The verdict in three sentences
For a wholesaler with 1,100 trade customers and 6,000 SKUs, a serious B2B ordering portal costs between EUR 40,000 and EUR 100,000 excluding VAT in 2026. What drives the bill is customer-specific pricing logic and the ERP connection, not the catalogue itself. With 25% fewer orders keyed in by sales admin, the investment usually pays back within 18 to 30 months.
What makes up the budget of a B2B portal
A B2C store sells one price to everyone. A wholesaler handles negotiated price lists, discounts by product family, free-shipping thresholds and different payment terms for each account. That rules engine is where most of the effort goes.
| Item | 2026 range (EUR excl. VAT) | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping, sales admin and sales workshops | 4,000 to 8,000 | 8 to 10% |
| UX design focused on fast ordering | 5,000 to 10,000 | 10% |
| 6,000-SKU catalogue, search, product pages | 6,000 to 14,000 | 14% |
| Customer pricing engine and discounts | 8,000 to 22,000 | 20 to 22% |
| 30-day terms, credit limits, card and transfer | 4,000 to 10,000 | 10% |
| ERP connection (customers, prices, stock, orders) | 9,000 to 26,000 | 22 to 26% |
| Testing, account migration, training | 4,000 to 10,000 | 10% |
The low end is a well-configured Sylius, Magento or Shopify B2B base with a standard ERP connector. The high end covers an older ERP, multi-level pricing and multi-site accounts (head office, branches, buyers with spending caps).
Three options compared for a wholesaler this size
| Criterion | B2B SaaS (Shopify B2B, Sana) | Open source (Sylius, Magento) | Custom build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup (EUR excl. VAT) | 30,000 to 55,000 | 45,000 to 80,000 | 70,000 to 100,000+ |
| Subscription or maintenance per year | 12,000 to 30,000 | 8,000 to 15,000 | 10,000 to 18,000 |
| Customer-specific pricing | Native but limited | Complete via modules | Unlimited |
| 30-day terms and credit limits | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| ERP connection | Off-the-shelf connectors | Dedicated connector | Dedicated connector |
| Time to launch | 8 to 12 weeks | 12 to 18 weeks | 16 to 24 weeks |
| 3-year total cost | 66,000 to 145,000 | 69,000 to 125,000 | 100,000 to 154,000 |
For 1,100 active customers on negotiated terms, open source often strikes the best balance. SaaS works if your discounts stay simple (3 or 4 customer groups). A custom build is justified when your commercial logic is a genuine competitive edge.
The features that get customers to adopt the portal
A B2B portal fails when buyers keep calling sales admin. The features that change their habits are well known:
- Quick order by SKU or CSV import, essential with 6,000 items.
- One-click reorder from the last 10 orders.
- Net prices shown at login, identical to the invoice.
- Credit and due invoices visible, payable by card or bank transfer.
- Real availability pulled from the ERP, refreshed at least every 15 minutes.
As a 2026 order of magnitude, a wholesaler rolling out these features sees 35 to 50% of its customers ordering online after 12 months, provided sales reps promote the tool instead of competing with it.
Mini case study
Daan, sales director of a hospitality supplies wholesaler in Amsterdam, has 6 sales admin assistants keying in about 210 orders a day. Fully loaded cost per assistant: EUR 42,000 a year, so EUR 252,000 for the team.
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- Open source portal with ERP connection: EUR 72,000 excl. VAT, plus EUR 11,000 annual maintenance.
- 25% fewer orders keyed in: about 1.5 FTE redeployed to customer follow-up, i.e. EUR 63,000 of capacity freed per year.
- Fewer entry errors: 18 fewer disputes a month at EUR 120 each, i.e. EUR 25,900 per year.
Estimated annual gain: EUR 88,900, minus EUR 11,000 maintenance, i.e. EUR 77,900. Payback in about 11 months, before counting extra sales from online reordering.
FAQ
How long does it take to launch a B2B portal for 1,100 customers?
Allow 12 to 18 weeks for an open source solution with ERP connection. Migrating pricing conditions alone often takes 2 to 3 weeks, so plan it during scoping.
Can we keep 30-day payment terms on the portal?
Yes, the portal reads each customer's approved credit limit from the ERP and blocks orders above it. Card payment remains available for new accounts or overruns, at around 1.5% in fees.
Do we need to replace our ERP first?
Rarely. A dedicated connector costs EUR 9,000 to 26,000 and avoids an ERP migration that often exceeds EUR 150,000. Only switch ERP if it exposes no usable data.
How do we win over field sales reps?
By crediting them with their customers' online orders in their commission. Without that rule, adoption often stalls below 20%.
What maintenance cost should we plan?
Plan 12 to 18% of the setup cost every year, i.e. EUR 8,000 to 15,000 for an open source portal of this size.
Let's scope your project. Send us your customer count, pricing rules and ERP, and we will price a B2B portal between EUR 40,000 and EUR 100,000 with a 12 to 18 week 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.
