COMMERCE BUSINESS MODELS

B2B commerce that makes complex buying simpler.

Keep buyers moving from product enquiry to quote, approval and repeat order.

B2B commerce connects businesses with suppliers through account-based buying journeys. Universal Commerce supports self-service portals, sales-assisted ordering and AI-enabled workflows that bring contract terms, product information and operational data into the buying process.

Discuss your commerce roadmap

FROM BUSINESS NEED TO CUSTOMER VALUE

What b2b commerce can unlock.

Give each account a relevant experience

Present account-specific catalogues, negotiated pricing, purchasing roles and order history. Help buyers find compatible products and repeat frequent orders without starting from scratch.

Connect sales conversations to execution

Support RFQ and configure-price-quote workflows, quote revisions and approval routing. Give sales teams an AI assistant grounded in approved product specifications and account context.

Reduce avoidable order handling

Coordinate validated orders with ERP, inventory and fulfilment systems. Route credit, pricing and availability exceptions to the right team with the context needed to resolve them.

ILLUSTRATIVE WORKFLOW

How the journey comes together.

A maintenance buyer searches for a replacement component and requests a quote for several locations. The assistant helps identify suitable items, while orchestration applies account terms and routes exceptions for approval. An approved quote becomes an order in the ERP-connected flow, with status visible to both buyer and sales team.

HOW UNIVERSAL COMMERCE SUPPORTS THE MODEL

Five layers.
One connected operating model.

Connect customer experiences to the capabilities, intelligence and data behind them. Select the components and deployment approach that fit your business.

01
Total Experience
Connect account portals, sales workspaces, dealer interfaces, mobile ordering and conversational assistance around a consistent business-buyer experience.
02
AI-Native Composition & Orchestration
Orchestrate RFQ, CPQ, credit checks, purchasing approvals, contract pricing and repeat ordering. Keep decision authority and exception handling aligned with account policies.
03
Packaged Business Capabilities (PBCs)
Assemble account management, product configuration, catalogue, pricing, checkout, payments and OMS capabilities alongside ERP, CRM and warehouse systems through suitable APIs and connectors.
04
Intelligence: Frontier & Sovereign AI
Use Frontier and Sovereign AI models according to task and data requirements. Ground assistance in product specifications, contracts and permitted account records, with approval gates for commercial commitments.
05
Data Fabric: Unified Commerce Data Lake & Semantic Mesh
Unify account, quote, order, inventory and service data in a commerce data lake. Use the semantic mesh to relate products, units of measure, organisations and contract terms for consistent answers and reporting.

Capabilities to compose

Account management
Contract pricing
RFQ & CPQ
Product catalogue
Approval workflows
ERP integration
OMS & inventory

Capabilities are assembled from the selected platforms and integrations. Scope, licensing, data readiness and existing-system compatibility are confirmed during solution design.

Explore the complete architecture →

MEASURE THE BUSINESS IMPACT

Define success before you scale.

Agree a baseline, data source and owner for each measure. Compare results over time and across appropriate customer or operational cohorts.

Example KPIs for B2B Commerce
Business priority	Measures to track
Buyer experience	Self-service adoption, search success and repeat-order frequency
Sales efficiency	Quote turnaround, quote-to-order conversion and approval cycle time
Operations	Order accuracy, manual touches and cost per order
Account growth	Account retention, order value and gross margin

Start with a complete, focused journey.

Choose a buyer segment and a recurring order or quote workflow. Confirm account hierarchies, commercial rules and data ownership, then connect the minimum systems needed to deliver a complete order journey. Expand only after pricing and fulfilment behaviour is validated.

Use Composable Commerce for modular capabilities, Agentic Commerce for guided assistance and insights, and Autonomous Commerce for governed workflow execution.

PRACTICAL QUESTIONS

B2B Commerce FAQs

Can B2B buyers have different prices and catalogues?

Yes. Account-specific catalogues, contract prices, purchasing permissions and terms can be composed through the selected commerce and pricing capabilities. Their source of truth must be agreed with ERP and commercial teams.

How does Universal Commerce work with an existing ERP?

The composition and orchestration layer connects commerce journeys to ERP data and processes through available APIs or integration services. Synchronisation, ownership, reconciliation and exception handling are defined for each implementation.

Can AI approve quotes or commit to commercial terms?

Only within explicitly configured authority and business rules. Sensitive pricing, credit decisions and non-standard contract terms should follow the agreed approval process rather than rely on an unconstrained model response.

Does B2B automation replace account managers?

It can reduce repetitive product enquiries and order administration while giving account managers better context. Negotiation, relationship management and complex exceptions remain responsibilities that businesses can keep with their teams.

YOUR NEXT STEP

Build your b2b commerce roadmap.

Bring your customer priorities, current systems and operating requirements. Let’s map the capabilities and integrations your next phase needs.