ChatGPT answers, unedited

For wholesalers that need customizable quote-to-order flows plus approval processes, the best hosted solution depends on whether you want a full B2B commerce platform, a lighter add-on, or a sales-operations workflow layer. Strong options:

My shortlist by scenario

1. Complex wholesale distribution (industrial, parts, manufacturing)

Consider:

• BigCommerce B2B Edition if you want a mature hosted platform with flexibility and less custom infrastructure. BigCommerce
• Axim Commerce if your differentiator is sales workflows: RFQs, negotiated pricing, approvals, and distributor operations. AXIM Commerce

2. Shopify-based wholesale business

Consider:

• Shopify + QuotWay if you need a structured RFQ → negotiation → approval → draft order flow without replacing Shopify. QuotWay supports quote versioning, negotiation, approvals, and conversion into Shopify draft orders. QuotWay QuotWay

3. Highly customized procurement processes

Consider:

• Adobe Commerce B2B or a composable B2B stack if you need unusual approval trees, ERP integrations, contract pricing logic, or custom buyer hierarchies. FactoryJet

Features I would require for a wholesaler

Before choosing, verify the platform supports:

• Customer-specific price lists and contract pricing
• RFQ/request-a-quote capture
• Quote version history and negotiation
• Sales rep approval before sending quotes
• Buyer-side approval chains (customer procurement workflows)
• Quote expiry and revision tracking
• Conversion of approved quotes into orders without re-keying
• ERP/accounting integration (especially for inventory, credit limits, and terms)

For most wholesalers, I’d start by evaluating BigCommerce B2B, Axim Commerce, and Shopify + a quote workflow app. The deciding factor is usually whether your quoting process is a core sales operation (favor Axim/Adobe-style workflows) or an extension of ecommerce (favor BigCommerce/Shopify). AXIM Commerce BigCommerce

If you share your approximate size (SKUs, number of sales reps, order volume, ERP like SAP/NetSuite/Dynamics, and whether buyers need their own approval chains), I can narrow this to 2–3 fits.

For a wholesaler, the best hosted solution depends on how complex your quoting and approvals are (simple RFQ vs. negotiated pricing, multi-level approvals, ERP integration, buyer-side approvals, etc.). The strongest options are:

My shortlist by scenario

1. Complex wholesale sales process (sales reps, negotiated pricing, approvals, ERP):
Look first at BigCommerce B2B, Avetti, or Axim Commerce. They are designed around B2B procurement rather than retail checkout. www.bigcommerce.com

2. You already run Shopify and want to add quoting:
Use Shopify B2B + QuotWay (or similar B2B quoting extensions). This keeps products, customers, and orders in Shopify while adding quote negotiation and approvals. www.quotway.com

3. You need buyer-side approvals (customer’s purchasing department must approve):
Prioritize platforms/apps that model both sides of approval. QuotWay, for example, supports routing quotes through merchant-side and buyer-organization approval chains. www.quotway.comwww.quotway.com

4. You need a highly customized wholesale portal:
Consider a platform with strong APIs and extensibility (BigCommerce, Avetti, or a custom layer on top of an ERP). www.avetticommerce.comwww.bigcommerce.com

Before choosing, I’d check these requirements specifically:

• Can a quote become an order without re-keying?
• Are negotiated prices locked after approval?
• Can approvals branch by margin, customer, order value, or product category?
• Does it support customer-specific catalogs and price lists?
• Does it integrate with your ERP/accounting system?
• Can sales reps quote on behalf of customers?

If you share your ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, QuickBooks, etc.), order volume, and whether customers or only internal staff need approvals, I can narrow this to 2–3 best fits.

For a wholesaler that needs customizable quote-to-order flows plus buyer approval processes, I’d put BigCommerce B2B Edition at the top of the shortlist.

Best fit: BigCommerce B2B Edition

bigcommerce.com is particularly well suited to distributors, manufacturers, and wholesalers because the B2B functionality is built into the hosted platform rather than being assembled primarily from apps.

