The verdict in three sentences
For a distributor keying in thousands of phone and email orders, a B2B ordering portal at 38,000 EUR net delivered in 16 weeks pays back in about a year through saved entry time and fewer errors. The company below is fictional, built from 2026 orders of magnitude, and does not describe any real client. The deciding factors are a reliable ERP sync and invoices that meet German e-invoicing rules.
Starting point and scope
The fictional company, called SauberSüd here, supplies 4,200 SKUs (paper, soaps, cleaning chemicals, protective equipment) to 1,100 business customers in Bavaria: facility management firms, clinics, schools and municipal buildings. Five sales assistants enter around 2,200 orders a month into the ERP by hand.
| Portal module | Scope | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|
| Catalogue and search | 4,200 SKUs, filters by use and pack size | 16 % |
| Customer pricing | Contract prices per customer and per tender | 15 % |
| Ordering | Saved lists, quick order by SKU, one click reorder | 18 % |
| ERP sync | Stock, prices, orders, invoices | 26 % |
| E-invoicing | Structured invoices in XRechnung or ZUGFeRD format | 10 % |
| Multi user accounts | Buyer, approver, budget per site | 9 % |
| QA, training, rollout | Pilot customers, tutorials | 6 % |
Budget and timeline
| Phase | Weeks | Net cost |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery with sales team | 1 to 2 | 3,500 EUR |
| UX design | 3 to 5 | 5,200 EUR |
| Front end and back office | 6 to 12 | 14,300 EUR |
| ERP connector and e-invoicing | 7 to 14 | 11,200 EUR |
| Pilot with 25 customers | 14 to 15 | 2,300 EUR |
| Rollout and training | 16 | 1,500 EUR |
| Total | 16 weeks | 38,000 EUR net |
Maintenance and hosting in Germany run at 550 EUR net a month. Since B2B e-invoicing obligations in Germany phase in from 2025 to 2028, building structured invoices into the portal now avoids a second project later.
Before and after, at six months
| Metric | Before | After 6 months |
|---|---|---|
| Share of orders online | 0 % | 55 % |
| Average entry time per order | 8 minutes | 2.7 minutes |
| Entry hours per month | 293 h | 98 h |
| SKU or quantity errors | 2.8 % of orders | 0.7 % |
| Orders placed outside office hours | Not tracked | 19 % of online orders |
| Average order value | 380 EUR | 415 EUR |
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Illustrative example: Katrin, CFO of the fictional distributor, runs the numbers. The 195 hours saved monthly, at 38 EUR fully loaded per hour, are worth 7,410 EUR. Fewer errors avoid about 45 credit notes and reshipments a month at 40 EUR, or 1,800 EUR. After 550 EUR of maintenance, the net gain is about 8,660 EUR a month at full adoption. With a six month ramp up, the 38,000 EUR are recovered around month nine.
FAQ
Why 55 % and not 100 % online?
Public customers often order through signed purchase orders or call for urgent deliveries. Aim for 65 to 75 % at 12 months with sales incentives.
Does the portal need e-invoicing?
For German B2B customers, yes: structured e-invoices become mandatory in stages through 2028, and adding them later typically costs 4,000 to 8,000 EUR.
Off the shelf B2B platform or custom?
With 4,200 SKUs and contract pricing, B2B platform licences often run 600 to 2,000 EUR a month. Custom pays off when the ERP connector is non standard.
Where should data be hosted?
In the EU, ideally Germany, under a GDPR data processing agreement, which most Mittelstand buyers ask for during procurement.
Let's scope your project. Share your order volume, ERP and SKU count and we will price the portal module by module with a dated 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.