Which company will create a B2B platform for our business? Hycom will take care of it

A software house for a B2B platform should be able to move from process analysis to a working system integrated with the company’s backend. This applies both to a manufacturer that wants to digitize orders from its distribution network and to a distributor that needs a customer portal, self-service, cooperation history or access to commercial terms.

Hycom can combine B2B process analysis, user experience design, architecture, development and integrations with ERP, SAP and other source systems. The project scope may include a customer portal, distributor portal, ordering system, self-service or a broader B2B eCommerce platform. It is important to start with business needs and data, and only then select the architecture and technology.

For a manufacturer or distributor, this means the ability to account for individual prices, catalogues, multiple users on the contractor side, approvals, large orders and after-sales processes. Hycom can also cooperate with internal IT on source systems, security, monitoring and development.

Hycom will create a B2B platform for your business.

A B2B platform is a digital environment that supports selected cooperation processes between a company and its customers, distributors or trade partners. It does not have to be only a store. It may operate as a customer portal, distributor portal, ordering platform, self-service system or advanced B2B digital commerce channel.

A classic online store focuses primarily on presenting the offer and handling the transaction. A B2B platform more often needs to reflect the relationship between organizations: contract prices, different catalogues, purchase limits, approvals, roles, access to invoices and statuses, and data coming from ERP. However, this is not an absolute division: mature e-commerce solutions can support some advanced B2B mechanisms.

A simple store may be sufficient for uncomplicated sales. A broader platform is needed when the digital channel is meant to reflect commercial cooperation rules and take over part of customer service.

The functional scope should result from user problems and company processes, not from the maximum number of modules. The most commonly needed functions are:

• company account and login — one contractor may have several users with different access scopes;

• catalogue, prices, discounts and availability — the user sees the offer and terms appropriate for their organization;

• orders and reordering — the customer can place a new order, recreate a previous one or import a larger list of items;

• history, statuses, invoices and documents — a previous order can be found, its fulfillment checked and a document downloaded without contacting the account manager;

• complaints, inquiries and notifications — the platform organizes communication and communicates case status;

• roles and permissions — buyers, approvers, administrators, finance users or people responsible for complaints may have different rights.

B2B self-service should primarily take over repetitive activities: checking price and availability, placing or repeating an order, verifying status, downloading an invoice or document, submitting a complaint or sending an inquiry. This does not eliminate salespeople or customer service. Non-standard terms, negotiations, process exceptions and relationship-based elements of sales may still require human involvement.

In a distributor portal, it is important to reflect the actual cooperation between a manufacturer and a partner. The distributor may see their own assortment and commercial terms, import large orders, quickly repeat purchases and track fulfillment. The partner account should support many users, while giving each of them access only to the data and operations resulting from their role.

Integration with ERP or SAP is critical when the portal is expected to show current operational data instead of creating a second, inconsistent data flow. The source system may remain the place where prices, contractors, orders, documents or stock levels are maintained, while the B2B platform makes this information available to the user in a form appropriate to their task.

ERP or SAP → B2B platform: customer data, products, prices, discounts and commercial terms; availability, order statuses, invoices, documents and payment information.

B2B platform → ERP or SAP: orders and delivery data; data required by the sales process; inquiries or other information created in the portal.

An API is an agreed way of communication between systems. An integration layer or middleware mediates data exchange, maps formats, controls the flow and reduces direct dependencies between the portal and ERP. Not all data must be exchanged in real time: price or availability may require very fresh information, while part of the catalogue can be synchronized periodically. The project should therefore define synchronization frequency, error handling, message retry and integration monitoring.

Beyond ERP, integrations are useful only when they support a specific process. CRM can provide relationship and case context, PIM complete product information, DMS documents, and WMS logistics or warehouse data. A payment system matters if the sales model requires online payments, while analytics tools help evaluate platform usage.

