What is B2B SaaS? B2B e-commerce SaaS platforms explained
B2B SaaS is software that businesses rent online from other businesses. Learn how it works, what an e-commerce SaaS platform does and how to choose one.
B2B SaaS (business-to-business software as a service) is software that one company sells to other companies as an online subscription. The vendor hosts, maintains and updates the software, and your team uses it in a browser or connects to it through an API. An e-commerce SaaS platform applies that model to selling: your webshop, orders, stock and payments run in the vendor's cloud.
This guide explains what B2B SaaS means, how it differs from B2C SaaS, what an e-commerce SaaS platform does and what B2B e-commerce SaaS adds when your customers are businesses. It ends with the types of platforms on the market and a checklist for choosing one.
What is B2B SaaS?
B2B SaaS combines two terms. B2B stands for business to business: a company that sells products or services to other companies. SaaS stands for software as a service: software that runs on the vendor's servers and that you use over the internet, instead of installing it on your own computers.
Put together, B2B SaaS software is cloud software built for companies and sold to them on a subscription. The customer is an organisation, not a consumer, and the software supports a business process: selling, bookkeeping, hiring or running a webshop.
You also come across the broader terms B2B software and business to business software. Those cover all B2B software products sold to companies, including software you install on your own servers. B2B SaaS is the part that runs in the vendor's cloud. For the delivery model itself, with IaaS and PaaS next to it, read what is SaaS.
How does B2B SaaS work?
A B2B SaaS business builds one application and runs it for all its customers at the same time. Each customer gets its own account, data and users, but everyone works in the same version of the software.
-
Subscription: you pay per month or per year, often per user, per package or by usage, instead of buying a licence once.
-
Hosting by the vendor: servers, security, backups and uptime are the vendor's job.
-
Updates for everyone: the vendor ships new features and fixes to all customers at once, so nobody stays behind on an old version.
-
Access from anywhere: your team works in a browser or an app, and your other systems connect through an API.
Companies have embraced the model. In 2025, 52.74% of enterprises in the EU paid for cloud computing services, and 96.44% of those bought at least one SaaS application, such as e-mail, office software, accounting, ERP or CRM (Eurostat).
Examples of B2B SaaS products
B2B SaaS products cover almost every department of a company:
-
CRM: customer data, sales pipelines and follow-up.
-
Accounting and invoicing: bookkeeping, VAT returns and payment reminders.
-
ERP: purchasing, planning and finance across the business.
-
Collaboration: chat, shared documents and project boards.
-
HR and payroll: contracts, leave and salaries.
-
Commerce platforms: webshops, order management, inventory and point of sale.
The last category is where B2B SaaS and e-commerce meet, and the rest of this guide is about it.
B2B SaaS vs B2C SaaS
B2C SaaS sells software to consumers for personal use, such as a streaming service or a language app. B2B SaaS sells to organisations. The model is the same, a subscription to software in the cloud, but the way people buy and use it differs.
| B2B SaaS | B2C SaaS | |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer | A team, often several decision makers | One person |
| Sales cycle | Weeks or months: demo, trial, approval | Minutes: sign up and pay |
| Pricing | Per user, volume or module, often a contract | A few fixed plans |
| Onboarding | Setup, data import, training | Self-service |
| Integrations | ERP, accounting, CRM, API | Rarely needed |
Marketing differs too. B2B SaaS companies explain and educate, with case studies, webinars and posts on LinkedIn, because a buyer has to convince colleagues and justify the budget. B2C brands rely more on short, visual content and a free plan that turns into a paid one.
What is an e-commerce SaaS platform?
E-commerce SaaS, also written ecommerce SaaS, is commerce software delivered as a service. An e-commerce SaaS platform gives you the tools to sell online, such as a webshop, checkout, product catalogue, order management, stock, payments and shipping, without hosting or maintaining the software yourself. You pay a subscription, and the vendor keeps the platform secure, fast and up to date.
Ecommerce SaaS platforms range from webshop builders for a first online store to platforms that also run warehouses, marketplace connections and physical stores. What ecommerce SaaS companies share is the model: ecommerce software as a service, run and updated by the vendor.