It supports:

• Quote → negotiate → accept → order workflows, including customer-specific pricing, discounts, custom products, shipping arrangements, and quote expiration. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• Multi-user company accounts with roles, permissions, and account hierarchies—useful when a junior buyer creates an order but a senior buyer must approve it. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• Approval workflows and shared shopping lists, including approval of lists before they become orders. BigCommerce
• Customer-specific catalogs and pricing, including different price structures by customer/account. BigCommerce
• A Buyer Portal where customers can manage quotes, orders, invoices, and purchasing workflows. The portal can also be customized or replaced with a headless experience. BigCommerce BigCommerce
• APIs for customizing the quote, company-account, approval, and ordering logic rather than being locked into the standard storefront. BigCommerce

How I'd compare the main options

Shopify Plus B2B is a strong alternative if you're already in the Shopify ecosystem. Shopify now supports company-account requests, sales-rep permissions, and a "checkout to draft" flow where orders can be submitted for review before fulfillment. Shopify Shopify Help Center The tradeoff is that particularly sophisticated wholesale approval/quoting scenarios can push you toward apps and custom development; Shopify's app ecosystem has a large number of wholesale approval and quote-related extensions. Shopify App Store

My recommendation

If your workflow looks something like:

Buyer builds cart → requests quote → sales rep modifies pricing → buyer accepts → internal buyer approval → PO/net terms → order pushed to ERP

I'd choose BigCommerce B2B Edition first. Its native model of Company → users/roles → quotes → approvals → orders maps unusually well to that process, while still leaving you APIs and headless options for unusual business rules. BigCommerce BigCommerce

If you tell me your ERP (e.g. NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics), approximate order volume, and what exactly needs approval (quote, margin, PO amount, customer credit, etc.), I can narrow this down to 2–3 hosted platforms and compare the workflows and likely implementation complexity.

For a wholesaler that needs customizable quote-to-order flows plus buyer/manager approvals, I’d shortlist these:

My pick: BigCommerce B2B Edition

It hits a particularly good middle ground for wholesale. Its B2B functionality includes company hierarchies, customer-specific pricing, sales quotes, buyer roles, approval workflows, invoices, and a buyer portal. Its APIs also let you customize the quote experience rather than forcing buyers into a fixed workflow. www.bigcommerce.com

Its quote API can handle things wholesalers commonly need: negotiated line-item pricing, discounts, custom products, unusual shipping methods, expiration dates, and conversion to checkout/order. docs.bigcommerce.com

A typical flow could therefore be:

Buyer creates RFQ → sales rep modifies pricing → internal approval if discount exceeds threshold → quote sent → buyer accepts → converts to order → ERP fulfillment.

That's considerably closer to a wholesaler's actual sales process than a conventional ecommerce checkout.

When I'd choose OroCommerce instead

If your approval logic is really complex—for example:

Sales rep → regional manager → pricing manager → finance, with different routing based on customer, margin, discount, order value, or product category

—I would seriously consider OroCommerce. Its workflow engine explicitly supports quote flows with approvals, and it is designed around complex B2B organizational hierarchies and permissions. doc.oroinc.com

The tradeoff is implementation complexity: Oro is more of a B2B commerce platform you configure/implement than a lightweight SaaS storefront.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is attractive if you already live in the Shopify ecosystem. Its B2B functionality supports companies, locations, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, payment terms and draft orders. www.shopify.com

But for a quote-centric wholesale business, I'd rank it behind BigCommerce and Oro. Shopify's native model is more oriented around draft orders for rep-created quotes; sophisticated customer-driven RFQ and multi-stage approval processes generally require apps or custom development. www.shopify.com

Bottom line:

• Best overall for wholesalers: BigCommerce B2B Edition
• Best for complicated approval/quote logic: OroCommerce
• Best if Shopify ecosystem is strategically important: Shopify Plus
• Best for large enterprises with heavy customization/IT: Adobe Commerce

If you tell me how your current quote → approval → order process works (e.g., who creates quotes, who approves discounts, whether customers submit RFQs themselves, ERP/CRM involved), I can narrow this to the best 1–2 options and map the workflow each platform can support.

For a wholesaler where custom quote → internal approval → customer acceptance → order is central, I’d shortlist these:

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — my default choice

BigCommerce B2B is probably the strongest hosted fit.

