Best 14 B2B eCommerce Platforms: Expert Review

Sometimes, companies are in no rush to innovate or believe their niche makes innovation impossible. In this case, companies need robust OOTB features with no scaling or growth, better represented by monolith options.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a cloud-centric enterprise ecommerce platform tailored for omnichannel interactions and customer services. A notable concern with Salesforce is its complete SaaS nature, rendering alterations tough post-upgrade. Given its premium pricing, the process of replatforming can be notably strenuous.

Salesforce pros:

• Extensive omnichannel marketing option;
• Powerful reporting;
• Integrates with over 1,000 other platforms (but is limited in API integrations).

Salesforce cons:

• Expensive and complicated;
• Doesn’t offer to create new features;
• Limits customizations and offers serious vendor-dependency.

SAP Commerce Cloud (previously known as Hybris) is designed to streamline large businesses. Though it's a favored platform worldwide due to its comprehensive suite of features, certain aspects of SAP’s offering struggle to stay up to date.

SAP pros:

• Integrates well with other platforms from the SAP ecosystem;
• Offers reach feature set;
• Well-known brand.

SAP cons:

• Certain functionalities feel outdated;
• Given its vastness, onboarding and support could span several quarters;
• While already pricey with a vast feature set, any innovation is cost-prohibitive and long;
• Crucially, SAP intends to cease support for its older systems by 2027.

Oracle Commerce is an old enterprise ecommerce software that offers easy integrations with third-party solutions. However, the solution seems outdated and may come out of support soon (as the vendor proposes).

Oracle pros:

• Comprehensive analytics provides detailed insights, allowing B2B sellers to make data-driven decisions;
• Supports multilanguage and multicurrency functionalities;
• Strong security features ensure data protection and compliance, which is vital for B2B transactions.

Oracle cons:

• Lack of additional developments by the vendor: no roadmap or features were released recently;
• Oracle’s vast array of features can be overwhelming for those unfamiliar with such comprehensive systems;
• The initial investment and ongoing maintenance costs can be high, especially for smaller businesses;
• While Oracle does integrate with many systems, certain third-party solutions might require custom integration, which can be time-consuming.

BigCommerce offers the versatility to craft both basic and advanced online shops, boasting impressive features, adaptability, and efficiency. However, being a SaaS platform, upgrades can pose difficulties. A significant consideration for potential users is its pricing model: as your business expands, so do your costs.

BigCommerce pros:

• Suitable for both basic and advanced online shops;
• Excels with multichannel selling;
• Reliable in terms of uptime and speed.

BigCommerce cons:

• Upgrading the platform can be challenging due to its Software-as-a-Service nature;
• Costs increase as your business scales, potentially making it more expensive for rapidly growing enterprises.

Amazon Business offers vast reach and built-in trust for B2B sellers. It can act as a great platform if your products aren’t too niche and you need a broader audience to reach.

Amazon pros:

• Massive reach of various audiences;
• Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) services that handle storage, packaging, and shipping for sellers;
• A seller account is easy to set up.

Amazon cons:

• High dependence on Amazon, as it controls all marketing and innovations. The seller cannot customize their sales more than the platform allows it;
• Amazon charges various fees, eating into profit margins;
• High competition, as the platform is saturated with sellers.

Grainger's digital platform offers a wide range of products and a user-focused digital experience that facilitates ordering and delivery tracking.

Grainger pros:

• The user-focused digital platform makes it easier for sellers to reach clients;
• Offers value-added services like consultations and product expertise;
• Sellers gain access to a large existing pool of customers.

Grainger cons:

• B2B sellers may face intense competition within their niche;
• Additional costs associated with selling on such a platform;
• Limited customization and brand identity;
• High dependency on a vendor, as marketplaces control all customizations.

DHgate is a Chinese cross-border ecommerce platform connecting wholesalers with global small to medium retailers.

DHgate pros:

• Immediate access to a global audience;
• Multilingual support can make it easier to reach non-English speaking clients;
• The platform offers comprehensive catalog, search, filtering options, and promotional features.

DHgate cons:

• Intense competition;
• Associated fees for sellers, which could impact margins;
• Over-reliance on a vendor might expose sellers to potential risks;
• Lack of capabilities for customization.

Pepperi is specifically designed for brands and wholesalers. It offers mobile sales automation tools, a web-based storefront, and other useful features.

Pepperi pros:

• A B2B-focused solution to cater to B2B-specific requirements;
• Seamlessly integrates with various ERP systems, CRMs, and accounting software, streamlining operations;
• Allows one to adapt the overall view of a business to most requirements, though doesn’t allow profound changes.

Pepperi cons:

• Depending on the features needed, the platform might be more expensive compared to simpler B2B solutions;
• While Pepperi can integrate with various systems, the integration process might be complex or require expert help;
• Like most platforms, over-reliance on a vendor can pose challenges if the business needs to migrate to another solution in the future.

WooCommerce is the leading open-source ecommerce solution favored by small to medium-sized businesses.

WooCommerce pros:

• Enables the sale of both tangible and digital products;
• A range of plugins are available to tailor your ecommerce site;
• Robust community support ensures the platform's longevity and provides necessary technical support.

