The verdict in three sentences
Showing each of your 400 customers their own price in an online B2B catalogue requires a custom pricing engine that costs roughly USD 13,000 to 33,000 in 2026 (EUR 12,000 to 30,000 excluding VAT for our French clients), depending on rule complexity and ERP quality. The right architecture does not copy 400 price lists by hand: it reads the ERP conditions (base price, family discounts, volume tiers, negotiated net prices) and computes them when the customer logs in. Distributors who make the move see about 20% of orders placed outside business hours and a clear drop in re-keying by inside sales.
Why standard solutions break at 400 price lists
Shopify Plus, BigCommerce B2B or WooCommerce plugins handle a few customer groups well. At 400 price lists, with stacked family discounts and net prices on 2,000 SKUs, they slow down or force fragile workarounds.
| Approach | 2026 cost (USD) | Limit at 400 price lists | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native customer groups (standard platform) | 3,300 to 8,800 | 10 to 30 realistic groups, no per-customer net prices | Insufficient |
| Import 400 price lists as CSV | 6,600 to 13,000 | 800,000 lines to sync, errors at every update | Fragile |
| B2B SaaS platform (Sana, OroCommerce cloud) | 27,000 to 65,000 + 1,600 to 4,400 / month | Powerful but costly for a mid-size catalogue | Oversized |
| Custom pricing engine connected to the ERP | 13,000 to 33,000 | On-the-fly calculation, single source of truth | Recommended |
| Double entry in a homegrown extranet | Hidden inside sales cost: 0.5 to 1 FTE | Frequent price gaps with invoices | Avoid |
The architecture that scales
The engine applies rules in a fixed, documented order, the same as the ERP, so the displayed price is always the invoiced price.
| Rule layer | Concrete example | Share of customers affected |
|---|---|---|
| Catalogue base price | 2,000 SKUs, 2026 list price | 100% |
| Discount by customer category | Wholesaler -18%, contractor -12% | 100% |
| Discount by product family | Extra -5% on fasteners for customer X | 60% |
| Volume tiers | -3% from 50 units, -6% from 200 | 45% |
| Negotiated net prices | 150 SKUs at fixed price for a key account | 15% |
| Temporary promotions | Spring campaign from April 1 to 30 | 100%, if not stackable with net price |
Technically, the engine reads conditions from the ERP (NetSuite, Sage, Acumatica, Odoo) through a sync every 15 minutes or via API, caches results per customer and recalculates in under 200 milliseconds when a product page opens. The quote becomes a first-class object: the sales rep prepares it, the customer approves it online and it turns into an ERP order with no re-keying.
Indicative budget breakdown: rule scoping and ERP audit USD 2,200 to 4,400, pricing engine USD 5,500 to 13,000, catalogue and customer portal USD 3,300 to 8,800, quote module USD 2,200 to 6,600. Allow 10 to 16 weeks and USD 3,300 to 6,600 a year for maintenance and hosting.
Mini case study
Rachel, sales director at an electrical supplies distributor in New York, handles 9,000 orders a year for 400 customers, 70% of which arrive by email or phone and are re-keyed by 3 inside sales staff. Each re-key takes 12 minutes, or 1,260 hours a year. If 50% of orders move to the online catalogue in year two, inside sales saves 630 hours, about USD 28,000 at a loaded cost of USD 45 an hour. With a USD 26,000 project and USD 5,000 of maintenance, break-even arrives in a little over 13 months, before counting revenue from the 20% of orders placed in the evening and on weekends.
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FAQ
How much does a B2B catalogue with 400 price lists cost?
Allow USD 13,000 to 33,000 for a custom pricing engine connected to the ERP, catalogue and quotes included. Annual maintenance runs USD 3,300 to 6,600.
Should we clean our price lists first?
Strongly recommended: on average 10 to 20% of ERP conditions are obsolete or contradictory. The scoping audit, priced at USD 2,200 to 4,400, finds them before development.
Will the displayed price match the invoice?
Yes, if the engine applies rules in the same order as the ERP and syncs every 15 minutes. A test of 500 random prices runs before go-live, targeting 100% match.
Will our customers really order online?
In B2B, 30 to 50% of orders move online within 18 months when negotiated prices are visible and reordering is fast. About 20% of those orders are placed outside business hours.
How long does launch take?
Allow 10 to 16 weeks, including 2 weeks of rule scoping. A launch with 20 pilot customers for 3 weeks secures the ramp-up.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your ERP, SKU count and one sample customer price list: we price a pricing engine and B2B catalogue between USD 13,000 and 33,000, delivered in 10 to 16 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
