Magento is a comprehensive solutions provider for businesses of all sizes. You can avail of a diverse selection of services, including multiple payment and shipping options, company accounts, custom catalogues and quick orders setups. Manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors worldwide use Magento B2B development to scale up their operations and expand to new markets. Read this article to understand Magento’s role in your business operations and what Magento development pricing means for you.

What is the B2E concept?

There are several angles to use when categorising a business, like its size, nature of the product and the industry. One of the most common differentiators, in this case, is the type of customer. In other words, does the business sell employees monitoring software to other business, i.e. Business to Business (B2B) or directly to the end consumer, i.e. Business to Customer (B2C)? However, given today’s constantly evolving market dynamics, it does not make good business sense to restrict yourself to one consumer type. Therefore, Magento is pushing a new idea the company likes to call Business to Everyone (B2E). B2E offers a more flexible and inclusive approach for businesses to seize opportunities where ever they may lie.

Why use Magento Commerce for B2B?

With Magento, you can opt for one of two editions, Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce. The former gives users access to a self-hosted eCommerce platform with crucial commerce features provided free of charge. The latter, on the other hand, is an enterprise-level solution with a robust and scalable design. You can use Magento Commerce for both B2C and B2B customers from a single platform. Furthermore, you can extend the B2B features with the B2B module that allows further customisation of the sales process. Magento B2B development lets you streamline quote management, price negotiation and simplify B2B and B2C store management through a single Magento portal. Some of the most salient features include:

Company Accounts

With Magento, your customers can create personal customer accounts on your store. You can also enable the same option from the Admin panel. In the case of individuals, these accounts allow them to manage their purchase activities comprehensively. On the other hand, with Magento B2B development, company accounts enable users to create a complex organisational structure and assign users within the customer’s company with specific roles and responsibilities.

Quick Order

Magento offers a quick order setup for B2B customers that regularly purchase the same SKU. The feature minimises the order process to a few clicks instead of browsing through the store and going through the entire checkout process. If it is a regular order but includes multiple SKUs, you can import the order as a whole through the Quick Order form.

Custom catalogues

Not all customers are looking for the same thing when they browse through your store. Similarly, business purchase managers usually do not have the time to go through all your offerings to look for what they want. Therefore, with Magento Commerce B2B, you can create shared catalogues with custom pricing that differs from the primary catalogue. Furthermore, you can make them company-specific or category-specific depending on what the customer requires.

Multiple Payment Options

Given the diversity of clientele that globalisation brings, multiple payment options add significant attraction to your store. The more options you can provide, the more likely customers can find what they need. You can choose from the list and enable as needed:

• Bank transfer payment;
• Cash on delivery;
• Check/money order;
• Credit Card (Payflow Advanced);
• Credit Card (Payflow Link);
• Credit Card (Payflow Pro);
• No payment information required;
• PayPal Billing Agreement;
• PayPal Credit (Payflow Express Bml);
• PayPal Credit (PayPal Express Bml).

Flexible Shipping Options

Similarly, Magento B2B offers a wide range of shipping options that you can enable or disable depending on the requirement. Furthermore, NGN to BTC customers can easily assign multiple shipping addresses within the same order, making things much easier for customers with several offices or warehouses. The complete list includes (may vary depending on store location):

• DHL;
• Federal Express;
• In-Store Pickup Delivery;
• Flat Rate;
• Best Way;
• Free Shipping;
• United Parcel Services;
• The United States Postal Service.

Negotiable Prices and Quotes

This innovative new Magento B2B feature allows the customer to request negotiation before placing an order in the shopping cart. You or an authorised representative of the customer can assign this role to a team member to simplify the negotiation process. Furthermore, the Quotes grid organises each request received and tracks all communication between buyer and seller.

Payment on Account

‘Payment on Account’ is the offline payment option that Magento offers its users. With this system, your customers can make purchases on credit up to a pre-determined limit specified in their profile. Furthermore, you can enable Payment on Account to appear on checkout globally .i.e for all customers or individually per company. If used, a message displays at the top of the order to indicate the nature of payment and account status.

What is Magento B2B Development?

Magento B2B development refers to hiring a professional to build you an online store geared towards B2C and B2B customers on the Magento platform. Doing so can hold significant advantages over developing the website yourself. Magento is a moderately user-friendly Content Management System (CMS) and requires a professional’s touch to bring out its true potential. Furthermore, a Magento development company can leverage far more in terms of human resources and institutional knowledge to achieve your goals than you ever could.

What is Magento development pricing?

Magento development pricing depends on the nature of your business and the complexity of your product. In other words, the larger the scale, number of products and geographic coverage, the higher the cost.

How much does Magento Commerce and B2B Cost?

As discussed earlier, you can get the free version, i.e. Magento Open Source or the paid versions Magento Commerce. Unfortunately, Magento no longer provides a cost estimate of up-front on their website. Instead, you have to get in touch with the sales department, schedule an assessment, and get a quotation. However, your pricing depends on annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and Average Order Value (AOV). You can get a rough, ballpark idea of the cost if you understand what these two values mean for you.

On the other hand, to better understand what to expect, we can look at the previous Magento pricing schemes. For example, Magento Enterprise (Magento Commerce’s predecessor) could cost anywhere between $22,000 to $125,000 annually.

Conclusion

The Magento B2E concept is the future of business. Especially now, with the dynamic nature of world markets and technology, marketing channels for B2C and B2B customers have merged. Prudence dictates that companies should cash in on this phenomenon as soon as possible. However, consider hiring a professional for your Magento B2B development needs, even if the Magento development pricing seems like an extra cost. In the long-run, when your online store delivers exceptional results, everything will have been worth it.