B2B ERP integration case study
B2B ERP integration on Shopify Plus
How Starcodia implemented a B2B wholesale portal on Shopify Plus with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central integration, transforming a manufacturer's order processing from email-based to digital self-service.
Client context
A mid-market manufacturer of industrial components sold primarily to distributors and retailers across the UK and Europe. Their B2B sales process was manual: buyers sent orders via email or phone, sales reps re-keyed data into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and customers had no visibility of their order status, pricing or history without calling in.
The company managed over 200 active wholesale accounts with varying pricing tiers, payment terms and minimum order requirements. Price lists were maintained in Business Central but communicated via PDF catalogs that were often out of date by the time buyers referenced them.
Sales team capacity was consumed by order entry and status inquiries rather than relationship building and new account development. Error rates from manual data entry created fulfillment issues and customer frustration.
The challenge
The manufacturer needed to transform their B2B sales process:
- Enable wholesale customers to place orders online with their account-specific pricing
- Eliminate manual order entry by flowing orders directly into Business Central
- Give customers visibility of their order history, invoices and account status
- Enforce payment terms and credit limits at checkout
- Maintain pricing and customer data in Business Central as the single source of truth
- Support both standard catalog ordering and quick-order workflows for repeat purchases
The solution needed to integrate deeply with Business Central rather than creating a parallel system that would require dual maintenance.
What Starcodia delivered
Starcodia designed and implemented a B2B portal on Shopify Plus with bidirectional Business Central integration.
Shopify Plus B2B configuration. The Shopify Plus B2B suite was configured with company profiles, buyer accounts, and customer-specific price lists. Each wholesale account was set up with their pricing tier, payment terms and ordering rules.
Business Central integration. Business Central integration was implemented to synchronize key data flows:
- Customer accounts and contacts sync from Business Central to Shopify
- Price lists by customer group sync from Business Central, ensuring buyers see current pricing
- Products and inventory sync from Business Central to Shopify
- Orders placed in Shopify flow to Business Central as sales orders, ready for processing
- Order status and tracking sync back to Shopify for customer visibility
B2B storefront. The B2B storefront was designed for efficient wholesale ordering. Features included quick-order by SKU, reorder from previous orders, CSV upload for bulk ordering, and an account dashboard showing order history and invoices.
Payment terms and credit. Checkout was customized to apply payment terms from Business Central. Customers on net 30 or net 60 terms could complete checkout with invoice payment, while new accounts or those over credit limits were required to pay at checkout.
Training and rollout. The sales team and key accounts were trained on the new system. Rollout was phased, starting with the largest accounts before opening to all wholesale customers.
Results
The B2B portal transformed order processing and customer experience:
- 60% reduction in order processing time. Orders flow directly from Shopify to Business Central without re-keying, freeing sales capacity for relationship building.
- Zero data entry errors. Automated order flow eliminated transcription errors that previously caused fulfillment issues.
- 24/7 ordering. Customers can place orders anytime without waiting for sales rep availability, particularly valuable for accounts in different time zones.
- Improved stock accuracy. Real-time inventory sync reduced overselling and backorder situations.
- Faster payment cycles. Customers can view invoices and pay online, accelerating collections for accounts that previously waited for mailed invoices.
- Sales team redeployed. With order entry and status inquiries automated, sales reps now spend time on account development and new customer acquisition.
Services and capabilities demonstrated
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