ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d put Adobe Commerce and BigCommerce B2B at the top of the shortlist, with Shopify Plus worth considering if simplicity/managed infrastructure matters more than deep catalog complexity.

How I’d compare them

Adobe is particularly compelling for your specific requirement. Its native Quick Order lets buyers enter SKUs or product names, enter multiple SKUs at once, or upload a CSV containing SKUs and quantities. Experience League Experience League It also has shared catalogs for customer-specific pricing, company accounts, quotes, and requisition lists—features that map well to distributor workflows. Experience League Experience League

One particularly useful newer capability is Grid Ordering: buyers can see product variants together and enter quantities across multiple variants without visiting individual product pages. Experience League

My practical recommendation

If your business looks like:

• 50k–500k+ SKUs
• lots of variants/attributes
• different price lists by customer/account
• customers routinely ordering 20–500 SKUs at a time
• ERP/inventory integration
• customer-specific catalogs
• sales reps and self-service buyers using the same system

…I would investigate Adobe Commerce first, then BigCommerce B2B.

The important distinction isn't simply "which platform handles the most SKUs." I'd evaluate how fast a buyer can go from a spreadsheet/SKU list → validated quantities → cart → checkout, because that is where distributor ecommerce often succeeds or fails.

For Adobe specifically, the current Quick Order implementation supports SKU search, multiple-SKU entry and CSV upload; the current storefront documentation specifies CSV uploads with SKU and quantity columns. Experience League

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (e.g. 25k, 250k, 1M), what ERP you use (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, custom, etc.), and whether customers have customer-specific pricing, I can narrow this down to 2–3 architectures and explain the trade-offs.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog, I’d focus less on generic ecommerce features and more on catalog performance, customer-specific pricing, SKU search, bulk ordering, reorders, and ERP integration.

The main platforms to evaluate

Adobe Commerce has the most distributor-oriented native workflow of the three. Its B2B Quick Order lets buyers enter SKUs individually or in bulk and upload a CSV containing SKUs and quantities. It also has requisition lists, shared catalogs, company accounts, negotiated quotes and customer-specific pricing. Experience League Experience League Experience League

BigCommerce B2B is particularly interesting if you want SaaS rather than operating a heavily customized Commerce installation. Its B2B offering includes company/account management, credit and payment terms, shopping lists, bulk ordering, CSV uploads, reordering, quotes and multi-user purchasing workflows. BigCommerce BigCommerce BigCommerce

Shopify Plus has become considerably more capable for B2B. Shopify now offers B2B functionality across its plans, while Plus adds unlimited B2B catalogs and direct catalog assignment to individual companies/company locations. Its B2B functionality includes quick-order lists, quantity rules, volume pricing, net terms and easy reorders. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

For your particular use case

If by "quick order form" you mean something like:

Customer logs in → pastes 50–500 SKUs → enters quantities → sees their contract pricing → Add All to Cart

I'd put Adobe Commerce and BigCommerce B2B at the top of the evaluation.

Adobe is especially compelling if your buyers routinely work from SKU spreadsheets: its native Quick Order supports multiple SKUs and CSV upload, while its newer storefront components support SKU/name search, CSV upload, bulk validation and grid ordering. Experience League Experience League

If instead you mean:

Buyer browses a huge catalog → finds products quickly → adds quantities in a dense order-entry grid → frequently reorders the same assortment

then BigCommerce B2B and Adobe Commerce are both worth serious consideration.

One thing I'd test before choosing

Don't let a vendor demo a 500-product catalog and call it "large catalog support." Give each vendor a realistic test dataset—e.g. 100k+ SKUs, variants, multiple customer price lists, inventory by warehouse, and your actual SKU format—and test:

• SKU search/autocomplete speed
• 100–1,000 line quick orders
• CSV import
• customer-specific pricing
• minimum order quantities / case packs
• discontinued/out-of-stock SKU handling
• saved/requisition lists
• repeat orders
• ERP inventory and pricing synchronization
• search/filter performance
• catalog indexing/update times

For a distributor, the ERP/PIM integration and order-entry UX can matter more than the storefront itself.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (10k / 100k / 1M+), what ERP you use (e.g. NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics), and whether you also sell DTC, I can narrow this to the 2–3 architectures I'd seriously consider.

Shopify Plus has become considerably more capable for B2B. Shopify now offers B2B functionality across its plans, while Plus adds unlimited B2B catalogs and direct catalog assignment to individual companies/company locations. Its B2B functionality includes quick-order lists, quantity rules, volume pricing, net terms and easy reorders. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

For your particular use case

If by "quick order form" you mean something like:

Customer logs in → pastes 50–500 SKUs → enters quantities → sees their contract pricing → Add All to Cart

I'd put Adobe Commerce and BigCommerce B2B at the top of the evaluation.

