start generating revenue from your online store quickly.

The TAP eCommerce solution is included in the Salesorder system. This comprehensive wholesale management system includes various tools to streamline your business management, such as inventory management, customer management, and warehouse management. This makes it a great choice for businesses that need an all-in-one solution to manage their operations.

Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce, previously known as Magento, is a widely used, open-source eCommerce platform that is suited to B2B wholesale businesses.

This eCommerce platform can handle large volumes of products and customers, making it a great choice for a scaling wholesale business. It offers a range of features tailored to wholesalers, such as order management and easy integration with back-end systems. Its flexibility allows for customization through a range of templates and extensions, making it a great choice for businesses that need a unique eCommerce solution.

Shopify

Shopify is one of the most popular wholesale eCommerce platforms based on its ease of use and simplicity.

Wholesalers can benefit from Shopify’s inventory, order, and shipping management features. Shopify also offers a range of customizable templates to create a tailored eCommerce platform for your customers. The simplicity of the platform makes it easy to set up and maintain without a dedicated IT team.

Shopify also enables wholesalers to sell on the Handshake marketplace, a marketplace that connects wholesalers with retailers. This is only available to wholesalers with Shopify Plus, which is an additional expense.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a widely used eCommerce platform that is designed for businesses of all sizes, including B2B wholesalers.

BigCommerce B2B Edition offers a range of features that are ideal for wholesalers, such as its easy scalability, B2B payment services, and customer segmentation. BigCommerce handles the hosting, security, and updates, allowing businesses to focus on customizing the platform to provide the desired customer experience.

BigCommerce may not be as affordable as some other wholesale eCommerce platforms, which may be limiting for B2B businesses on a tight budget.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an eCommerce plugin that is designed to work with WordPress.

Wholesale for WooCommerce offers a range of features that are ideal for wholesalers, such as shipping management, custom payment methods, and wholesale user role segmentation. WooCommerce is also beneficial for hybrid B2B and B2C businesses, allowing you to separate your product offerings according to your customers.

While WooCommerce is a free open-source platform, many paid extensions may be needed to make it a seamless and efficient eCommerce platform for wholesalers.

Shift4Shop

Shift4Shop, previously known as 3dcart, offers a B2B eCommerce platform for wholesalers, resellers, and manufacturers.

Shift4Shop is a scalable platform designed to provide a simplified shopping experience for B2B customers. With flexible product and bulk pricing structures, order quantity management, and search engine optimization (SEO) tools, wholesalers can benefit from Shift4Shop’s various features. The platform is also customizable, allowing B2B businesses to create an eCommerce store tailored to their specific needs.

PrestaShop

PrestaShop is a free and open-source eCommerce platform designed for small to medium-sized businesses. The PrestaShop B2B module can be attached to the PrestaShop platform to facilitate B2B eCommerce.

PrestaShop B2B module allows for custom pricing structures, customer grouping and management, and order management. It offers flexible customization to create a tailored online store. PrestaShop also supports multiple payment options, allowing you to offer diverse payment solutions to your customers.

The downside to PrestaShop is that it can limit scalability, which is important for growing B2B businesses to consider.

SuiteCommerce

NetSuite SuiteCommerce is an eCommerce platform for B2B wholesale businesses.

SuiteCommerce offers seamless integration with your ERP, CRM, and other back-end operational systems. SuiteCommerce strives to ensure that you can offer a B2C-like experience to your B2B customers with customization features. With features such as B2B payment methods and mobile-responsive design, SuiteCommerce offers numerous benefits to B2B businesses.

SuiteCommerce may not be suited to larger wholesale businesses due to the limitations of scaling integrations.

X-Cart

X-Cart is a PHP-based eCommerce platform designed for businesses of all sizes.

X-Cart is a scalable B2B eCommerce platform that allows you to offer a secure online store to your B2B customers. It includes various features, such as automated real-time shipping quotes and easy CRM, OMS, and ERP integration, that are tailored to benefit wholesalers. With an API-driven open-code technology and an easy-to-use storefront builder, X-Cart offers unlimited customization.

One potential drawback of X-Cart is that its pricing plans can be higher than some of its competitors, which may be a concern for B2B businesses on a tight budget.

OroCommerce

OroCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform designed specifically for B2B businesses, including distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers.

OroCommerce offers a comprehensive range of features for B2B businesses, including account management, pricing structuring, and customer management. With OroCommerce, you also have access to their built-in CRM to improve your sales organization and customer segmentation. This customizable platform is easily scalable to match your growing B2B business.

OroCommerce can be challenging initially to customize and implement, which can potentially delay your use of the platform.

Choosing a Wholesale ECommerce Platform

With the right eCommerce platform in place, you can streamline your operations, improve your customer experience, and maximize your profits. Choosing the best eCommerce platform for wholesale will depend on your specific requirements and budget. When choosing an eCommerce platform, it is important to consider factors such as scalability, flexibility, ease of use, customization options, and pricing.

FAQs

The best B2B eCommerce platform for your business will depend on your specific feature requirements and budget. It is important to consider factors such as scalability, flexibility, and customization options when choosing a B2B eCommerce platform.

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