What Is Wholesale Ecommerce and a B2B Ordering Portal?
Wholesale ecommerce means a brand sells goods in volume to other businesses, usually retailers who resell them, and takes the orders online instead of by phone, email or spreadsheet. A B2B ordering portal is one tool for doing this. It is a private site with controlled access, where your existing accounts see their own catalog, prices, minimums and terms, then place orders and reorder.
This page is for brands that sell direct to consumers and keep hearing they need a "wholesale portal". For the full set of first decisions, see how to start selling wholesale.
Key takeaways
- Wholesale ecommerce is a way of selling. A portal is one piece of software. A marketplace is a separate channel.
- A portal speeds up orders from accounts you already have. It does not find new buyers.
- You likely need one when re-keying emailed orders or managing per-account prices becomes a real job.
- "Wholesale ecommerce" is also used for dropshipping and bulk sourcing. On this page it means selling your goods to retailers.
What is wholesale ecommerce?
Wholesale ecommerce is business-to-business selling of goods for resale, with the ordering done online. The buyer is a store, not a shopper. Orders are larger, prices are wholesale, and payment often comes later on agreed terms.
It sits inside B2B ecommerce, the umbrella term that also covers software, services and company purchasing. The official US definition of a wholesaler captures the core idea: a business that sells to retailers and other businesses, not to the general public.
The phrase has two other common meanings online. One is bulk-sourcing marketplaces where businesses buy from many suppliers. The other is dropshipping and supplier directories, where goods bought at wholesale are resold to consumers.
How is wholesale ecommerce different from selling DTC?
The product can be identical. Almost everything around the sale changes.
| DTC ecommerce | Wholesale ecommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer | Individual shopper | Retail buyer for a store |
| Price | One public retail price | Wholesale price, often set per account |
| Order size | One or a few units | Case packs, size runs, minimums |
| Payment | Card at checkout | Card, prepay or terms such as Net 30 |
| Rhythm | Whenever a shopper buys | Seasonal pre-books plus reorders |
| Access | Open to anyone | Approved accounts only |
| Checkout | Cart and card | Purchase order with ship dates |
What is a B2B ordering portal?
A B2B ordering portal is a private ordering site for your wholesale accounts. Buyers get in with a login, a link or an access code. Inside, they see the catalog, prices and terms set up for them, and they order without emailing you a spreadsheet.
It goes by other names too: buyer portal, wholesale portal, B2B customer portal and B2B storefront. "Platform" usually means the software underneath. "Portal" means the part the buyer sees.
Most portals include:
- Gated access, so consumers never see wholesale prices.
- A catalog and price list for each account.
- Order rules such as minimums, case packs and size runs.
- Checkout with a purchase order number, ship dates and payment terms.
- Order history and quick reorders.
- A connection to your inventory, ecommerce or ERP system.
Apparel and accessories portals add size-grid ordering, delivery windows and control over which accounts see which styles.
Many buyers want to order this way. A Gartner survey of B2B buyers, mostly at larger companies, found that two-thirds prefer buying without a sales rep. Independent boutiques vary more, so keep your other ways of ordering open too.
One caution: some vendors use "portal" to mean a network where many brands meet many retailers. That works more like a marketplace. On this page, a portal means your own site for your own accounts.
How is a portal different from a webstore, marketplace, line sheet or EDI?
| Term | What it is | Who controls it | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2B ordering portal | Your private ordering site for approved accounts | You | Repeat orders from retailers you know |
| Password-protected webstore | Your consumer store with wholesale prices behind a login | You | A few accounts on one price list |
| Wholesale marketplace | A third-party site listing many brands for many retailers | The marketplace | Getting found by new retailers |
| Line sheet | Your catalog of styles, wholesale prices and ship dates | You | Presenting the line; it can lead straight to ordering |
| EDI | Structured electronic orders sent between business systems | Mostly the retailer | Large retailers that require it |
| Email or spreadsheet orders | Orders the buyer types up and sends | You | A handful of accounts |
For more on two of these terms, see what a line sheet is and which wholesale marketplaces brands consider.
What does a B2B ordering portal not do?
A portal makes ordering easier for accounts you already have. It does not:
- Find new buyers. Retailers have to know you and be approved first. New accounts come from outreach, reps, trade shows and marketplaces.
- Sell the line. Buyers still need a strong line sheet, clear pricing and follow-up.
- Replace every way of ordering. Some retailers keep emailing orders or ordering through a rep. Large retailers often send orders by EDI or require their own vendor portals.
- Set your terms. Credit, minimums and pricing are your decisions. The portal only applies them.
Do I need an ordering portal yet?
You probably need one if:
- you regularly re-key emailed orders or spreadsheets into your system
- many accounts reorder the same styles
- accounts need different prices, minimums or terms
- you have sent the wrong price list to the wrong buyer
You can probably wait if:
- you have a handful of accounts on one wholesale price list
- typing up incoming orders takes little of your time
Many brands start somewhere in between, with a shoppable line sheet that buyers order from directly. To compare tools, see the best wholesale ordering software. If your store runs on Shopify, see which wholesale platforms work with Shopify, which covers Shopify B2B's limits and how each platform syncs.
How do I take wholesale orders online in my ordering software?
In Brandboom, you share a shoppable line sheet, called a presentation, and buyers order from it online.
- Buyer access. A buyer opens your presentation and enters an email. They don't need to create a buyer account. If the email already belongs to an account, they enter a password.
- Ordering. The buyer browses styles, adds them to a cart and checks out with a Purchase Order form.
- Open alerts. You get an email when a buyer opens the presentation, so you know when to follow up.
- Your website as the front door. Add the embed widget to your own website. Access codes send each customer to their own line sheet and pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is wholesale ecommerce the same as B2B ecommerce?
Not quite. B2B ecommerce covers any sale between businesses online, including software, services and office supplies. Wholesale ecommerce is the part where goods are sold in volume to businesses that resell them, such as a brand selling to boutiques. All wholesale ecommerce is B2B, but much B2B ecommerce has nothing to do with retail.
Does ordering by email count as wholesale ecommerce?
In official US statistics, yes. Orders placed or terms agreed over email, EDI, an extranet or a similar online system count as e-commerce, and the payment does not have to happen online. In everyday use, "wholesale ecommerce" usually means buyers order on a site themselves. Keep that difference in mind when you read figures on how much B2B trade happens online.
Is a password-protected page on my store a B2B portal?
It's the simplest version. A login that hides wholesale prices works for a few accounts on one price list. It starts to struggle when accounts need different prices, minimums, size runs, ship dates or payment terms, or when wholesale orders need to stay separate from consumer orders. That is usually when brands move to dedicated wholesale ordering software or a B2B feature in their ecommerce platform.
Will my retailers actually use a portal?
Many will, especially for reorders, because it saves them emailing you and waiting for a reply. Some will keep ordering by email, through a rep or at trade shows. Accept those orders alongside the portal rather than forcing every account onto it. Make it easy to start: send a direct link, keep each account's prices accurate and confirm orders promptly.