B2B e-commerce has grown into a substantial segment of online commerce, as more wholesale and business buyers expect the same convenience of online ordering they experience as consumers. In 2025, building an effective B2B online sales channel requires addressing needs quite different from typical consumer storefronts. Here is a complete guide.
How B2B Buying Differs From B2C
B2B buyers typically purchase in larger quantities, require custom pricing based on volume or account relationships, and often need approval workflows before completing a purchase, all of which standard consumer-focused e-commerce setups do not handle well by default.
Customer-Specific Pricing
Wholesale relationships often involve negotiated pricing that varies by customer, making the ability to display different price lists to different logged-in accounts an essential feature rather than a nice-to-have for a genuine B2B storefront.
Tiered Volume Discounts
Beyond individual account pricing, automatic volume discounts that apply as order quantities increase encourage larger orders while remaining transparent and consistent across all wholesale customers at a given tier.
Streamlined Bulk Ordering
B2B buyers benefit significantly from bulk order tools, such as uploading a spreadsheet of desired products and quantities, rather than manually adding dozens of individual line items through a standard consumer-style shopping cart interface.
Approval Workflows for Business Accounts
Many B2B purchases require internal approval before finalizing, and supporting features like purchase requests that route to a designated approver within the buyer’s organization better matches how businesses actually make purchasing decisions.
Payment Terms Beyond Immediate Checkout
Business buyers frequently expect payment terms such as net-30 invoicing rather than immediate card payment, requiring e-commerce platforms to support alternative payment and invoicing workflows alongside standard checkout options.
Platform Considerations for B2B
Some platforms offer stronger native B2B functionality than others, as discussed in our Shopify vs BigCommerce comparison, making platform choice particularly important for businesses with significant wholesale operations from the outset.
Building Trust With Business Buyers
B2B buyers often conduct more thorough vetting before committing to a new supplier relationship, making clear certifications, case studies, and responsive account management important trust signals beyond what typical consumer product pages need to convey.
Integrating With Buyer Procurement Systems
Larger business customers sometimes require integration with their own procurement software, and supporting standard data exchange formats can be a deciding factor in winning larger enterprise wholesale accounts.
Combining B2B and B2C on the Same Platform
Many businesses successfully run both consumer and wholesale channels from a single platform using account-based logic to differentiate pricing and features, avoiding the complexity of maintaining two entirely separate systems while still meeting each audience’s distinct needs.
Building a B2B Channel That Scales
Starting with core B2B essentials, accurate account-specific pricing and simplified bulk ordering, before adding more complex features like custom procurement integrations, allows businesses to build wholesale capability incrementally as demand and resources justify further investment.