The Best B2B E-Commerce Software Solutions 2023
If you’re looking to start a B2B ecommerce business, trying to work out the best way to market can be extremely daunting.
At Upscribe, we recognize the huge challenges companies face when trying to launch and get through the initial stages of growth.
Because of that, we’re taking the time here to outline the best B2B tools currently available so you can give your B2B business the greatest chance of success.
What is a B2B E-Commerce Software Solution?
A B2B (Business-to-Business) e-commerce software solution refers to a specialized platform or system designed to facilitate online transactions between businesses.
It enables companies to conduct various business activities online, such as buying and selling products, managing orders, streamlining procurement processes, and integrating with suppliers and distributors.
A B2B ecommerce software solution typically includes a range of features tailored to meet the specific needs of businesses engaged in wholesale or bulk transactions, including catalog management, order management, wholesale pricing and quoting, invoicing, and account management.
Why are B2B Ecommerce Software Solutions Important?
They Help to Maximize Sales
By providing a convenient and efficient online purchasing experience, a B2B e-commerce platform can help your business increase sales and generate more revenue by securing larger order volumes and gaining exposure to more new customers.
Improved Customer Experience
E-commerce software solutions offer a user-friendly interface for buyers, making it easier for them to browse and locate products, place orders, and track shipments.
This enhances the overall customer experience and helps you to build stronger relationships with your buyers.
They Assist in Streamlining Business Operations
B2B e-commerce platforms automate and streamline various business processes, such as order management, calculating average inventory, and order fulfilment.
A common result of automating these processes is increased operational efficiency, reduced manual errors, and improved productivity.
Criteria to Consider When Choosing B2B E-Commerce Software Solutions
When choosing the right B2B ecommerce solution for your business, you should ensure that it affords all the services and functionality that are necessary for your business to thrive both short-term and long into the future.
As such, there are certain criteria that any ecommerce software must meet if they are to be a viable addition to your business.
- Is it scalable?
Any solution you consider must be able to grow with your business, meaning handling larger numbers of customers, order volumes, and the ability to introduce new features as required whether that is in relation to adding payment gateways to accommodate different geographical regions or introducing new customer analytics to improve customer service and aid customer retention.
- Can it handle multiple payment gateways and currencies securely?
These days you need to be able to accept payment in many forms, from credit cards to BACS to online payment platforms like Paypal and mobile payments such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. Your chosen gateway needs to provide multiple payment options, otherwise you could risk losing customers if they have to go through a lengthy checkout process.
- Is it customizable?
Ecommerce branding is important to distinguish yourself from the competition, so any ecommerce solution you use must allow you to customize the look and design of your store sufficiently.
Top B2B ECommerce Software Solutions
Key takeaways
- CS-Cart – Best overall ecommerce software solution
- WooCommerce – Best ecommerce solution for freelancers and small businesses
- OpenCart – Biggest selection of modules and themes to expand store functionality
- Pepperi – Best ecommerce software for B2B FMCG and wholesalers and distributor goods
#1 CS-Cart
CS-Cart is a totally free online ecommerce store builder and shopping cart solution built on open-source technology.
It comes with a wide range of functionality and over 500 features straight out of the box, plus over 2000 add-ons available from the CS-Cart marketplace.
Relevant Features
Powerful API – Integrate your new store with your existing business software systems. With the CS-Cart’s powerful API, you can build an ecosystem of business services around your store for unmatched customer UX.
Robust Content Management – CS-Cart Store Builder comes with a modern and easy-to-use content management system that allows you to manage content easily and effectively.
Broad Payment Options – CS-Cart integrates with over 70 payment gateways, including the most popular mobile payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Pricing
CS-Cart Store Builder has a free version that includes a ready-to-go storefront, website content management, product options and variants, and flexible product importing options.
They also have two paid licenses with additional features and functionality some businesses will deem necessary. These include
PLUS – which gives you a REST API Storefront, content delivery network, back-end sign-in via Google, and 30 days of free technical support for a flat fee of $1350.
ULTIMATE – which gives you a REST API admin panel, stores and warehouses, unlimited storefronts, and 60 days of free technical support for a flat fee of $4500.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good for SEO
- Powerful free version and value-for-money paid options
- Lots of functionality and personalization/customization
Cons
- Basic services like checkout sometimes require add-ons to work properly
- Can be slow to upgrade features and support requirements
- Lacks automation for certain features
#2 WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an ecommerce platform built on WordPress.