It has native corporate accounts, sales-rep quoting, buyer permissions, approval workflows, purchase orders, net terms, and a dedicated Buyer Portal. Its quote functionality supports things like custom line pricing, discounts, custom products, special shipping methods, and expiration dates, then takes the quote through to checkout. docs.bigcommerce.com

The particularly useful part for your use case is that the hosted Buyer Portal itself can be customized, while BigCommerce also provides APIs if your workflow eventually becomes more sophisticated. docs.bigcommerce.com

Typical flow:

Buyer submits RFQ → Sales rep modifies pricing → Manager approval → Quote sent → Buyer accepts → Checkout/order

That makes it a good choice if you want to avoid building a custom quote engine.

2. OroCommerce — best if approvals are unusually complex

OroCommerce is worth serious consideration if you're talking about multiple approval layers, sales management, procurement, customer-specific rules, or complicated quoting.

Its quote workflow explicitly supports a “Backoffice Quote Flow with Approvals,” where a salesperson can be required to obtain approval from a manager or another authorized person before sending a modified quote to the buyer. doc.oroinc.com

I'd favor Oro if your requirements sound more like:

Sales rep → pricing approval → finance approval → operations approval → customer → order

rather than simply "customer submits a quote and sales approves it."

3. Shopify Plus — attractive if you're already in Shopify

Shopify Plus B2B has gotten substantially better for this use case. It supports company accounts, buyer roles, submitting orders for review, and workflow automation. www.shopify.com

Shopify Plus also allows rules that dynamically send B2B orders to draft/review—for example, based on order value, cart contents, or customer attributes. changelog.shopify.com

The tradeoff is that once your quote/approval logic becomes highly bespoke, you're more likely to end up using Shopify Flow + apps + custom development. BigCommerce tends to give you more of the B2B machinery natively. www.bigcommerce.com

My recommendation

If I were evaluating them for a wholesaler today:

BigCommerce B2B Edition → best balance of hosted + customizable + native B2B workflows.

OroCommerce → best if workflow/approval complexity is the primary requirement.

Shopify Plus → best if you're already heavily invested in Shopify or need its broader ecosystem.

If you tell me (1) how quotes originate, (2) who needs to approve them, (3) whether customers have multiple buyers/approvers, and (4) what ERP you use, I can narrow this to the best 1–2 options and map the exact quote-to-order workflow each can support.

For a wholesaler that needs customizable quote → approval → order workflows, I’d shortlist these:

My top pick: OroCommerce

If the workflow itself is the differentiator, OroCommerce is probably the strongest choice. Its B2B platform has dedicated RFQ/quote workflows, including a built-in approval flow where a salesperson can send a price-overridden quote to a manager for review, with approve/decline/return-for-revision steps before it reaches the buyer. doc.oroinc.com

It's particularly compelling if you need things like:

• Customer-specific pricing and negotiated discounts
• RFQs that become formal quotes
• Sales-rep involvement
• Manager/department approvals
• Different workflows by customer, product, value, or sales role
• Quote acceptance → order conversion
• Deep ERP/CRM integration

Oro also exposes workflows as a core part of the platform rather than treating approvals as an afterthought. doc.oroinc.com

Shopify Plus: best if you want a more mainstream hosted stack

Shopify Plus B2B is worth considering if you want a polished storefront and a large ecosystem.

Shopify now supports B2B orders being submitted as drafts for review, and Plus allows custom rules that can automatically route orders to review based on things such as order value, cart contents, or customer attributes. help.shopify.com

Its advantage is flexibility: Shopify Functions, APIs, Flow, and extensions let you build sophisticated custom quote/approval logic. Its disadvantage is that complex quote/RFQ processes generally require more custom development than OroCommerce.

