A B2B order portal instead of email and spreadsheet orders
A B2B order portal replaces orders by email and spreadsheet with one place where customers order for themselves, with their own prices, order status and documents, and where a portal can generally show stock too. Your team stops retyping orders, stops emailing price lists around and answers fewer questions about where an order is. The portal runs on the same data as your ERP, which stays in charge of the finances.
Many wholesalers, distributors and brands still take orders by email, phone or spreadsheet. That works while the customer base is small and everyone remembers who ordered what. With more customers, more countries and more products it starts to chafe, and it chafes in the same places every time.
What goes wrong with orders by email
- Retyping: someone keys each order into the ERP by hand, and every keystroke is a chance to enter the wrong article number or quantity.
- Outdated price lists: the customer orders from last quarter's list and you only see the difference on the invoice.
- No view of stock: the customer orders something that is no longer there and only hears about it when the order already looks confirmed.
- No order status: the customer calls or emails to ask where the order is.
- Scattered documents: quotes, proforma invoices and invoices sit in the mailboxes of different colleagues.
- Knowledge held by people: only one or two employees know which customer has which agreements.
Each point on its own is small. Together they mean your sales desk spends its day processing orders instead of helping customers, and a mistake is only noticed once the goods are on their way.
Email and spreadsheet next to a portal
| Topic | Orders by email and spreadsheet | Order portal |
|---|---|---|
| Prices | Price list as an attachment, a different file per customer and per period | Prices per customer from a single source, always the current ones |
| Stock | Known only after someone has checked | A portal can show availability at the moment of ordering |
| Order status | Asked for by email or phone | Followed by the customer, from received to shipped |
| Documents | Sent by email, scattered across mailboxes | Quotes, proforma invoices, backorders and invoices in one place |
| Entry | Retyped by your team | Entered directly into the system, no second entry |
| Repeat orders | Find the old email and send it again | A portal can let customers open an earlier order and reorder it |
Roles and permissions
Not everyone should see everything. A customer sees their own prices and their own orders, an agent sees the customers they serve, and only your own team sees the margin. You set that up with roles and permissions. If you sell through resellers, the same portal can run as a white-label version under their own name and design, on your catalogue.
What a portal does not replace
A portal does not replace your ERP. That is where the finances, invoicing and stock administration stay. The portal is the layer in front of it, with the same products, customers and orders. It does not replace the conversation with the customer either. It takes the administrative work away, so your team keeps time for advice, new products and agreements.
What to sort out first
A portal is only as good as the data in it. Price agreements per customer have to be recorded correctly somewhere, products need complete descriptions and dimensions, and customers need an account with the right role. If that still lives in spreadsheets and supplier lists, cleaning it up is part of the work. It is not a reason to wait.
Who benefits most
An order portal pays off most when customers often reorder the same articles, when prices differ per customer, when customers are in other time zones and when your team keeps getting questions about order status and documents. With a handful of customers who order now and then, a well-run email process can still be fine. The usual signal to switch is that your team spends more time on administration than on customers.
What people ask first.
- What can a customer do in a B2B order portal?
- Order at their own prices, follow the order status, view documents such as quotes, proforma invoices, backorders and invoices, and see the order value per currency. A portal can generally also let customers place earlier orders again. What they can see is set with roles and permissions.
- Does an order portal replace our ERP?
- No. The ERP stays in charge of the finances. The portal synchronises products, customers and orders with your ERP and adds what the ERP does less well, such as ordering by customers, status and access to documents.
- Do all our customers have to switch at the same time?
- No. It can be done step by step: start with customers who often reorder the same articles and let email orders carry on for the time being. That way customers can get used to it at their own pace.
- Who sees which prices and data in the portal?
- You decide with roles and permissions. Customers see their own prices and orders, agents see their customers, and administrators and your own team also see the margin per order line. The customer never does.
Show us where your orders get stuck.
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