Wholesale B2B Ordering Portal with Customer Pricing: London Cost (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a wholesaler with 1,400 customers and 6,000 SKUs, the real cost is not the website but manual order entry: every phone or email order costs roughly GBP 10 in sales and admin time. A B2B ordering portal plugged into the ERP, showing each customer their own price list, discounts and credit balance, costs GBP 22,000 to 43,000 and takes 3 to 5 months to deliver. Once 60% of orders move online, the investment usually pays back in under 18 months.

What a wholesale portal must do in 2026

A wholesaler does not sell like a consumer retailer. The buyer knows the SKUs, orders in volume, expects the negotiated price and wants 30-day terms. The portal has to follow the ERP's logic rather than impose a web shop's logic.

Core functions: customer account login, catalogue filtered by contract, net prices calculated per customer (price list, discount by product family, delivered price), quick order by SKU entry or CSV upload, reorder from past orders, choice between 30-day end-of-month terms and card, delivery tracking and invoice download.

2026 budget: what the platform costs

The ranges below are 2026 ballpark figures for a specialised agency, excluding ERP licences. ERP integration (Sage 200, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Odoo, SAP Business One) often accounts for 30 to 40% of the budget.

Order processing cost falls from about GBP 10 (taking the call, re-keying, fixing errors, chasing) to roughly GBP 2.50 when the order lands structured in the ERP. Inside sales staff get time back for prospecting and advice.

Mini case study

Tom, sales director of a hygiene products wholesaler in London, handles 2,600 orders a month, 60% of them by phone and email, so 1,560 manual orders. At GBP 10 each, that is GBP 15,600 a month. He targets a 70% shift to the portal within 12 months: 1,092 orders drop to GBP 2.50, saving GBP 8,190 a month. With a GBP 36,000 project and GBP 600 monthly maintenance, payback comes around the 5th month after ramp-up, before counting an 8% rise in average basket.

FAQ

Do we need to replace our ERP to launch a B2B portal?

Not in most cases. The portal reads customers, prices and stock through an API or scheduled exports; a connector costs GBP 6,000 to 13,000 depending on the ERP and sync frequency.

How do we convince customers used to phoning in?

Combine a launch discount (often 1 to 2%), hands-on onboarding of the top 100 accounts by the sales team and a gradual stop to re-keying emails. Reaching 50 to 70% of orders online within 12 months is a realistic ballpark.

Can we offer 30-day terms and card payment together?

Yes. Account customers pay at 30 days end of month within their credit limit; new customers or over-limit orders switch to card or Direct Debit, with fees of roughly 0.3 to 1.5% depending on the method.

How long before go-live?

Allow 3 months for an essential version with nightly sync and 5 months for an advanced real-time version. Scoping with the order administration team usually takes 2 to 3 weeks.

Shopify or custom for 6,000 SKUs?

With customer-specific prices and a central ERP, a custom or headless build is often simpler to maintain. Over 5 years, the total cost gap can exceed GBP 35,000 depending on subscription apps.

Let's scope your project. Send us your order volume, your ERP and your pricing rules: we will price a portal between GBP 22,000 and 43,000 with a 3 to 5 month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.