Sana Commerce Cloud: best when ERP is central

Sana is particularly interesting for distributors already running an ERP-heavy operation. It supports quotes that can be converted into orders and explicitly supports businesses with multiple layers of approval and individualized business-process flows. support.sana-commerce.com

Pepperi: best for sales-rep-driven wholesale

Pepperi is strong when your wholesalers sell through reps as well as ecommerce. It supports configurable approval workflows, multiple buyer/account types, price lists, catalogs, and transaction types. www.pepperi.com

Bottom line:

• Most sophisticated quote/approval workflow: OroCommerce
• Best general-purpose hosted commerce platform: Shopify Plus
• Best ERP-centric wholesale: Sana Commerce Cloud
• Best sales-rep + wholesale operation: Pepperi

If you tell me your ERP (e.g. NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Epicor), approximate SKU/customer count, and whether quotes are created by customers or sales reps, I can narrow this to 1–2 platforms and compare the actual workflow architecture.

For a wholesaler/distributor where quoting, negotiation, and approvals are core to the sales process, I’d shortlist these hosted options:

My recommendation

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — best balance for most wholesalers.
It is hosted, relatively low-maintenance, and has native B2B capabilities around customer-specific pricing, quotes, accounts and ordering. Current comparisons specifically put it ahead of Shopify for native quote management. www.bigcommerce.com

2. Adobe Commerce Cloud — best if your approval logic is genuinely complex.
If you need things like rep creates quote → margin below threshold → manager approval → regional VP approval → customer accepts → convert to order, Adobe is particularly strong. Its B2B functionality includes negotiable quotes and purchase-order approval workflows. elogic.co

3. OroCommerce — worth serious consideration for sophisticated wholesale operations.
Oro is unusually workflow-oriented: its quote workflows can include approvals, and its platform supports multi-level approval chains, customer-specific pricing, negotiated quotes and conversion of accepted quotes into orders. doc.oroinc.com

4. Shopify Plus — choose it if operational simplicity and B2B + DTC matter more than native workflow depth.
Shopify's hosted infrastructure is attractive, but sophisticated quote/approval processes generally mean adding an app or custom solution. For example, Uncap Quotes adds negotiation, internal approval and one-click quote-to-order conversion within Shopify. www.uncap.com

The key distinction

If your workflow is mostly:

Customer requests price → salesperson creates quote → customer accepts → order

I'd choose BigCommerce B2B.

If it's:

RFQ → negotiated pricing → margin/discount rules → multiple internal approvals → customer approval → PO/credit validation → order → ERP

I'd lean Adobe Commerce Cloud or OroCommerce.

If you tell me (a) your ERP, (b) roughly how many SKUs/customers, (c) whether sales reps create the quotes, and (d) what approval rules you need, I can narrow this to 2–3 platforms and map the exact quote-to-order workflow for each.

For a wholesaler that needs a customizable quote → approval → order process, I’d shortlist these hosted platforms:

My first choice: BigCommerce B2B Edition

BigCommerce B2B is probably the best balance if you're a mid-market wholesaler/distributor.

It has native support for:

• Customer/company accounts and hierarchies
• Buyer roles and permissions
• Customer-specific catalogs and pricing
• Quote creation and management
• CPQ
• Quote-to-order conversion
• Buyer approval workflows
• Purchase orders and payment terms
• APIs and an open-source buyer portal for deeper customization

BigCommerce specifically positions B2B Edition for wholesalers, manufacturers, and distributors, and its newer CPQ functionality is designed around configurable quotes and quote-to-order processes. www.bigcommerce.com

The important caveat: if your approval logic is something like "orders over $10k go to the regional VP, orders containing product category X go to finance, and customers in credit status Y require CFO approval," I'd prototype that workflow before committing. BigCommerce's standard approval model is less flexible than OroCommerce's workflow engine.

If approvals are the hardest requirement: OroCommerce

OroCommerce is worth serious consideration.

Its workflow system supports configurable quote processes and approval steps—for example, a salesperson can modify pricing, route the quote to a manager, and only send it to the buyer after approval. doc.oroinc.com

I'd favor Oro if you have complex internal sales/procurement rules and are willing to accept a more involved implementation.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus B2B is attractive if you also have a substantial DTC business. It has company accounts, custom pricing, sales-rep permissions, and a "submit for review" / draft-order workflow. www.shopify.com

But for a quote-heavy wholesale business with elaborate approval chains, I wouldn't make Shopify my first choice unless its ecosystem/custom apps are a major advantage for you.

