When does your business need a B2B portal?
A B2B portal can be useful when partners regularly ask for the same information, send requests by email or work under different commercial terms. Its scope depends on whether the main task is sales, collaboration or a combination of both.
B2B wholesale
Partners access a catalogue, negotiated prices and ordering. Unlike B2C sales to individual consumers, the workflow may depend on account approval, pack sizes and payment terms. For public sales at standard prices, explore online store development; both models can be part of one project.
A portal for partner collaboration
Sales are optional. A partner can submit a request, provide documents, track its status or discuss a project. We agree on who can see each file, who handles the request and where replies are recorded, rather than leaving information scattered across separate conversations.
For a concrete document collaboration workflow, see Certiwa: a requirement, revision request and new document submission. The case separates client tasks from the consultant’s review queue and clearly identifies the public demonstration.
Another example is Livsmedelsstädarna: internal inspections and a customer portal. The case separates field checks, findings and final submission from the customer’s review of records and feedback.
Extend an existing system or build a separate portal?
We first check whether your existing store or business software supports the accounts, price lists, permissions and workflows you need. If a maintainable extension can cover them, a separate portal may be unnecessary. We consider a separate solution when partner requests, documents or business rules go beyond those capabilities. The decision follows a review of limitations, integrations and maintenance costs.
For help defining the scope, read our comparison of B2B portals and online stores, with examples of ordering and partner collaboration.