B2B e-commerce platform comparison - the most popular sales platforms

Choosing the right sales system is undoubtedly one of the key decisions we have to make in order to start selling online. E-commerce market is undoubtedly the future of B2B sales. According to Salesforce research, 48% of B2B transactions are already conducted over the Internet, and this number is expected to rise to as much as 88% in 2025. In such a case, finding the right platform to meet our needs is crucial in attracting and retaining customers. There is a very large number of solutions on the market which offer building a store for B2B sales. So how do platforms differ from each other? What are the most popular solutions? We will try to answer these questions in today’s B2B e-commerce platform comparison.

Adobe Magento

We start with the most popular solution in the open-source category. This means that first of all we don’t have to pay a license for using the software and we can modify it freely. This platform also has a paid model called Enterprise. It is recommended especially for larger companies that need additional support and a lot of additional options. These features  give Magento maximum freedom in building a store. This allows us to sell on many channels – both B2C and B2B. The platform also has great possibilities . The software itself is free of charge, but if you want to use different plugins you have to take into account additional costs, which may be considered a disadvantage. Magento services are used by HP, Coca Cola and Burger King.

SAP Commerce Cloud

SAP is one of the longest operating systems on the market. The use of this solution requires the purchase of a license. This means that we have very limited possibilities of personalization – we have to use previously prepared tools. The SAP platform is distinguished by a very good user experience – especially order processing and shopping cart management. However, the platform costs a lot and it is adapted mainly for large enterprises. Among the companies using SAP Commerce Cloud we can find Bridgestone and Lufthansa.

Netsuite SuiteCommerce

Another item in our B2B e-commerce platform comparison is the platform prepared by Oracle. As in the case of SAP, it is necessary to purchase a license. The strong point of Netsuite SuiteCommerce is undoubtedly an extensive order management system, also in selling points. The platform has also many omnichannel options – a good solution if you have several different brands. The downside of Netsuite is a small automation of the platform, so it is a platform designed rather for medium-sized companies.

OroCommerce

The second and last open-source solution in our list. The team working on OroCommerce previously worked on Magento and many of the solutions used are very similar to the Adobe platform. The factor that distinguishes this system is OroCommerce’s strong focus on B2B sales. This gives us many helpful tools – for example, for price management. A big advantage of this platform is a wide possibility of integration with other systems. However, those who also sell B2C may find that many of these tools are simply not necessary for them. OroCommerce is used by FairPrice and Petra among others.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Another platform presented in our ranking is divided into two parts – sales and marketing. This is a solution requiring the purchase of a license. Salesforce provides user experience on a very high level. The product combination, order process and shopping cart management are the strengths of this solution. If you want to use Salesforce, you have to be ready to pay a lot of money – to use the full package you have to buy a two-part license. The brands that use Salesforce are, for instance, Puma or Barclays.

InsiteCommerce

The last platform we presented is InsiteCommerce. This solution is also based on the purchase of a license. It is used by manufacturers as well as distributors and resellers. The strength of InsiteCommerce is undoubtedly a great freedom of category management and a large integration with external applications. The disadvantage of this platform is slightly outdated interface and expensive improvements. The brand that use this solution are Thule and Hisco.

B2B e-commerce platform comparison – finding the best solution

The platforms presented above are the most popular platforms used in B2B sales. As you can see, open-source software allows for more freedom and does not have a significant cost of buying a license. On the other hand, paid solutions have more customized tools – some for large enterprises, others for smaller ones.

B2B system, which our company has prepared for customers does not require a Commerce version for the start. Magento Commerce (previously called Enterprise) is a paid version of Magento 2. The cost of purchasing a license for this type of software is quite high. However, the free version of Magento 2 also provides many functionalities that will allow you to customize it to your needs. The configuration of our B2B system for the customer includes:

• e-mail configuration – Email templates define the layout, content and formatting of automatic messages sent from your store. In Magento 2 you will find many templates for e-mails related to customer activities, sales, product alerts, administrative actions and system messages. The templates are optimized in such a way that browsing the messages will not be a problem, regardless of the type of device.
• tax configuration – for individual goods we can set the tax rate according to the law in your country. The tax class created in this way can be assigned to individual groups of our clients.
• currency configuration – the prices of goods in the store do not have to be converted. It is possible to display two prices in different currencies simultaneously, e.g. PLN and EURO.
• cash on delivery according to the price list of a given country – you can choose the countries where you want to display and allow a specific payment method.
• GDPR checkbox  – in Magento 2 there is an option to add a checkbox on the registration and order forms. Thanks to this, customers are fully informed about the processing of personal data by the online store.
• attaching the Store Regulations to the checkout – placing a redirection to the e-shop regulations page at the checkout ensures a transparent flow of information between the seller and the customer.
• meta title/ meta description settings – the function of adding titles and product descriptions in the store contributes to SEO positioning of online stores. Appropriate titles and descriptions containing Call to Action (content motivating potential customers to enter the site) result in a good positioning of your store, which will contribute to sales increase.
• sitemap – the map of the website on which your e-shop is located contains links to sites which are considered valuable for Google. Thanks to its update every 24 hours the map of your e-commerce website will contain all the changes made to the store.
• generating robots.txt – the configuration in Magento 2 has been greatly simplified. After generating the file, we send a link to robots.txt to be placed in the client’s google website
• breadcrumbs configuration also for CMS – breadcrumbs are an important nav9gation element of every online store. They enable the user to navigate the site more easily.
• personalized organization of products in your online store – Magento 2 allows you to customize the display and sorting of products in your store according to individual needs. Among the functionalities you can find: displaying the listings of products in the grid view, setting the parameters by which you can sort products e.g. by name or configuring the basic filtering mechanism for each product category.
• configuration of the canonicals – canonical links indicate to search engines which page to index when several URLs have the same content. Canonicale have a positive effect on the positioning of your store as they prevent text duplication.

The above examples show the wide range of possibilities of Magento 2. The free version of this system itself gives us a number of functionalities, and it should be highlighted that not all of them have been mentioned. According to the above B2B e-commerce platform comparison, every company that wants to start B2B sales will surely find a solution.