Bottom line:

• Best overall wholesale SaaS: BigCommerce B2B Edition
• Best for sophisticated approval/workflow logic: OroCommerce
• Best for enterprise complexity: Adobe Commerce
• Best if B2B + DTC are equally important: Shopify Plus
• Best if your sales operation already runs on Salesforce: Salesforce B2B Commerce + CPQ

If you tell me how your current quote/approval process works (e.g. customer RFQ → sales rep → manager approval → customer acceptance → PO), I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 options and map your exact workflow against each.

For a wholesaler where quotes are negotiated, need approval, and then become orders, I’d shortlist these:

My pick: Adobe Commerce

If the approval process is a core part of your business, rather than just an occasional exception, Adobe Commerce is probably the strongest hosted option. Its native B2B functionality includes RFQs/negotiable quotes, multi-level approval chains, company hierarchies, buyer-specific catalogs/pricing, requisition lists, and payment-on-account workflows. elogic.co

A typical flow can look like:

Buyer creates RFQ → sales rep adjusts pricing → margin/discount approval → customer accepts quote → quote converts to order → ERP fulfillment

That makes it particularly attractive if you have rules such as “discount >10% requires sales-manager approval; >20% requires finance approval.”

If you already use Salesforce: Salesforce B2B Commerce + CPQ

This is arguably better when quoting is heavily sales-team driven. Salesforce's CPQ supports conditional, multi-step approval chains, including different approvers for sales, finance, legal, etc. trailhead.salesforce.com

If you want simpler implementation: BigCommerce B2B Edition

A strong middle ground. It provides substantially more B2B functionality than a typical ecommerce stack without requiring the level of customization/implementation that Adobe often does. Current comparisons specifically rate it highly for mid-market B2B businesses. elogic.co

Shopify Plus: good, but I'd be cautious

Shopify Plus is excellent if you also have a significant DTC business and want one platform. Its draft-order infrastructure can support custom pricing, wholesale quotes, validation, and conversion to orders. shopify.dev

But if your differentiator is a deep, highly configurable approval engine, Shopify generally requires more customization/apps than Adobe or Salesforce. elogic.co

Bottom line:

• Most flexible wholesale workflow: Adobe Commerce
• Best sales/CPQ-centric: Salesforce
• Best balance of capability and simplicity: BigCommerce B2B
• Best wholesale + DTC: Shopify Plus
• Best B2B-native alternative: OroCommerce

If you tell me your ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, etc.), approximate SKU/customer count, and what your approval rules look like, I can narrow this to the 2–3 platforms I'd actually evaluate.

If you’re a wholesaler/distributor where quoting, negotiated pricing, and approvals are central to the sale, I’d shortlist these:

My pick: OroCommerce

For the specific requirement you described, OroCommerce is probably the strongest fit.

Its quote workflow is built around exactly this kind of process: a buyer requests a quote, sales modifies pricing, the quote can be routed to a manager for approval, the buyer can accept/negotiate, and the accepted quote becomes an order. Oro also supports configurable business workflows, account hierarchies, permissions, customer-specific pricing, and sales-rep processes. doc.oroinc.com

That's particularly valuable if you have rules like:

Sales rep creates quote → discount >10% → regional manager approval → finance approval if margin <X% → send to customer → customer accepts → order created.

Oro is designed for manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors with complex sales processes rather than primarily consumer ecommerce. doc.oroinc.comwww.gartner.com

If you want easier SaaS: BigCommerce

BigCommerce B2B Edition is the one I'd investigate next if you prioritize hosted/SaaS simplicity and faster implementation. BigCommerce specifically positions its B2B offering around wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors, including account pricing, buyer portals, quote workflows and approval controls. www.bigcommerce.com

The tradeoff is that its workflow/approval capabilities aren't as deep as Oro's for highly customized multi-stage processes; complex RFQ and approval scenarios may require additional customization/apps. www.rigbyjs.com

Where Shopify fits

Shopify Plus is excellent if you're already heavily invested in Shopify and need B2B alongside DTC. But I wouldn't make it my first choice if quote negotiation + internal approval routing is the core workflow. Current comparisons still identify native RFQ and multi-user approval workflows as gaps, meaning apps/custom development are often needed. www.uncap.com

Bottom line:

• Complex quotes + approval chains → OroCommerce
• Hosted SaaS + good wholesale functionality → BigCommerce B2B
• Enterprise/custom everything → Adobe Commerce
• DTC-first company adding moderate wholesale → Shopify Plus

If you tell me roughly your number of SKUs, ERP (e.g. NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics), whether customers negotiate prices, and what the approval chain looks like, I can narrow this to 2–3 platforms and compare the actual quote-to-order workflow end-to-end.

