B2B Ecommerce for Auto Parts Distributors
B2B ecommerce for auto parts distributors is a self-service portal where repair shops, fleets, jobbers and dealers see their own price, check stock by location, order by part number and pay on account. StrikeTru builds these portals on BigCommerce B2B Edition, Shopify, and Shopify Plus, synced with your ERP so price, stock and credit are always right.
| Buyer | What the portal must do |
|---|---|
| Independent repair shops | Part-number and interchange search, live stock by branch, saved… |
| Fleets | Ship-to addresses per location, approval workflows, purchase orders,… |
| Jobbers and dealers | Tiered price lists, quick order and CSV upload, credit limits and… |
| Performance and specialty shops | Rich attributes, fitment notes, kits, quote requests |
| National and enterprise accounts | Company hierarchies, contract catalogs, roles and permissions,… |
Your counter is busy. Your portal should take the load.
Most parts distributors still take a large share of orders by phone, email and counter. That's not because buyers prefer it. It's because the website can't answer the questions they'd otherwise call about:
- "What's my price on this?"
- "Do you have it at the branch near me, or can you ship today?"
- "What's your number for this Dorman / Motorcraft / OEM part?"
- "Can I just reorder what I bought last week?"
- "What do I owe, and can I see the invoice?"
A B2B portal that answers those five questions moves routine orders online and frees your inside sales team for the work only people can do.
Who orders from a parts distributor, and what each buyer needs
| Buyer | How they buy | What the portal must do |
|---|---|---|
| Independent repair shops | Fast, by vehicle or part number, often mid-repair | Part-number and interchange search, live stock by branch, saved vehicles, delivery cut-off times |
| Fleets | Planned and repeat, multi-location, PO-driven | Ship-to addresses per location, approval workflows, purchase orders, order history by unit |
| Jobbers and dealers | High volume, price-sensitive, account-based | Tiered price lists, quick order and CSV upload, credit limits and terms, invoices |
| Performance and specialty shops | Niche parts, detailed specs | Rich attributes, fitment notes, kits, quote requests |
| National and enterprise accounts | Contracted, several buyers and sites | Company hierarchies, contract catalogs, roles and permissions, rep-assisted ordering |
What we build into an auto parts B2B portal
Account pricing that matches your ERP
Tiered price lists, contract pricing and customer-specific catalogs, synced from the ERP so a jobber never sees a retail price and a fleet never sees another fleet's contract. At Raney's Truck Parts we configured 4-tier price lists across 100,000 SKUs.
Company accounts, credit and terms
Company accounts with buyers, roles and approval limits; credit limits and payment terms; and an invoice portal where buyers see what they owe and pay online.
Ordering the way professionals order
Quick order by part number, CSV upload, buy-again from order history, shared shopping lists, and quote requests for large or special orders.
Part number and interchange search →Stock they can trust
Availability by warehouse or branch, delivery and pickup cut-offs, and dropship availability from suppliers.
Your reps, inside the portal
Sales reps can place orders on a customer's behalf (masquerade), build quotes and see the same price the customer sees, so the portal supports your relationships instead of competing with them.
Fitment and product data underneath
Portals fail when product data is thin. We connect the portal to a PIM so fitment, attributes, images and interchange data are complete.
Automotive PIM →How we roll out a parts portal without disrupting your counter
Case study: Raney's Truck Parts
Raney's supplies aftermarket parts to the heavy-duty trucking industry. We built its B2B commerce on BigCommerce B2B Edition and Multi-Storefront, integrated with Pimberly PIM and NetSuite ERP:
- 800+ B2B customers and 2,000 locations supported
- 4-tier price lists across 100,000 SKUs
- Company accounts with credit limits and payment terms
- Digital quoting and sales-rep masquerade
- Quotes, orders and invoices synced with NetSuite
Also see: Automotive keys distributor: 30,000+ SKUs on BigCommerce
Which platform for a distributor portal?
- BigCommerce B2B Edition, for buyer portals, quotes, invoice portal, shopping lists and several storefronts. Our most common choice for distributors. BigCommerce for auto parts →
- Shopify Plus B2B, for distributors that also sell D2C and want one platform. Shopify for auto parts →
- Miva, for high-SKU catalogs with complex price groups. Miva for auto parts →
Compare them in the platform buyer's guide.
B2B Ecommerce for Auto Parts Distributors FAQs
Short answers to what buyers ask most. Each links to a deeper page where one exists.
What is a B2B auto parts portal?
It's a logged-in website where trade customers, such as repair shops, fleets, jobbers and dealers, order parts at their own negotiated prices, check stock, pay on account and see invoices. It replaces most phone and email orders with self-service.
How is B2B ecommerce for auto parts different from regular B2B ecommerce?
Parts buyers search by part number, interchange and vehicle rather than by category, and every part must match specific vehicles. Distributors also run several price tiers, multi-branch stock and core charges, which generic B2B builds don't handle out of the box.
Can each customer see their own price?
Yes. Customer-specific price lists and contract catalogs are assigned per company account and synced from your ERP, so each buyer sees only their price after login.
Will a portal replace our inside sales team?
No. It moves routine reorders and stock checks online, so inside sales can focus on complex orders and relationships. Reps can also order inside the portal on a customer's behalf.
Which ERPs can the portal connect to?
We've integrated NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Fishbowl, and Magnatron ERP with parts storefronts, and we connect others through APIs or iPaaS tools such as Celigo and iPaaS.com.
How long does it take to launch a B2B portal?
On BigCommerce B2B Edition, a launch on an existing storefront can take 1–3 months through our fixed-price accelerator. A full build with ERP integration and catalog migration usually takes longer. A phased rollout to a pilot group lowers the risk.
Do you support quotes and purchase orders?
Yes. Buyers can request quotes, reps can build them, and approved buyers can check out on account with a PO number, depending on the platform's B2B features.
Book a B2B Portal Teardown
In 30 minutes we'll walk through how a repair shop buys from you online today: search, price, stock and checkout. You'll get a written list of the fixes that would move the most orders online.