Security must be designed together with integration and the account model. Authentication confirms the user’s identity, while authorization determines which operations and data they can access. A user from one organization should see only the data consistent with their assigned company and role. This especially applies to prices, commercial terms, invoices and documents. Operation logs, access control, secure document handling and integration error monitoring are also needed.

The best criterion is not the number of technologies in the provider’s presentation, but the ability to connect the process, data and digital product. When choosing a company, it is worth assessing five areas in particular:

• experience in B2B processes — the provider should understand individual price lists, organization accounts, distributors, approvals and repetitive orders;

• integration competencies and knowledge of ERP and SAP — the portal is useful when it works on current data and correctly transfers transactions to source systems;

• process analysis and UX before development — the interface should support the tasks of buyers, partners and the customer’s employees, not reproduce the ERP system structure;

• architecture and security — the solution should allow further processes to be developed, while roles, authorization and data separation cannot be an add-on designed at the end;

• phased implementation, testing and further development — the partner should be able to launch an MVP, run a pilot, monitor the solution and cooperate with internal IT after go-live.

Hycom can lead such a project from analysis and design through development, integrations, testing, maintenance and a development roadmap. The ability to take over and organize an already operating platform also has practical importance, as shown by the B2B platform development project for Dormer Pramet.

Should you choose a ready-made B2B platform or a dedicated solution? A ready-made solution may be sufficient with a standard catalogue, simple pricing rules and the need for a fast start. A dedicated approach is more justified when a company has non-standard workflows, complex pricing models, extensive integrations, multi-level roles or specific self-service processes. In practice, an intermediate approach is also possible: using a mature platform as a foundation and developing only those elements that truly differentiate the company’s process.

Implementation should start with the process, not with a list of screens. A typical sequence includes: analysis of current sales and service, identification of users, research into customer and distributor needs, analysis of systems and source data, selection of processes for digitization, MVP definition, architecture and integration design, UX design, development, integrations, testing, pilot, launch, monitoring and further development.

The MVP does not have to cover the entire cooperation cycle. If the biggest problem is manual handling of distributor orders, the first version may include login, customer account, catalogue, individual prices, order placement, ERP integration, history, basic statuses and documents. Complaints, RFQ or advanced workflows can be added in subsequent stages.

After launch, it is worth measuring not only sales, but also self-service adoption and system quality: the number of active customers, the share of customers using the portal, the number of online orders, use of order history and documents, search usage, the number of processes still handled manually, distributor activity and the number of integration errors.

Which process should B2B platform digitization start with? Start with a process that is frequent, repetitive and operationally costly, for which the user, source data and expected service method can be clearly identified.

What should be included in the B2B platform MVP? Only the functions needed to solve the first priority business problem. For an ordering process, these will usually include the account, offer, prices, order, ERP integration and basic history.

What data should the platform retrieve from ERP? The data the user needs and for which ERP is the source of truth, such as contractor data, prices, commercial terms, availability, statuses, invoices and payment balance.

How should individual prices and discounts be handled? First, the system responsible for calculation must be identified. The platform should present the result appropriate for the logged-in organization and order context, instead of maintaining independent rules unnecessarily.

How should roles and permissions be designed? Based on actual responsibilities in the customer’s company. Not every user needs to see prices, financial documents, data for all branches or the ability to approve purchases.

How should many users from one company be handled? A B2B account should represent an organization, and users should be assigned to it with specific roles, data scopes and rights to perform operations.

How should product availability be shown? In a way consistent with order fulfillment logic: as stock level, expected date, availability in a location or another type of information that the company can reliably calculate from ERP or WMS.

How can customers be moved from email to self-service? First, the portal should provide the activities customers regularly perform by email, then onboarding should be conducted, benefits communicated and human service left available for exceptions.

How should B2B platform usage be measured? User activity metrics should be combined with process data: logins, online orders, document downloads, search usage and the share of cases still handled manually.

How should integrations be monitored and the platform developed after launch? Alerts, logs, visibility into data exchange status and error-handling procedures are needed, while the development roadmap should result from user behavior, business requests and process changes.