For wholesalers that need customizable quote-to-order flows plus approval processes, the best hosted solutions usually fall into a few categories depending on how complex your sales process is.

My shortlist by scenario

1. Traditional wholesaler/distributor (many SKUs, account pricing, repeat buyers)
→ BigCommerce B2B Edition is often the practical choice. It gives you hosted infrastructure while supporting account hierarchies, custom pricing, buyer roles, and quote workflows without building a platform from scratch. www.bigcommerce.comtradecentric.com

2. Complex negotiated sales (RFQs, engineered products, sales reps, multi-step approvals)
→ OroCommerce is a strong fit because quoting and approvals are core B2B concepts rather than add-ons. oroinc.comwww.bigcommerce.com

3. Enterprise sales organization with CRM-driven approvals
→ Salesforce B2B Commerce + CPQ makes sense if your sales team already lives in Salesforce and you need approval logic tied to accounts, opportunities, discounts, and contracts. tradecentric.com

4. You need a custom workflow engine more than a packaged storefront
→ Vendure is worth considering. It is more developer-oriented, but it is designed for companies that need custom approval entities, pricing rules, and B2B flows. vendure.iowww.bigcommerce.com

Features I would require for a wholesaler quote-to-order system

• Customer-specific price lists and contract pricing
• RFQ/request-a-quote capability
• Quote versioning and negotiation history
• Sales rep editing before customer acceptance
• Discount/margin approval thresholds
• Multi-level buyer approvals (buyer → manager → procurement)
• Quote acceptance converting directly into an order
• ERP integration (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Acumatica, etc.)
• Audit trails for pricing changes

If you are a wholesaler selling physical goods through reps + an online portal, I would generally start by evaluating BigCommerce B2B, OroCommerce, and Salesforce B2B Commerce/CPQ. If your approval logic is unusually complex, move toward OroCommerce or Vendure. www.bigcommerce.com

For a wholesaler that needs customizable quote-to-order flows plus approvals, I’d shortlist these:

My pick: OroCommerce

If approval logic is a core requirement, OroCommerce is particularly compelling. Its built-in back-office quote workflow can require a salesperson to obtain manager approval when pricing has been overridden, with approve/decline/return-for-refinement transitions before the quote goes to the customer. doc.oroinc.com

That makes it a good fit for wholesalers with rules such as:

Rep creates quote → discount exceeds threshold → manager approval → customer accepts → convert to order

It also has broader B2B/RFQ workflows rather than treating quoting as merely a form bolted onto ecommerce. doc.oroinc.com

Best hosted/easier-to-launch option: BigCommerce B2B Edition

BigCommerce B2B Edition is probably the option I'd investigate first if you want SaaS/hosted commerce without giving up much B2B functionality.

It supports company accounts, customer-specific pricing, buyer roles, quotes, and buyer approval processes. Its quote APIs can handle custom line pricing/discounts, custom products, special shipping, expiration dates, and taking an accepted quote through checkout. docs.bigcommerce.com

The hosted Buyer Portal is also customizable, including branding, feature toggles, account controls, and layout, without having to build the whole experience yourself. docs.bigcommerce.com

If your workflow is really complex

I'd look at OroCommerce vs. Adobe Commerce vs. Salesforce B2B Commerce/CPQ rather than Shopify.

