A distributor is judged on whether the buyer can find the part, see what it costs them and know when it will arrive.
We build B2B distributor websites and ordering portals that make a broad multi-brand catalogue searchable by manufacturer part number, show account-specific pricing and availability to logged-in customers, and route the enquiries that still need a quotation with the technical context attached.
Most distributor sessions start from a manufacturer part number, a competitor reference, a legacy code from a machine that is already installed, or a number copied off a label with a digit missing. A search box that only matches your own SKU field fails all four.
We build search that tolerates partial and near-miss codes, resolves manufacturer references and superseded numbers to the current line, and returns a shortlist rather than an empty result. Where a part has been replaced, the successor is offered with the difference stated, so the buyer is not left guessing whether it is a valid substitution.
When tens of thousands of lines arrive from dozens of supplier feeds, each with its own attribute names and units, navigation alone cannot hold it together. Filters built on inconsistent source data produce categories with one product in them and ranges that quietly exclude half the stock.
We establish taxonomy, attribute mapping and data ownership before designing filters, and we are explicit about which attributes are reliable enough to filter on. That usually means normalising a defined subset properly rather than exposing every field a supplier happens to send.
Distributor pricing is rarely a single list. Contract pricing, volume breaks, brand-level discounts and customer-specific conditions live in the ERP, and a website that keeps a separate copy of them will drift out of sync within weeks of launch.
We source pricing and availability from the system that owns them, and agree a refresh model the ERP can sustain. An authenticated buyer sees their negotiated terms and realistic stock, and the sales desk stops fielding calls that exist only because the site showed something different.
Configured products, project quantities, brands with territory restrictions and lines sold under a supplier agreement often cannot carry a public price or an instant checkout. Forcing them into a cart tends to be worse than routing them properly.
We design the quotation path to carry what the sales team needs: items and quantities, specification, application, required date and the account behind the request. The result is something that can be priced without a round of clarifying emails, alongside a straightforward checkout for the lines that can carry one.
Code Industrial is the industrial B2B practice of Code Barcelona, an agency building corporate websites and digital platforms since 2015. The same strategy, design and engineering team works on every industrial project, from the first scoping session through to life after launch.
Distributors compete on findability, accurate availability and a fast route to the right commercial answer. These are the platforms that make those promises hold.
Questions that come up when a broad multi-brand catalogue has to work commercially online.
Three things, in this order: a buyer can find the part they already have a number for, they can see what it costs their account and when it can arrive, and they can complete the order or raise a quotation without leaving the site. Brand presentation matters, but a distributor platform is judged first on whether it is faster than calling the sales desk.
We map the feeds against a single attribute model and normalise a defined subset properly, rather than exposing every field each supplier happens to send. Filters are built only on attributes that are consistent across brands, because a filter fed by inconsistent units or naming quietly excludes stock the buyer would have bought. Everything else stays visible on the product page as reference information.
Yes, and it is usually the highest-value feature on a distributor site. We build cross-referencing from manufacturer references, superseded codes and, where you hold the mapping, competitor equivalents. Search also tolerates partial and mistyped codes, since numbers are frequently copied from a worn label or a handwritten note rather than from a clean system record.
Where the ERP can expose them at a sustainable frequency, yes. We agree what is available in real time and what is better shown as an indicative band, then build to that rather than promising a live figure the source system cannot support. Being explicit about stock at branch level, lead time and order cut-off is generally more useful to a buyer than a single number with no context. See industrial website integrations for how that connection is usually scoped.
Territory and channel rights are modelled as rules on the product and the account, so a visitor outside the permitted region does not see a purchasable listing they cannot legitimately buy. Depending on the supplier agreement, that can mean hiding the line, showing it without pricing, or routing the enquiry to the manufacturer. The rules stay in one place rather than being enforced page by page.
It depends on your larger accounts. Where customers order through a procurement platform, punchout or a supported catalogue format often decides whether your lines get bought at all, and it is worth scoping early because it constrains the catalogue structure. Smaller accounts rarely need it. We normally confirm which of your top accounts require it before committing to a standard.
Related industrial sectors with comparable catalogue, technical-information or partner-network requirements.
Tell us how customers search, quote and reorder today, and what your ERP can expose. We will set out the catalogue, portal and integration model that fits.