How you take orders from business customers isn't decided by "can you put up an order form." Customer-specific pricing, credit and stock checks, automatic order capture, and the connection to CRM, inventory, and billing all decide whether ordering gets lighter. As long as people re-key email, fax, and Excel orders, errors and close-time work remain.
This guide compares the options for a B2B order portal — email/Excel, ecommerce platforms, EDI, and Sanka.
Decide these first
| Decision | What to confirm |
|---|---|
| Customer-specific pricing | Where per-customer prices and rates live |
| Order capture | Whether orders flow automatically into CRM/order data |
| Stock and credit | Whether stock and credit are checked at order time |
| Downstream connection | Whether orders connect to shipping and billing |
Comparison summary
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Email / Excel | Few customers and SKUs | Re-keying, pricing, and close become person-dependent |
| Ecommerce platform | Teams building a B2C-like buying experience | Customer pricing, credit, and core integration need separate design |
| EDI | Mostly standardized trade with large accounts | High setup and operating barrier |
| Sanka | Teams automating B2B orders from the CRM | Overkill for a simple order form |
1. Email / Excel
With few customers and SKUs, email and Excel work. No setup, but people re-key orders, apply customer pricing, check stock, and reconcile at close — and errors and overtime grow with volume.
2. Ecommerce platform
To polish the buying experience, an ecommerce platform is a candidate. Cart and checkout are strong, but customer-specific pricing, credit, and capturing orders into core systems (CRM, inventory, billing) usually need separate design.
3. EDI
For standardized ordering with large accounts, EDI is an option. It's strong for standardized trade but has a high setup and operating barrier, and is hard to extend to smaller customers.
4. Sanka
Sanka fits teams that want to automate B2B orders — replacing email, fax, and Excel — with a CRM-native portal that supports customer-specific pricing. Orders flow straight into order data and connect from stock and credit checks through shipping and billing.
Related pages:
Which one to choose
If buying experience matters most, an ecommerce platform fits; for standardized large-account trade, EDI; with few customers, Excel gets you started. If the gap is connecting orders to CRM, inventory, and billing while honoring customer pricing, Sanka is practical because it can own order automation as an operation.
