What Is eB2B? Meaning and eB2B Platforms for Retail Brands

What does eB2B mean?

The e stands for electronic, as in e-commerce or e-mail. B2B means business-to-business: one company selling to another company rather than to a shopper. Put together, eB2B is any trade between businesses that happens on a website, an app or a chat, instead of on paper or by phone.

Some everyday examples of eB2B transactions:

• A corner shop reorders biscuits and soap from a brand’s app after it closes for the night.
• A pharmacy checks its price and places its weekly order with a distributor on a web portal.
• A paint dealer sees how much credit it has left and orders more stock over WhatsApp.

A factory buying packaging online is eB2B too: that is procurement. This guide covers the selling side, where manufacturers sell through their channel partners.

eB2B, B2B e-commerce and B2C: what is the difference?

eB2B and B2B e-commerce, often written B2B ecommerce, mean the same thing. eB2B is the term used more in consumer goods distribution, for the apps shops use to order from brands and distributors.

The real difference is with B2C, where a person buys for their own use:

Prices that change from one customer to the next, and a distributor in the middle, are what make eB2B harder to run than an online shop. Get either one wrong and the shop goes back to phoning the rep.

The three kinds of eB2B platform

eB2B platforms that sell to shops come in three kinds, which differ in who runs them and who keeps each shop’s buying record.

For a brand with a working distributor network, its own app is usually the right core. A marketplace can add sales in outlets your network does not serve. It should not become the only digital route to shops you already cover, or those shops become the marketplace’s customers instead of yours.

Build your own app only if you can staff a software team for years. Otherwise buy one that already links to distributors and reps, and spend your effort on the rollout.

How an eB2B order works, step by step

On a brand’s own app that is set up well:

1. The shop owner opens the app, a web link or a WhatsApp chat and sees the catalogue at their own price.
2. The app shows the promotions they qualify for and suggests a basket from what they usually buy.
3. The app checks the order against your rules, such as the minimum quantity and the credit limit.
4. The order goes to the distributor who serves that shop, straight into its distributor management system, so nobody types it in again.
5. The distributor confirms, bills and delivers. The shop can follow the order in the app.
6. The rep who covers that shop sees the order in their field sales app before the next visit.

When step 4 is missing, someone at the distributor copies orders by hand and mistakes creep in. When step 6 is missing, the rep turns up and tries to take an order the shop has already placed.

How eB2B works with field reps and distributors

A rep may call on a shop once a week or less. Stock that sells out on a Tuesday leaves an empty shelf, or a rival’s product on it, until the rep comes back. An eB2B app lets the shop restock as soon as the owner sees the gap, and it takes over the routine reorder: the part of the visit where the rep reads out the usual list and the shop owner nods. That frees the visit for what needs a person: getting a new product onto the shelf and finding out why a regular has stopped ordering.

Two choices decide whether reps and distributors back the app or quietly work against it:

• Count app orders toward the rep’s target. If app orders do not count for the rep who serves that shop, the rep will keep taking orders by hand. Give the rep the credit, and reps become the people who sign shops up.
• Send every order to the shop’s usual distributor. Distributors often fear a brand app will cut them out. When each order goes to the distributor who already serves that outlet, the app brings them orders they no longer chase by phone.

How to start, and what goes wrong

1. Pilot with two or three distributors whose areas look alike, and keep a similar area outside the pilot to compare against.
2. Check every shop’s price, credit and promotions before day one. A shop owner charged more in the app than the rep quoted rarely gives it a second chance.
3. Let reps sign shops up during a normal visit. A rep who walks the owner through their usual order on the app gets far more use than a launch message.
4. Widen when pilot shops have reordered on their own several times.

Three numbers show whether it works:

• The share of orders shops place themselves
• How many shops reorder without a rep
• How many orders still get typed in by hand

How to test an eB2B platform before you buy

Which eB2B platform is best depends on your prices, distributors and reps, and most eB2B software looks alike on a feature list. Run these tests in the demo with your own data:

• Three shops, three price lists. Log in as three test shops on different terms and check that none can see another’s price or offer.
• Follow one order. It should land in the right distributor’s system without anyone copying it across, and show in the rep’s app, counted toward that rep’s target.
• No app installed. Hand the vendor a bare phone and ask them to take an order through a chat or a link.
• Signal off. Place an order with mobile data off, then turn it on. The order should go through once, not twice and not never.

The first three tests matter most. An app that fails them can still look good in a demo, but your orders will keep arriving by phone.

Where BeatRoute fits

BeatRoute’s B2B Customer App is a brand’s own eB2B app, on the same platform that 200+ enterprise brands use across 20+ countries for field sales and distributor management. Shops, dealers and distributors order on Android, iOS, a web app or WhatsApp, and each order follows the six steps above, with the Order AI Agent suggesting the basket.

BeatRoute suits brands whose reps sell to many retailers through distributors and want distributor management on the same platform. If you sell straight to a handful of large business buyers from your own warehouse, a B2B web store will likely serve you better.

Book a demo to see it set up with your distributors and prices.

Frequently asked questions