The verdict in three sentences
For a manufacturer with 300 SKUs that does not sell online, the website's job is to generate qualified quote requests, not shopping carts. The 2026 market budget in Germany sits between 20,000 and 60,000 EUR, depending on whether the catalog is fed by an Excel file or synced with a PIM. Done right, a technical catalog converts 3 to 5% of qualified visitors into quote requests, which means dozens of opportunities every month.
What a B2B technical catalog must do in 2026
An industrial buyer or engineering office rarely lands on your homepage. They land on a product page from Google, with a part number, a dimension or a standard in mind. Your site must therefore meet three requirements: find the right product in under three clicks thanks to technical filters (diameter, material, pressure, certification), download an up-to-date PDF sheet generated automatically from the data, and send a quote request pre-filled with the part number and quantity.
The real question is where the data lives. If your 300 SKUs sit in an Excel file maintained by the engineering team, a scheduled import is enough. If you already run a PIM (Akeneo, Plytix, Pimcore) or an ERP, an API sync avoids double entry and outdated sheets.
| Feature | Simple version | Advanced version | Budget impact (2026 order of magnitude) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data source | Excel or CSV import | PIM or ERP API sync | 2,500 to 10,000 EUR |
| Technical filters | 4 to 6 fixed criteria | Dynamic filters per family | 1,500 to 7,000 EUR |
| PDF sheets | Manual upload | Automatic on-the-fly generation | 2,000 to 5,000 EUR |
| Quote request | Generic form | Multi-SKU quote cart | 1,200 to 4,500 EUR |
| Multilingual | DE only | DE, EN, FR, PL | 3,000 to 8,000 EUR |
| Distributor area | None | Reserved prices and documents | 4,000 to 12,000 EUR |
What the website costs, and with whom
In Berlin, agencies specialized in industry usually bill 800 to 1,200 EUR per day. A 300-SKU project with PIM import, PDF sheets and three languages represents 30 to 50 days, which is why quotes quickly exceed 35,000 EUR. A lighter solution remains possible if your catalog is stable.
At Kolonell, we build this type of catalog as a custom web application: 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA (3,810 to 6,100 EUR) for a simple version with Excel import, filters and quotes, and 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (6,100 to 10,670 EUR) for a version with PIM sync, PDF generation and a distributor area. Maintenance starts at 35,000 FCFA per month (about 50 EUR).
| Option | Initial budget | Timeline | Annual recurring cost | Fits if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialized Berlin agency (market estimate) | 30,000 to 60,000 EUR | 4 to 6 months | 3,600 to 8,000 EUR | Complex catalog, 4 languages, ERP |
| Freelancer + WordPress WooCommerce in catalog mode (market estimate) | 10,000 to 20,000 EUR | 2 to 4 months | 1,500 to 4,000 EUR | Stable catalog under 200 SKUs |
| Kolonell, simple application | 3,810 to 6,100 EUR | 6 to 10 weeks | from 50 EUR per month | Excel import, quotes, PDF |
| Kolonell, medium application | 6,100 to 10,670 EUR | 10 to 14 weeks | 110 to 180 EUR per month | PIM, multilingual, distributor area |
| B2B catalog SaaS (market estimate) | 300 to 1,200 EUR per month | 4 to 8 weeks | 3,600 to 14,400 EUR | No need for custom design |
Measuring return: quotes, not traffic
The right indicator is not visit count but the quote request rate per qualified visitor. A well-indexed catalog, with one page per SKU and clean technical markup, captures very precise queries ("316L stainless fitting DN50"). On that traffic, 3 to 5% conversion into quote requests is a realistic 2026 order of magnitude. Track each request in your CRM so you can tie it to a signed order.
To sustain that traffic, structured monthly SEO helps a lot: our SEO packages range from 100,000 FCFA (Essentiel) to 350,000 FCFA per month (Premium).
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Illustrative example: Jonas, marketing director of an industrial fittings manufacturer near Berlin, 300 SKUs, average order value 4,200 EUR. After the rebuild, the site receives 2,500 qualified visitors per month. At 3% conversion, that is 75 quote requests per month. If the sales team converts 15%, that gives about 11 orders, or 47,000 EUR of attributable monthly revenue. With an 8,000 EUR project and 110 EUR monthly maintenance, the site pays for itself in the first month of margin, even at a 20% net margin.
FAQ
Do we need a PIM for 300 SKUs?
Not necessarily. Below 500 stable SKUs, a well-structured Excel file imported weekly is often enough. A PIM becomes worthwhile beyond 1,000 SKUs or 3 languages, with market subscriptions of 200 to 1,500 EUR per month.
Can PDF sheets update themselves?
Yes, they are generated from catalog data at download time. A dimension change in Excel or the PIM shows up in the PDF within 24 hours, without a designer stepping in.
How long until launch?
Count 6 to 10 weeks for a simple version and 10 to 14 weeks with PIM sync. The bottleneck is almost always the quality of product data supplied by the engineering team.
Can we show distributor-only prices?
Yes, through a logged-in area with a price list per customer. This option usually adds 4,000 to 12,000 EUR on the German market and falls within our medium application tier.
Does the site need to be GDPR compliant and accessible?
Yes, the quote form collects personal data, so consent, retention period and records are mandatory. The BFSG accessibility law applies mainly to B2C services from 2025, but targeting WCAG AA also improves SEO.
Let's scope your project. Send us your SKU count, your data source (Excel, PIM or ERP) and target languages, and we will price the catalog with an indicative budget and schedule. 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.
