DARK MATTER ERP and operations · 5 min read · Updated
How do I build a private online store to sell wholesale to my customers?
Short answer
A private online store for wholesale is a catalog that only your customers can enter with a login, where they search products, build an order and get an invoice without calling you. An off-the-shelf store such as Shopify is enough if you sell simple products at one price; a custom one pays off when you have per-customer pricing, thousands of parts or several user profiles.
Also asked as
- Online store for wholesale customers
- B2B ordering portal for distributors
- How to sell wholesale online with a login
What a private wholesale online store is
It is a store that is not shown to the public. Each customer has an account, sees the catalog and the prices that apply to them and places orders at any hour, without waiting for a salesperson to pick up the phone.
The difference from an open store is control: you decide who gets in, what they see and what they can buy.
What it needs to do for customers to use it
- A login for each customer.
- Search with filters, essential when the catalog has many parts.
- Different prices and terms per customer or group.
- Orders with quantities, history and reordering of past purchases.
- Automatic invoice and notifications when an order is confirmed.
- An immediate alert to your team when an order comes in.
Profiles: administrator, salesperson, customer and supplier
In a wholesale operation not everyone sees the same thing. The customer sees their catalog and orders; the salesperson sees the customers they serve; the administrator sees everything; the supplier sees only what applies to them.
Defining these profiles at the start avoids rebuilding the system when the business grows.
Off-the-shelf store or custom
A commercial platform works if you sell few products, at one price, with no special access rules. You start fast and pay a subscription.
A custom store makes sense when you need per-customer pricing, a large catalog with advanced search, different user types, automatic invoicing or a connection to your administration and inventory.
How to connect it to your administration
The store pays off most when it is not an island: an incoming order should reach inventory, invoicing and your team's dashboard without anyone copying it by hand.
That is why we define up front which data it shares with your current system, or with an Excel sheet if that is where your catalog lives today, and how both are kept current.
What drives the cost
It depends on catalog size, how many user profiles and pricing rules it handles, invoicing and notifications, integrations with your administration and how many customers will use it. We do not give loose figures: after a free assessment you get a written proposal with scope, phases and investment.
How we solved it
eCommerceRodríguez Luna ImportRodríguez Luna Import is a sales system for wholesale customers and salespeople: a private eCommerce for the wholesale of parts and spare parts. It is part of a comprehensive administration system that handles order counting, invoicing with automatic notifications and real-time updates. It supports several file types, advanced authentication, filters to search products and detailed profile control for administrators, salespeople, customers and suppliers.See the project →Related questions
Can my customers order at any hour?
Yes. The store is available all day, and each order reaches your team with a notification so they can process it.
Can I have different prices for each customer?
Yes, it is one of the main reasons to build a custom store. We define which prices or terms apply to each customer or group.
Can I start with just the catalog and orders?
Yes. It is common to launch the private catalog and orders first, then add automatic invoicing and reports in later phases.
Does your business have this question?
Walk us through your operation in a free assessment and get a written proposal with scope, phases, timeline and investment.
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