Let’s be honest. B2B ecommerce isn’t “put products online and add a checkout.” If only it were that simple. Real B2B ordering is complex. It involves contract pricing, multiple users under one account, warehouse-based stock availability, credit terms and sales reps placing orders on behalf of customers. These are not edge cases. They are everyday realities.
Here’s what the Cloudfy team have learned after working with manufacturers and distributors for more than a decade: the challenge is rarely ambition. It’s the starting point. If a business begins its digital journey on a platform designed for retail, it will eventually spend time and money trying to make that platform behave like a B2B system. Plugins, custom code and workarounds start stacking up. And once that happens, the site becomes something everyone relies on but no one fully trusts.
This tension is becoming even more visible now that Adobe Commerce has recently announced it is moving to a monthly patching cycle. It is important work that improves security and performance, but it may also mean more regular re-testing, QA and developer time just to stay stable. For businesses already managing complex pricing rules and ERP connections, the ongoing maintenance load can grow quickly. What starts as a cost-effective platform gradually becomes a system that needs continuous upkeep.
If this sounds familiar within your business and you’re at a similar crossroads, we hope this article will provide you with clarity, guidance and confidence and we hope it shows why Cloudfy customers genuinely love having a complete B2B ecommerce solution that just works.
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A Familiar B2B Story
Let’s take a situation we see all the time.
A distributor or manufacturer launches a straightforward online store. Something simple, something achievable. It lists products, allows customers to place orders and it gives the business a digital presence. And for a while, it works.
Then real customer expectations start to surface.
- A contract customer logs in and asks why their negotiated prices aren’t displayed.
- A buyer wants to set up multiple staff accounts under one company.
- A sales rep wants to place an order on behalf of a customer while they’re on-site.
- Stock levels don’t match because products sit across more than one warehouse.
None of these are unusual requests. They’re simply how B2B buying works.
So the business begins adapting. A plugin here. A custom script there.
More development time than expected. Another integration to keep the ERP and website aligned.
And slowly, the “simple” website becomes something bigger.
- It is no longer a catalogue.
- It is now the operational front end of the business. This is where the strain starts.
Teams rely on the website, but don’t fully trust it. Changes take longer. Fixes create knock-on issues. Workarounds become normal.
And at some point, leadership steps back and realises: The business didn’t choose complexity, it grew into it.
Where the Costs Start to Build (Often Quietly)
The tricky thing is that the cost of adapting a retail platform for B2B rarely shows up all at once. It builds slowly, in day-to-day operational pressure.
Someone on the team becomes “the Shopify person” or “the Adobe person.”
Developers are pulled back in for fixes and tweaks. Stock updates need monitoring.
Customer service gets dragged into explaining pricing or availability.
Nothing is broken. But nothing feels stable either.
And now, with Adobe Commerce moving to monthly patching, that operational load increases. The patches themselves are good. They improve security and product quality. But if your site includes custom extensions, pricing logic and ERP integrations, each monthly patch means more testing, more QA and more time just to stay where you already are.
These are the real hidden costs. Not platform fees and not licenses. It’s the time, the complexity and the dependencies. And the gradual slowdown of your ability to move forward. It’s not that a retail platform can’t handle B2B. It can, for a while.
But once the website becomes the operational front end of your business, every gap, workaround and plugin introduces friction. And friction always finds its way into customer experience, team workload and margin.
Why Purpose-Built B2B SaaS Platforms Change the Outcome
When a platform is designed for B2B from the start, the experience of running and growing an ecommerce channel feels different. Contract pricing isn’t a customisation. Multi-user account structures aren’t a workaround. Ordering on credit terms isn’t a “future enhancement.” These are standard, native functionality your business should expect from its technology.
A purpose-built B2B platform expects that your customers:
- Log in and see their own pricing
- Order frequently and repeat the same SKUs
- Have multiple people placing orders under one company
- Need quotes before they commit
- Want full stock visibility by warehouse
- Pay on account, not at checkout
- Have sales reps who need to order on their behalf
Nothing about this is “extra”. It’s simply how B2B buying works. And because these workflows are built-in, the platform stays stable as you scale. You add customers, accounts, products and warehouses, without reinventing anything.
Your team isn’t firefighting.
Your developers aren’t constantly patching.
Your investment is going into growth, not maintenance.
This is the shift.
From keeping the system running to letting digital become a growth engine.
Our CEO and Cloudfy creator, Robert Williams, sums it up nicely
“Cloudfy customers love the fact that they can come to us for the complete B2B eCommerce solution. We provide the platform, implement it and deliver ongoing support and development under one roof. No need for separate agencies, integrators or multiple support partners. We keep it simple so the business can focus on serving customers, not managing systems.”
And importantly, Cloudfy continues to evolve through real customer use. New features and improvements are shaped by the needs of manufacturers and distributors, meaning the platform gains more B2B depth over time without adding unnecessary complexity.
The Decision That Matters Most
If your business is starting to feel the strain of stretching a platform beyond what it was designed for, this may be the moment to reassess the foundation.
Cloudfy gives you a purpose-built B2B platform with not only the core B2B features built in natively, but the depth and intricacies that real manufacturers and distributors need every day. When we demo Cloudfy to teams who have been working around limitations for years, the reaction is almost always the same:
“We didn’t realise this was even possible.”
If you’re weighing up your next move, a Cloudfy demo is the simplest way to get clarity. It could be the smartest decision you make for your business this year or even this decade.
Ready to see what Cloudfy could do for your business? Book your free demo of Cloudfy now
Frequently Asked Questions
Because most platforms are built for retail buying journeys, not B2B workflows. When you start adding contract pricing, multi-user accounts, ERP feeds and rep ordering, the system effectively becomes the front end of the business. If the platform wasn’t designed for that, complexity builds quickly.
They do, but usually only with plugins, custom code and ongoing development effort. This can work for a time, but it also means more testing, more maintenance and more cost. Adobe’s move to monthly patching has made this even more important to consider.
A B2B SaaS platform like Cloudfy has those workflows built in from day one. Contract pricing, stock visibility, multi-user accounts, quoting and ERP integration are part of the core model, not add-ons. This reduces ongoing workload and creates stability as the business grows.
Not necessarily. Many organisations migrate gradually. Core eCommerce and ERP integration come first, with additional workflows, sales tools and customer features added in phases. The key is choosing a platform that supports your end-state, not just your starting point.
Cloudfy releases new features and improvements throughout the year. These updates are shaped directly by real customer use across manufacturers and distributors, and are included without disruption or rework. The platform gains B2B depth over time, while staying simple to manage.