E-commerce SaaS vs open source and custom-built
Not every e-commerce platform is SaaS. You meet three models, and each puts the technical work in a different place.
| SaaS | Open source, self-hosted | Custom-built | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting, security | Vendor | You or your host | You |
| Updates | Vendor, for all | You install them | You build them |
| Costs | Subscription | Hosting, development, upkeep | Development, upkeep |
| Flexibility | Settings, apps, API | Full code access | Unlimited |
Some vendors offer more than one model. Adobe lists Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service (SaaS), Adobe Commerce on Cloud (a managed platform as a service) and an on-premises version, next to the self-hosted Magento Open Source (Adobe Experience League, October 2026). WooCommerce calls itself the open-source commerce platform for WordPress, which you run with a host of your choice (woocommerce.com, October 2026).
Many SaaS platforms also work headless: you build your own storefront and use the platform behind it through its API. Read more in headless commerce explained.
What is B2B e-commerce SaaS?
B2B e-commerce SaaS is an e-commerce SaaS platform built for selling to other businesses. Think of a manufacturer that sells to wholesalers, a wholesaler that supplies shops and restaurants, or a brand that sells to retailers next to its own consumer webshop.
B2B commerce runs on different rules than selling to consumers:
-
Every customer can have its own prices and terms.
-
Orders are larger and come back regularly.
-
Customers often pay on account, after an invoice.
-
When you sell goods to a business in another EU country, you usually do not charge VAT if the customer has a valid EU VAT number (Your Europe).
-
Orders and invoices have to reach your ERP or accounting software.
A lot of this trade already runs online. In 2024, web sales made up 8.39% of the turnover of EU enterprises: 4.34% came from sales to other businesses and public authorities, and 4.04% from sales to consumers (Eurostat).
In e-commerce, B2B SaaS has a second meaning too. Some people use B2B SaaS e-commerce for selling software subscriptions online, which revolves around billing, licences and renewals rather than stock and shipping. This guide is about the first meaning: commerce software for businesses that sell goods to other businesses.
What B2B ecommerce software solutions do
B2B ecommerce software solutions add the features that business buyers expect on top of a regular webshop:
-
Customer accounts: a company logs in and sees its own catalogue, prices, orders and invoices.
-
Customer-specific prices: a price list per customer or group, tiered discounts and prices excluding VAT.
-
Quick reordering: order again from the order history or by entering product codes.
-
Quotes: a buyer asks for a quote, you send one, and the accepted quote becomes an order.
-
Payment terms: payment on account or in instalments, next to paying online.
-
VAT handling: VAT numbers on the customer account and the right VAT treatment per order.
-
Integrations: orders, invoices and customers flow to your ERP or accounting software, and an API covers the rest.
-
One stock: the B2B shop, the consumer webshop, marketplaces and stores sell from the same inventory.
Types of B2B e-commerce platforms
Lists of the top five B2B e-commerce platforms change every year. The type of platform often says more than the brand, so here are the main groups of B2B commerce software:
-
SaaS platforms with B2B features. Shopify says you can run B2B and B2C from one admin, and even one store, with tailored pricing, quantity rules and payment terms (shopify.com, October 2026). BigCommerce says you can sell and manage B2B and DTC from one platform (bigcommerce.com, October 2026).
-
Open-source and self-hosted platforms with B2B extensions. WooCommerce gets B2B features from extensions in its marketplace (woocommerce.com, October 2026). Adobe Commerce adds company accounts and customer-specific catalogues and pricing with its B2B extension (Adobe Experience League, October 2026). On a self-hosted setup, you or a partner host and maintain the platform.
-
ERP-led commerce. A web store module from your ERP vendor. Prices and stock come straight from the ERP, and the storefront offers what that module supports.
-
B2B order portals. A separate ordering portal for business customers, linked to the ERP, next to any consumer webshop you run.
-
Unified commerce platforms. One system for the B2B and B2C webshop, orders, warehouse, stores and point of sale. Afosto, the platform behind this blog, is one of them.
Want the platforms side by side, with features, pros and cons? Our comparison of the best B2B e-commerce platforms covers ten of them.
B2B and B2C on one platform: where Afosto fits
Many wholesalers and retailers do not sell to businesses only. A wholesaler supplies shops and also runs a consumer webshop. A retailer has stores, a webshop and a few business customers who still order by e-mail. With a separate tool per channel, someone keeps prices, stock and orders in step by hand.
Do you sell to businesses and consumers in the Netherlands or Belgium? Tell us how your customers order today, and we show you how price agreements, orders and stock work together in Afosto. Request a demo, or create an account and look around yourself.
