B2B Order Management: The Complete Guide to Streamlining Business Operations in 2025

Discover how modern B2B order management transforms business operations. Learn implementation strategies, best practices, and platform selection criteria.

B2B buyer expectations have changed dramatically in just a few short years. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce has set a new standard for order management, raising the bar year after year. But many B2B businesses lag behind, held back by legacy systems and fragmented ordering workflows. Paper forms, phone calls, and email threads are still common.

That might have been acceptable a few years ago. Before the pandemic, nearly half of B2B buyers still preferred in-person and traditional order management, according to McKinsey. But that preference has decisively shifted. The “rule of thirds” now defines the B2B buying journey: one-third of buyers want in-person interactions, one-third prefer remote conversations, and one-third expect fully digital self-serve options.

If your B2B ordering experience hasn’t evolved since 2019, you may already be losing ground. A recent report found 67% of B2B buyers are willing to switch suppliers to access more modern, consumer-like experiences.

But there’s a flip side. Brands that meet these heightened expectations have a major opportunity to win new customers and grow. The global B2B ecommerce market is expected to double in size, from $19.34 trillion in 2024 to $47.54 trillion by 2030, driven largely by improved digital and omnichannel buying experiences.

To capture that growth, companies need more than just an online catalog. They need a modern, flexible, and fully featured B2B order-management solution that puts buyers in control.

What is B2B order management?

While there are many important factors in the B2B purchasing journey matter, this article focuses on one of the most critical: order management.

B2B order management is the process of handling business-to-business purchase orders from receipt through fulfillment, including customer account management, inventory coordination, and order-processing workflows.

For many B2B businesses, especially large ones, order management involves several interconnected components:

• Order processing
• Inventory management
• Customer account management
• Order fulfillment

These processes vary widely depending on the ecommerce platform used. Older systems often rely on manual workarounds and disconnected tools. Modern platforms, on the other hand, streamline order management with scalable customization.

With the right infrastructure, businesses can improve efficiency, reduce complexity, and adapt their workflows without a heavy technical lift.

How B2B ordering has evolved over time

Wholesale and B2B buying has undergone a dramatic shift over the past decade. For years, relationship-driven sales were the norm. Sales reps and buyers built personal connections, and large orders depended on phone calls and emails. Buyers had patience for the process, and if issues arose, a quick conversation or personal apology usually resolved things.

The pandemic significantly accelerated changes that were already underway, and today’s B2B buying landscape looks very different. Now, 71% of B2B businesses offer ecommerce, and online sales account for 34% of total revenue. In-person sales continue to decline, making up just 17% of revenue in 2024. Most of that shift toward digital is driven by changes in buyer demographics.

Millennials and Gen Z now make up 71% of professionals in procurement roles. These buyers expect fast, simple, and transparent digital experiences, similar to everyday activities like online banking or shopping on Amazon.

Delivering that kind of experience pays off. A recent survey found that 79% of B2B buyers prefer to place repeat orders online, and many are willing to spend large amounts when the process is easy. In fact, 39% say they’re comfortable spending more than $500,000 per order through self-serve ecommerce, up from 28% just two years ago.

Snyder Performance Engineering, an auto parts retailer, experienced this transformation firsthand. As their wholesale business grew, every B2B order still required a phone call or email, creating a massive bottleneck. Customers depended entirely on direct interactions with the Snyder team to place orders, limiting how many buyers the retailer could effectively serve.

Snyder’s first attempt at launching an ecommerce solution didn’t work out. But when they moved to Shopify, they found scalable tools. Shopify offered wholesale-specific features, including customer-specific pricing, flexible product publishing, and payment terms. These capabilities allowed Snyder to streamline operations and tailor the experience for each customer.

Today, wholesale buyers can build large orders and check out on their own schedule using an interface as intuitive as everyday shopping. As a result, Snyder has reduced time spent on back-office tasks by 25% and increased average customer spend by 40%.

“My team doesn't have to wait for an order to get manually plugged in. By the time somebody places an order, it can literally be packed and shipped within a couple minutes. That's big in wholesale.”

Amy Snyder, cofounder and COO, Snyder Performance Engineering.

Understanding the core components of modern B2B order management

Delivering the B2B order-management experience expected by today’s buyers requires optimizing each step of the process. From how customers browse to how orders are fulfilled, every interaction plays a role in reducing friction and increasing buyer satisfaction.

Here are the core components that define modern B2B order management:

Customer account management

A robust self-service portal is foundational. Buyers should be able to manage orders, track activity, and access personalized pricing without relying on a sales rep. Support for account hierarchies simplifies organizational structures, permission assignments, and procurement workflows.

Catalog management

B2B buyers expect curated access to products based on their contracts or negotiated terms. Businesses need tools to create custom catalogs and pricing rules tailored to customer groups, purchase volume, or contract terms. This level of personalization boosts conversions and reduces manual quoting.

