Every distributor and brand knows the evening rush: retailers and dealers ordering by WhatsApp message, voice note, photo of a handwritten list, or a phone call to whichever salesperson picks up. Someone in the office turns each of them into an order. Half the questions in between — is it in stock? what's my price? how much do I owe? — could have been answered without a human.
A B2B ordering portal gives your business customers a place to do that themselves.
What a B2B ordering portal should do
A consumer storefront is built for one-off buyers paying upfront. Business customers are different, and a B2B portal has to reflect that:
- Their prices, not list prices. Each customer sees what they actually pay.
- Their own sign-in. Each person at the customer has their own login, so you know who placed the order.
- Ordering in quantities and units they buy in — cases, boxes, sets — not single items.
- Order history and reorder, because B2B buying is repetitive.
- Online payment, recorded against the order, for customers who want to pay as they order.
- Your control over confirmation: some orders should flow straight through, others need a check on stock or credit.
Why it matters
- Fewer transcription errors. The customer enters the order once, in structured form.
- Orders at any hour. Retailers order after closing time, not only when your rep calls.
- Faster cash. Customers who pay online pay at the moment of ordering.
- A better use of your sales team, who can spend visits on new outlets and problems rather than taking down routine orders.
How Zaqnet's customer portal works
Zaqnet's customer portal is connected to the same records your office runs on:
- Customers sign in with their own Zaqnet ID and see the catalogue and prices you have set up for them.
- Orders land in the Orders app in ControlRoom, next to orders from your field team and from modern trade purchase orders.
- You choose whether portal orders are confirmed automatically or wait for someone to confirm them.
- Online payment goes through your own Razorpay account — UPI, cards and netbanking — and is recorded against the order.
- Fulfilment continues as usual: stock, dispatch, proof of delivery and collections are the same process whatever channel the order came from.
A portal does not replace your sales team. It takes the routine reorder off their plate, so their visits are spent on growth.
Getting customers to use it
Portals fail when they are launched as "please use our website". They succeed when they are easier than the alternative:
- Start with your most regular reorderers — they gain the most.
- Set their prices correctly first. One wrong price and they go back to calling.
- Have your sales team place the first order with them, on their phone, during a visit.
- Keep answering messages, but reply with the portal link. Habits move in weeks, not days.
The customer portal is rolling out to Zaqnet customers now — ask about it in a demo, and estimate below what manual order entry is costing you.