Afosto is a commerce platform for retailers and wholesalers in the Netherlands and Belgium, and a B2B SaaS platform itself. You work in the browser, and Afosto hosts the software and releases updates (almost) daily, for all customers at the same time and at no extra cost. Order management, warehouse management, point of sale, product information (PIM) and webshop run on one platform.
For your business customers there is a B2B webshop where they log in and order at their own price. In Afosto, a business customer is an organisation with a Chamber of Commerce number, a VAT number and its own price list, in its own currency and including or excluding VAT. Price rules handle tiered discounts and promotions for a group of customers.
VAT follows the customer. Afosto reverse-charges VAT automatically when the customer has a VAT number and is based in a different country than your company. Afosto does not look the number up in VIES itself, so check a new business customer there once.
B2B orders land in the same order management as the orders from your consumer webshop, from marketplaces such as bol.com, Amazon and Kaufland, and from your stores. From there they go to the warehouse and on to your accounting software, such as Exact Online, Billit, Jortt or Silvasoft. With the quotation tool, an accepted quote becomes an order without retyping. How this works for a wholesale business is on the page for wholesalers.
How to choose a B2B e-commerce SaaS platform
Start with how your customers buy today, not with a feature list. Write down your price agreements, payment terms, order channels and the systems orders have to reach, then check each B2B ecommerce SaaS platform against these points:
-
Prices and terms: can you load every price agreement, tiered discount and payment term you use now, without workarounds?
-
Ordering: can a buyer reorder in a minute, order by product code and ask for a quote?
-
VAT and invoicing: does the platform store VAT numbers, apply the right VAT per order and support invoices on account?
-
Integrations: are there ready-made connections with your ERP or accounting software, webshop and marketplaces, plus an API for the rest?
-
One stock: if you also sell to consumers or in a store, does every channel sell from the same inventory?
-
Your data: can you export products, customers and orders whenever you want?
-
Updates and support: how often does the platform release, and who helps you in your language when something goes wrong?
-
Total cost: compare subscription, transaction fees, apps, implementation and onboarding for the same functionality.
Test the shortlist with a few real business orders from your own customers. You learn more from one order with a customer price, a tiered discount and an invoice on account than from any feature list.
Run every channel from one place
Orders, stock, POS and shipping in one system.
Create free accountBook a demoFrequently asked questions
What is an example of B2B SaaS?
A CRM such as Salesforce or HubSpot is a typical example of B2B SaaS: companies pay a subscription, and the vendor hosts and updates the software. Other examples are accounting software, HR and payroll tools, project management apps and e-commerce platforms that run a webshop, orders and stock. In each case the buyer is a business, and the software supports a business process.
What is the difference between B2B and B2C SaaS?
B2B SaaS sells software to organisations, B2C SaaS to consumers for personal use. B2B buyers are teams with several decision makers, so the sales cycle takes weeks or months, with demos, trials and contracts. Pricing depends on users, volume or modules, and onboarding includes data import, integrations and training. B2C SaaS sells in minutes through a sign-up, with a few fixed plans and self-service support.
What is an e-commerce SaaS platform?
An e-commerce SaaS platform is cloud software for selling online that you rent instead of install. It covers the webshop, checkout, product catalogue, orders, stock, payments and shipping. The vendor hosts, secures and updates the platform for all customers, and you pay a subscription. Shopify and BigCommerce are well-known examples. Self-hosted open-source software such as WooCommerce is the main alternative.
What is the difference between SaaS and open-source e-commerce?
With SaaS e-commerce, the vendor hosts the platform, installs updates and handles security, and you pay a subscription. With open-source e-commerce, you can use the code without a licence fee, but you or your host run the servers, install updates and maintain the extensions. Open source gives you full access to the code. SaaS saves technical work and lets you customise through settings, apps and an API.
What is B2B e-commerce software?
B2B e-commerce software lets businesses sell to other businesses online. Business customers log in to their own account, see their own prices and payment terms, reorder from their order history and request quotes. The software handles VAT for business customers, including sales to other EU countries, and sends orders and invoices to the ERP or accounting software. Many platforms run B2B and B2C sales from one system.
Is e-commerce SaaS right for a growing business?
Often, yes. A SaaS platform grows with your orders without new servers, and new features arrive through updates instead of upgrade projects. Check three things first: whether it supports your price agreements and sales channels, whether it connects to your accounting or ERP software, and whether you can export your data. Self-hosted or custom-built software fits better when you need control over every line of code.