- Name the B2B-specific requirements (pricing, approvals, reordering, PunchOut, inventory).
- Explain PunchOut and why B2B ≠ B2C-with-a-login.
- Tie to Orium's SiteOne work.
B2B commerce handles complexity B2C doesn't: account-specific and contract pricing, custom catalogues, bulk and fast reordering, multi-level approval workflows and budgets, real-time inventory visibility, and self-service. A defining capability is PunchOut — letting a buyer shop the supplier's storefront from inside their own procurement system, like SAP Ariba or Coupa, via cXML or OCI, and return the cart for internal approval. B2B isn't B2C with a login — the buying process is the product.
Pricing
Account-specific / contract pricing, volume discounts, custom catalogues per buyer org.
Process
Bulk/fast reordering, multi-level approvals, budgets, self-service account management.
PunchOut
Catalogue integration (cXML/OCI) into eProcurement (Ariba, Coupa) — shop the supplier from inside your own system.
Inventory visibility
Real-time stock and availability promises — often the root of B2B frustration.
- B2B digital maturity lags B2C, so modernisation upside is large.
- Getting pricing/approvals/reordering right drives retention and order size.
B2B complexity means more workstreams (pricing, PunchOut, OMS) — a rich expansion surface.
SiteOne and an unnamed B2B food distributor are real Orium B2B commercetools builds.
Your Coca-Cola 3-year B2B martech roadmap shows B2B context; be precise it was martech, not commerce delivery.
What makes B2B commerce hard?
The buying process is the product — contract pricing, multi-level approvals, reordering, and PunchOut into Ariba or Coupa. A B2C site with a login can't handle that, which is why distributors like SiteOne go composable.
“B2B commerce is selling to businesses instead of consumers.”
B2B commerce is contract pricing, approval workflows, reordering, PunchOut into eProcurement systems, and inventory visibility as first-class features. It's not B2C with a login — the buying process is the product, which is why Orium's SiteOne build went composable.
Situation: A distributor has account-specific pricing, reordering, approvals, and inventory-visibility problems.
Move: Map each to a B2B capability (contract pricing, PunchOut, OMS/inventory) and sequence the build.
Outcome: You demonstrate B2B fluency and a structured expansion plan in one answer.
Run the B2B distributor scenario with me and grade whether I map each problem to the right B2B capability.
Open the Tutor (top-right) and paste this prompt, or tap a mode.