The verdict in three sentences
For a London-area manufacturer or distributor, connecting a B2B web shop to Sage 200 or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central costs 13,000 to 35,000 GBP and takes 6 to 10 weeks. A 15-minute sync of stock, customer prices and orders covers most needs; true real time only matters for fast-moving lines. The measurable gain comes from removing re-keying: order errors drop from 2% to 0.2%, which often pays for the connector within a year.
Which flows to sync between the shop and the ERP
The IT lead must first decide which system owns each piece of data. In a B2B context, the ERP remains the reference for items, stock, pricing agreements and accounting. The web shop owns web buyer accounts, baskets and orders placed online. Get this wrong and you end up with duplicate customers and conflicting prices.
| Flow | Direction | Recommended frequency | Typical volume (35m GBP turnover business) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Items and bills of materials | ERP to shop | Daily (overnight) | 12,000 SKUs |
| Stock by warehouse | ERP to shop | Every 15 minutes | 3 warehouses, 12,000 lines |
| Net prices and customer discounts | ERP to shop | Hourly | 900 customer price lists |
| Web orders | Shop to ERP | Every 15 minutes or instant | 60 to 150 a day |
| Status, delivery notes, tracking | ERP to shop | Every 15 minutes | 60 to 150 a day |
| Invoice PDFs and account balance | ERP to shop | Daily | 1,800 a month |
| New customer accounts | Shop to ERP, with approval | On demand | 10 to 30 a month |
The tricky part is customer pricing. B2B sellers typically run discounts by product family, trade and dealer prices, contract prices for large accounts and seasonal promotions. You either recompute prices in the shop from exported rules, or query the ERP live at basket time. The second option is more reliable but needs sub-second response times.
Three ways to build the connector
| Approach | 2026 budget (excl. VAT) | Timeline | When to choose it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off-the-shelf connector (platform + Sage 200 or Business Central app) | 13,000 to 19,000 GBP + 250 to 700 GBP a month | 6 weeks | Simple catalogue, few pricing rules |
| iPaaS middleware (Boomi, Celigo, Make enterprise) | 17,000 to 26,000 GBP + 450 to 1,300 GBP a month | 8 weeks | Several systems to link (CRM, WMS) |
| Custom connector via Sage 200 API or Dynamics APIs | 22,000 to 35,000 GBP | 8 to 10 weeks | Complex pricing, full control needed |
| Scheduled file exchange (CSV over SFTP) | 7,000 to 13,000 GBP | 4 weeks | Stopgap, low volumes |
Custom costs more upfront but adds no subscription. Over five years, middleware at 900 GBP a month adds up to 54,000 GBP of licences, more than a dedicated connector. A custom connector does need application maintenance: at Kolonell this ranges from 35,000 to 120,000 FCFA a month depending on the level, or 53 to 183 EUR, which is marginal next to licences.
Kolonell delivers this type of integration as a custom web application. A medium-complexity integration (B2B shop, ERP connector, customer portal) falls in the 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA band, or 6,100 to 10,670 EUR. Projects with several warehouses, a product configurator and punchout sit in the complex band, from 7,000,000 FCFA (10,670 EUR).
Risks to lock down before signing
Three issues derail most projects. First, item data quality: weights, sales units, photos and marketing descriptions are often missing from the ERP. Second, error handling: an order rejected by the ERP (account on hold, inactive item) must trigger an alert, not vanish. Third, ERP upgrades, which can break APIs: insist on documented regression tests. If your buyers are large groups with their own procurement tools, look at punchout catalogs too.
Mini case study
Sophie, IT director of an industrial equipment distributor in Greater London (35m GBP turnover), receives 2,400 B2B orders a month, 70% of them re-keyed by hand from emails and PDFs. The error rate is 2%, or 48 faulty orders a month. Each error costs an average of 160 GBP (returns, re-shipping, credit notes, sales time), so 7,680 GBP a month.
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
After a custom connector at 28,000 GBP and the portal launch, errors fall to 0.2%, or 5 a month costing 800 GBP. The saving is 6,880 GBP a month, plus 1.5 FTE of data entry redeployed to account management. The connector pays for itself from error reduction alone in just over 4 months (28,000 / 6,880 = 4.1).
FAQ
Do we need real-time sync with the ERP?
Rarely. A 15-minute sync covers most B2B needs, with a direct ERP call only to check stock when the basket is confirmed. Full real time adds 20 to 30% to the budget.
How long does the project take?
Plan 6 to 10 weeks for the connector, plus 2 to 4 weeks of item data clean-up. User acceptance testing with real orders should last at least 2 weeks.
Does the connector work with Sage 50 or Xero?
Yes, the principle is the same, but lighter accounting tools expose fewer endpoints for stock and pricing. The budget is often 15 to 25% lower, with more logic held in the shop.
What about Making Tax Digital and e-invoicing?
Invoices stay issued by the ERP, which handles VAT submission and any e-invoicing format required. The shop simply displays the invoice PDF and the account balance.
Who maintains the connector after go-live?
Ideally the integrator who built it, under a maintenance contract that covers ERP upgrades. Allow 2 to 5 days of adaptation per major upgrade.
Let's scope your project. Send us your list of ERP flows and order volumes, and we will propose an architecture and a week-by-week plan. 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.