A useful dividing line is:

• Straightforward wholesale quoting + customer-specific pricing + approvals: BigCommerce
• Highly configurable wholesale workflows and approval rules: OroCommerce
• Extremely customized commerce implementation: Adobe Commerce
• Quote-to-cash tied tightly to CRM/sales operations: Salesforce + CPQ

One interesting specialist option is Axim Commerce, which explicitly targets distributors and supports customized quotes, negotiation, approval history, and direct quote-to-order conversion. www.aximcommerce.com

If you tell me your approximate size (e.g. $10M vs. $100M+ revenue), ERP (SAP, NetSuite, Dynamics, etc.), and whether approvals are internal sales approvals or customer-side purchasing approvals, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 platforms.

For a wholesaler that needs customizable quote → approval → order workflows, I’d put BigCommerce B2B Edition at the top of the shortlist.

Best fits

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — best overall fit

• Native B2B company accounts, buyer roles, account hierarchies, custom pricing/catalogs, and purchase-order/credit workflows.
• Buyers can request quotes; sales reps can modify pricing, products, shipping, and terms, then turn the quote into checkout. docs.bigcommerce.comdoc.oroinc.comhelp.shopify.com
• Its buyer roles include junior buyers who submit purchases for approval and senior buyers who approve them; custom roles can support more specialized processes. docs.bigcommerce.com
• Particularly attractive for wholesalers/distributors because the buyer portal is customizable and the platform exposes APIs for more unusual quote-to-order flows. docs.bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce B2B Edition

2. OroCommerce — best when workflow complexity is the priority

• Strong choice if your approval process is highly customized rather than just "buyer submits → manager approves."
• Its quote workflow explicitly supports manager approval when a salesperson overrides pricing, with approve/decline/return-for-revision states. doc.oroinc.com
• I'd favor it for a distributor with complicated internal sales rules, pricing authority, or ERP-heavy processes.

3. Shopify Plus B2B — best if you're already in the Shopify ecosystem

• Shopify has B2B company accounts, sales-rep permissions, draft-order workflows, and a "submit for review → approve before fulfilling" flow. www.shopify.com
• Draft orders also support negotiated wholesale pricing and review of customer-submitted orders. help.shopify.com
• It's very good for a polished commerce experience, but I'd lean BigCommerce/OroCommerce if quote negotiation and multi-level approvals are the core requirement.

My recommendation

If your workflow looks roughly like:

Wholesale customer requests quote → salesperson adjusts pricing/terms → discount/margin threshold triggers manager approval → customer accepts → quote becomes order → ERP receives order

I'd choose BigCommerce B2B Edition first. It has the strongest balance of hosted infrastructure + native wholesale capabilities + customizable buyer experience + quote management + approval controls.

If you tell me your ERP (e.g. NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics), number of approval levels, and whether quotes are created by customers or sales reps, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 architectures.

For a wholesaler that needs customizable quote-to-order flows plus approval processes, I’d shortlist these:

My pick: OroCommerce

If workflow flexibility is the deciding factor, OroCommerce is probably the strongest match. It is built specifically around B2B organizations and has configurable RFQ/quote workflows, buyer permissions, organizational hierarchies, and approval processes. Its documentation explicitly supports a quote flow where a salesperson must obtain senior approval before sending a quote with modified pricing. doc.oroinc.com

The tradeoff is implementation complexity: you'll generally want an experienced implementation partner/development team rather than expecting a plug-and-play setup.

Best hosted/SaaS option: BigCommerce B2B Edition

If by hosted you mean you don't want to own infrastructure or manage a complex application stack, I'd look very closely at BigCommerce B2B Edition.

It provides company accounts, buyer roles/permissions, customer-specific pricing, quote management, buyer portals and approval workflows, while exposing APIs for deeper customization. Its quote APIs can handle custom line pricing, discounts, custom products, special shipping and quote expiration, and quotes can be taken through to checkout. www.bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce B2B Edition

So I'd choose:

• BigCommerce B2B → best balance of hosted/SaaS + customization + wholesale functionality.
• OroCommerce → best if approval logic and quote workflows are really complex.
• Adobe Commerce → best if you need extremely deep customization and have substantial technical resources.
• Salesforce B2B Commerce → best when Salesforce CRM/CPQ is already the center of your sales operation.

If you tell me your flow—for example “sales rep creates quote → manager approves discount → customer accepts → PO required → finance approves → ERP order”—I can map that exact workflow against these platforms and tell you which one requires the least custom development.