Order processing

To support high-volume, high-value orders, businesses need features like saved lists, bulk uploads, and approval workflows. These tools simplify reordering while maintaining internal controls. As business needs change, it should be simple to update workflows without complicated development work.

Inventory integration

Real-time inventory visibility is critical for trust. Buyers need to know what’s in stock, and businesses need to allocate inventory intelligently across regions or key accounts. Without unified systems, IT teams face significant challenges manually syncing disparate tools. To avoid customer frustration and high technical costs, integrated inventory management on a unified back end is now essential in modern operations.

Fulfillment coordination

Fast, accurate fulfillment requires more than shipping labels. Businesses need automated routing, smart carrier selection, and friction-free warehouse coordination to ensure reliable delivery across all channels. When done well, this builds buyer confidence and allows businesses to scale quickly as demand grows.

Brooklinen, a retailer of quality bed linens, completely transformed their B2B order management to grow their business. Originally built as a DTC brand, they soon saw growing demand from hospitality groups and corporate clients placing large orders. At first, the team managed B2B sales manually. But as demand grew, so did the operational strain.

Because Brooklinen was already using Shopify for their DTC store, adding a second, dedicated storefront for B2B customers was fast and simple. Buyers now place bulk orders through a personalized self-serve experience, complete with tailored pricing, product access, and payment terms. The process feels familiar and intuitive, just like any typical consumer purchase.

The impact was immediate. Instead of spending time manually managing orders, Brooklinen’s team now focuses 80% of their effort on building relationships and growing their wholesale business.

“Our team has the liberty and the space to build relationships with customers, instead of just transacting with them. We spend more time understanding our customers and less on manual inputs. This allows us to provide exceptional experiences for our DTC, B2B, and retail customers alike,” said Nicolas Lukac, director of emerging channels at Brooklinen.

The key benefits of improving B2B order management

We’ve already covered why improving B2B order management is critical. Buyers expect more, and those expectations are reshaping the market. But beyond keeping pace, modernizing order management offers significant business benefits:

Greater operational efficiency

When order management is streamlined, more orders naturally shift online. This reduces the burden on internal teams and allows them to focus on supporting customers and driving growth. Buyers can place repeat orders more quickly, and the overall sales cycle becomes shorter and simpler.

Improved customer experience

B2B buyers want a fast, transparent, and reliable experience. When you deliver that, they’re comfortable placing large orders ($500,000 or more), without speaking with a sales rep. They know exactly what’s available, what it costs, and when it will arrive. That level of confidence creates a better experience and builds long-term trust.

Customer retention and loyalty

A modern, frictionless buying process keeps customers coming back. Conversely, poor experiences drive them away. Since many B2B buyers are willing to switch vendors for a better experience, improving order management helps retain your existing base and attract dissatisfied buyers from competitors.

Scalability without added headcount

With the right ecommerce platform, businesses can scale their order volume without expanding their team. Since buyers manage their purchases through a self-service portal, businesses can handle growth efficiently. Launching into new markets also becomes easier, as new storefronts can be launched quickly, with less cost and reduced risk.

Access to data intelligence

Bringing order management into a digital, centralized system provides valuable insights. With unified data, businesses can understand order trends, buyer demographics, and the impact of specific promotions. This data improves forecasting, helping teams prepare for peak seasons and avoid delays or stockouts.

Filtrous saw these benefits after moving their B2B operations to Shopify. Initially, they relied on BigCommerce, but after spending a year building their site, the team found the platform unreliable and difficult to manage. Simple changes often broke the site, and the customer experience was so frustrating that buyers reverted to placing orders through customer service.

The company migrated to Shopify in just two months. From there, they quickly set up customer-specific catalogs, custom discounts, and flexible payment options. They also automated back-office tasks such as emailing and collecting invoices using Shopify’s built-in B2B features. The result was a more advanced, reliable order management system that customers loved—and a 27% increase in their online conversion rate.

“The constant updates to B2B on Shopify have left us pleasantly surprised. It seems like these releases are highly tailored to the needs of B2B merchants, and makes us feel like we’re being heard.”

Yin Fu, Director of Ecommerce, Filtrous

How to implement better order management with the right platform

Now that we’ve covered the risks of outdated order management and the benefits of modernizing, the next step is understanding how to strategically upgrade without unnecessary delays or excessive costs.

Start by evaluating your current solution and how it affects your bottom line. Ask yourself:

• Are there signs of technical debt, such as bugs, slowdowns, or workarounds that impact revenue?
• Can you make improvements to order management without relying on costly development work?
• How many orders that should be simple enough to be placed online still require manual handling?

Once you have a clear picture of where you stand today, define what an ideal order management experience would look like for your team and your buyers. This vision will help you select the right B2B order management solution.

Delivering a modern experience quickly and affordably depends on choosing the right B2B ecommerce platform. If you’re working with a legacy system or an overly complex solution, even basic improvements may take too long or require too much technical effort. These are signs it’s time for a change.