With WooCommerce, you can build an entire working online store with full functionality and a great deal of design flexibility and customizations completely free of charge.
Relevant Features
WooCommerce Blocks – With WooCommerce Blocks, you can select and display products in a modular way allowing you to add all kinds of products to any page or post on your sitein a matter of seconds.
Multilingual – WooCommerce is 100% translated into 24 languages, including Danish, Ukrainian, and Persian, through the MultilingualPress plug-in ($8.25 per month).
Flexible & Secure Payments – accept major credit cards, bank transfers (BACS), checks, and cash on delivery. WooCommerce offers 140 region-specific gateways to choose from and integrate with, including WooCommerce Payments, Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Amazon Pay.
Apple Pay, Google Pay, subscriptions, and deposits are also supported.
Pricing
WooCommerce, being open source, is completely free – but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay anything.
Costs you’ll incur include
- Hosting costs: $120 per year on average
- Domain registration: $15 on average
- The costs of additional plug-ins (e.g., multi-lingual @ $8.25/mo as mentioned above).
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Huge range of plug-ins for store enhancement
- Extremely inexpensive to set up a fully-operational store
- Lots of options for marketing and content management
Cons
- Not all plug-ins are reasonably priced (some can cost hundreds of dollars per year)
- Limited branding on certain pages (MyAccount, Checkout, Cart)
- Can use a lot of resources and slow down website performance
#3 OpenCart
Opencart is an easy-to-use, powerful, Open Source online store management program that can manage multiple online stores from a single back-end.
Like WooCommerce, OpenCart comes with a huge range of features out-of-the-box and access to over 14,000 additional extensions available for store enhancements.
Relevant Features
Simple & powerful Administrator Dashboard – gives you a full overview of all your store operations and functions across orders, sales, customers, and key data insights like people online, sales analytics, and much more.
Affiliates Program– OpenCart has an inbuilt affiliate system, where affiliates can promote specific products and get paid. You can set different percentages and offer different payment options such as cheque, Paypal, or bank transfer.
Discounts, coupons, and special offers– OpenCart allows you to offer discounts, coupons, and special offers with just a few clicks. You can have your promotions up and running in a matter of minutes.
Pricing
Just the same as WooCommerce, whilst OpenCart is free, it does require some investment for hosting and domain registration.
This will set you back $200-$300 annually, plus the cost of any paid extensions you need to add on.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Large community of users for tips, information, and education
- Lots of the free extensions are top class
- Intuitive and simple to use
Cons
- Limited scalability
- Extension upgrades are often quite buggy
- Slow checkout process can potentially lose sales and customers
#4 Pepperi
Pepperi allows B2B wholesalers and consumer goods distributors to unify all of their customer-facing channels and backend systems simultaneously across both web and mobile.
Relevant Features
Everything Mobile – Pepperi allows total mobile optimization. From Mobile CRM with mobile Salesforce automation to their Mobile Order Taking App, reps and customers can coplete all of thier objectives through mobile.
Total Omnichannel – Unified planning, monitoring, and analysis of field sales, retail execution, route accounting & B2B ecommerce, all in one place and everything customizable to your requirements.
Route Accounting & Direct Store Delivery – Maximize van sales and streamline FMCG direct store delivery with route accounting and Pepperi DSD.
Pricing
Pepperi operates a pay-as-you-grow pricing structure starting at $500/mo (billed annually).
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Fantastic UX
- Will integrate easily with almost any existing tech stack
- Unparalleled mobile capabilities
Cons
- Not suitable for small businesses
- Customization can become expensive
- Multiple reports of sync tasks being slow or not occurring as scheduled
Conclusion
With so many options to choose from finding the most suitable ecommerce software for B2B businesses isn’t easy, but we’re confident that at least one in the list above will be more than sufficient for most B2B businesses.
If, however, you’re looking for an ecommerce solution for a Shopify store, look no further than Upscribe, a subscription and retention solution that increases profits and that scales as your business grows.
Try Upscribe for free today and discover why it is the world’s leading Shopify ecommerce software solution.