WooCommerce cons:

• Exclusive to WordPress;
• Presents potential hidden costs;
• Doesn’t fit enterprises’ requirements.

Shopify is an intuitive and adaptable ecommerce platform suitable for B2B beginners, offering a range of customization choices and integrated B2B functionalities.

Shopify pros:

• Tiered pricing allows small enterprises to begin with a foundational plan;
• Embeds numerous SEO utilities.

Shopify cons:

• Added transaction costs, which could accumulate;
• Potential limitations within basic plans for advanced tailoring.

nopCommerce is an ASP.NET ecommerce solution anchored in Microsoft’s technological framework.

nopCommerce pros:

• A robust community that exceeds 250,000 members, translating to a rich reservoir of shared knowledge and collective expertise;
• Regular biannual upgrades;
• A wide range of built-in tools.

nopCommerce cons:

• Lack of extensibility framework and the upgrades can affect the new code significantly;
• Provides basic content management functionalities but might fall short for those requiring a more robust CMS for extensive content features;
• Being deeply rooted in Microsoft technologies means it primarily thrives on a Windows server environment, making it less adaptable for enthusiasts of other tech stacks like Java or PHP. 

Znode is a versatile ecommerce platform designed to construct niche-specific websites.

Znode pros:

• Endless possibilities for visual customization;
• Robust personalization and branding;
• Vast marketing capabilities.

Znode cons:

• Absence of fortified transaction protocols and possibly weak security;
• Technical proficiency is required to read the code.

Adobe Commerce, better known as Magento, is known for its open-source code, which uses a modular approach, offering vast possibilities for adaptability.

Magento pros:

• Offers excellent customization of the frontend part;
• Extensive features, from marketing to customer support.

Magento cons:

• Development expenses and innovation costs might be high;
• Has explicit hosting prerequisites and recommends VPS, cloud, or dedicated server hosting.

Virto Commerce is a technologically advanced .NET-based B2B ecommerce solution known for its unique modular architecture. It seamlessly integrates with numerous corporate IT applications, including ERP, CRM, CMS, and PIM.

An open-source approach underlines Virto Commerce's culture, with code transparency evident on GitHub. The following features and capabilities make Virto unique and perfect software for B2B.

Virto Commerce pros:

• Virto Commerce adheres to an open-source approach, and its code is transparent and openly available on GitHub;
• Modular atomic architecture enables faster innovation, feature creation, and development;
• The API-first approach of a headless platform allows all functionalities to be accessible via API layers, including xAPI (GraphQL) and Rest API (OpenAPI).

Virto Commerce cons: 

• Primarily designed for unique business scenarios, which might not appeal to smaller companies; 
• Built on a contemporary technological stack, necessitating a tech team well-versed in modern technologies like GraphQL.

Here are some use cases and real Virto Commerce stories on how businesses can benefit from the correctly chosen B2B ecommerce platform.

A global brewer faced a very specific challenge of creating a scalable ecommerce solution to digitize routes to its customers and gain all-around customer insights for non-chain retail in the APAC region. Virto Commerce stepped in, transforming this aspiration into reality and amplifying HEINEKEN's digital progress.

Now, emerging and niche HEINEKEN markets can deploy Virto Commerce and venture into online trading at just 35% of the original setup costs, even as the feature richness and overall proficiency augment.

Virto Commerce permits individual market solutions to be adjusted, rebranded, or localized, all while staying true to HEINEKEN's global standardized solution. This optimizes the rollout speed and fosters swift adoption.

Bosch Thermotechnik sought to invest in a trusted technological solution with built-in features to develop a loyalty platform for its customers. As the company wanted to manage the frontend development, Virto Commerce was chosen to develop a robust solution around the company’s frontend technology stack.

Now, upon procuring a Bosch Thermotechnik item, customers can sign into the Loyalty Marketplace Portal, record their purchases, and accumulate points in their user accounts. These points can subsequently be exchanged for various rewards directly on the platform.

Such a mechanism empowers Bosch Thermotechnik with invaluable market insights, simultaneously offering customers enticing rewards and ensuring sustained engagement with the brand.

To sum up, let’s look at the aspects companies should think about foremost when choosing an ideal platform tailored for specific business needs:

• Modularity
• Headless architecture
• API-first approach
• Integrations and third-party app support
• Unique enterprise scenarios support
• Extensibility framework
• Localization and multi-regional support
• Cloud-native approach
• Open-source
• Personalization and customization readiness

The most suitable or the ‘best B2B ecommerce platform,’ so to speak, is a tool that assists a business in accomplishing its goals. A robust SaaS solution can be a better fit for an organization that can sustain without innovation. If a company needs to scale and grow with restricted budgets, starting with marketplaces or simpler solutions can work well.

When it’s time for an enterprise to invest in the future, choosing a modern open-source solution like Virto Commerce is, in fact, the best decision.

As the Virto Commerce team has comprehensively analyzed all the aforementioned B2B ecommerce platforms, our digital experts can easily assess the state of your business and advise on the best solution at the demo step.