When assessing potential vendors, look for a platform that meets your current needs and supports long-term growth. Key factors to consider include:

• The number of B2B-specific features available out of the box
• Whether the platform offers a unified back end and robust APIs to enable flexible front-end experiences
• How easily the solution integrates with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other critical systems
• The size and quality of the app ecosystem, allowing you to extend functionality without additional development
• The total cost of ownership (TCO), including licensing fees, support costs, and internal resourcing
• How long migration will take, and the safeguards provided to minimize risk
• Whether the vendor supports phased rollouts for large or complex businesses

Selecting a new platform is a high-stakes decision, and it’s worth taking the time to get it right. Not all ecommerce providers offer the same depth of B2B support or pricing transparency. Once the decision is made, be sure to plan for implementation, team enablement, and long-term adoption.

The right ecommerce platform should empower your entire team. With modern tools and thoughtful onboarding, even non-technical users should be able to launch products, update pricing, run promotions, and manage orders, without relying on developers.

Understanding B2B order management best practices

Once the right platform and structure are in place, your business can implement best practices that support operational efficiency, strong customer experiences, and long-term 3growth. These foundational practices ensure that your B2B order management system is both effective and ready to scale.

Robust account creation and management

A seamless B2B experience begins with the customer portal. Your platform should offer a comprehensive set of account management features to make ordering simple from the start.

For example, Shopify includes secure login, order history, and fast reorder capabilities as standard. Features like “Quick Add” and CSV upload simplify bulk ordering. At the same time, personalized experiences, such as customer-specific catalogs, product visibility controls, and pricing rules, ensure each buyer sees the right products at the right price.

Flexible customer account structures

B2B buying often involves large teams, with different people needing different levels of access. Some users may require visibility into specific catalogs, while others need the ability to place or approve orders.

Your order management system should be flexible enough to support these structures without adding complexity. Shopify allows businesses to configure customer account hierarchies, automate onboarding emails, and provide access request forms for new team members, all without the need for custom development.

Optimized, automated workflows

Efficiency depends on workflows designed to handle the unique needs of B2B ordering. From draft orders and approvals to exception handling and fulfillment, your platform should be flexible enough to accommodate all aspects of your operations.

The best solutions allow you to update these workflows without relying heavily on technical teams. This makes it easier to adapt as your business grows and evolves.

Fast, seamless integration with key systems

Enterprise B2B operations rely on real-time data shared across systems. That’s why your ecommerce platform must integrate cleanly with ERPs, CRMs, and other critical systems.

Reliable integration ensures real-time inventory availability, complete order histories, and transparent delivery timelines. For example, Shopify supports real-time integration with systems like Oracle ERP Cloud, allowing buyers to trust the information they see when making purchasing decisions.

Monitor performance and iterate

Improvement doesn’t end after implementation. With the right platform, you gain access to deep and detailed analytics and a wide app ecosystem to help you extend your capabilities and continually optimize.

Regularly track key performance indicators (KPIs) for your ordering process. The ability to measure and improve your workflows helps ensure your business stays competitive and efficient.

Conclusion

Modern B2B order management is no longer just a back-office function. It has become a strategic lever for growth. As buyer expectations shift toward fast, self-service digital experiences, the businesses that modernize their order workflows are best positioned for long-term success.

In this article, we explored how B2B order management has evolved, what a modern solution includes, and the business outcomes it can unlock. From reducing manual work to enabling growth without increasing headcount, the value is clear.

Shopify gives B2B brands the ability to move faster, serve customers more efficiently, and adapt with ease. With built-in features like custom catalogs, account-specific pricing, bulk-ordering tools, and seamless integration with critical systems, Shopify helps simplify even the most complex B2B operations.

B2B order management FAQ

What is B2B order management?

B2B order management is the complete process of receiving, processing, and fulfilling business-to-business (B2B) purchase orders. It covers everything from account setup and inventory coordination to final delivery. With a platform like Shopify, businesses can simplify these workflows, reduce manual tasks, and offer the seamless, fast, and transparent self-service experience modern B2B buyers expect.

What is the B2B ordering system?

A B2B ordering system is the technology that allows businesses to manage and process orders from other businesses. This typically includes tools for personalized catalogs, account-level pricing, payment terms, and approval workflows. Shopify gives B2B merchants everything they need to create an intuitive, scalable ordering experience while reducing operational overhead.

What is the meaning of B2B management?

B2B management refers to how a business oversees its operations and customer relationships when selling to other businesses. This includes handling orders, accounts, fulfillment, pricing, and customer service. With a unified platform like Shopify, brands can manage these functions more efficiently, automate key workflows, and focus on driving growth.

What is a B2B purchase order?

A B2B purchase order is a formal request from one business to another to supply products or services. It includes details like quantities, pricing, terms, and delivery instructions. On Shopify, purchase orders can be generated quickly and digitally, giving buyers a streamlined, self-serve way to place large or repeat orders without the delays caused by manual processes.