Adobe is especially compelling if your buyers routinely work from SKU spreadsheets: its native Quick Order supports multiple SKUs and CSV upload, while its newer storefront components support SKU/name search, CSV upload, bulk validation and grid ordering. Experience League Experience League

If instead you mean:

Buyer browses a huge catalog → finds products quickly → adds quantities in a dense order-entry grid → frequently reorders the same assortment

then BigCommerce B2B and Adobe Commerce are both worth serious consideration.

One thing I'd test before choosing

Don't let a vendor demo a 500-product catalog and call it "large catalog support." Give each vendor a realistic test dataset—e.g. 100k+ SKUs, variants, multiple customer price lists, inventory by warehouse, and your actual SKU format—and test:

• SKU search/autocomplete speed
• 100–1,000 line quick orders
• CSV import
• customer-specific pricing
• minimum order quantities / case packs
• discontinued/out-of-stock SKU handling
• saved/requisition lists
• repeat orders
• ERP inventory and pricing synchronization
• search/filter performance
• catalog indexing/update times

For a distributor, the ERP/PIM integration and order-entry UX can matter more than the storefront itself.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (10k / 100k / 1M+), what ERP you use (e.g. NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics), and whether you also sell DTC, I can narrow this to the 2–3 architectures I'd seriously consider.

For a distributor with many SKUs, complex pricing, repeat buyers, and buyers who want to place large orders quickly, you should generally look at B2B-first platforms, not a standard ecommerce stack. The best fit depends on how complex your catalog and operations are. Razoyo Shopify

Here are the platforms I’d shortlist:

Razoyo Shopify## My likely ranking for a distributor

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — best overall for many distributors

I would start here for many SKU-heavy distributors because it combines:

• Customer-specific price lists
• Company accounts and buyer permissions
• Bulk ordering
• Reorder lists
• Purchase orders / payment terms
• ERP integrations
• SaaS hosting (less infrastructure management)

Its B2B tools specifically target manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors. BigCommerce

2. Adobe Commerce — if your catalog logic is complicated

Choose this if you have things like:

• Hundreds of thousands of SKUs
• Multiple warehouses
• Complex customer contracts
• Regional catalogs
• Advanced promotions
• Custom product configurators
• Deep ERP/PIM requirements

Adobe is powerful, but it typically requires more technical ownership. Shopify BigCommerce

3. OroCommerce — if you operate more like a traditional distributor

Oro is built around B2B workflows:

• Multiple buyer roles
• Sales rep involvement
• Account-level pricing
• Quotes/RFQs
• Complex organizations

It is often considered when the ecommerce site is replacing sales-rep ordering workflows rather than simply adding online checkout. Razoyo

Features I would consider mandatory for your use case

For a distributor, I would not choose a platform unless it supports:

• Quick order by SKU

• Paste a list of SKUs + quantities
• CSV upload
• Barcode-based ordering if relevant
• Fast repeat purchasing

• "Buy again"
• Saved carts
• Customer-specific order templates
• B2B account controls

• Multiple buyers per company
• Approval workflows
• Buyer permissions
• Catalog complexity

• Customer-specific catalogs
• Tier pricing
• Contract pricing
• Product availability rules
• Back-office integration

• ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Epicor, Dynamics, Acumatica, etc.)
• Inventory sync
• Pricing sync
• Order export

Shopify BigCommerceA few questions would narrow this down significantly:

1. Roughly how many SKUs do you have (5k, 50k, 500k+)?
2. Do customers have different negotiated prices by account?
3. What ERP are you running?
4. Are buyers mostly reordering known SKUs, or browsing/discovering products?

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who want to order quickly, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus.

My ranking

1. BigCommerce B2B — my first choice

BigCommerce is particularly well suited to distribution. Its B2B platform explicitly targets manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers, supports extensive catalogs with thousands of products/SKUs/variants, customer-specific catalogs and pricing, buyer portals, sales-rep ordering, quoting, and company hierarchies. BigCommerce BigCommerce

The important part for you is the ordering workflow. You can build a buyer experience around SKU search, bulk entry, reorder lists and customer-specific pricing rather than making buyers navigate product-by-product.

bigcommerce.com

I'd choose this if: you're primarily B2B, have tens of thousands of SKUs, and want buyers to type/paste SKU + quantity and get an order together rapidly.

2. Adobe Commerce — strongest for really complicated B2B

Adobe Commerce is the heavier-duty option. It has deep B2B functionality around company hierarchies, shared catalogs, quotes, approval workflows, credit/payment terms and requisition lists. Its requisition-list functionality supports batch operations and moving lists into carts. Experience League Elogic Commerce

I'd choose this if: your distributor has complicated pricing rules, multiple levels of purchasing approval, sophisticated account structures, RFQs/negotiated quotes, or a lot of custom ERP/PIM logic.

The tradeoff is implementation and ongoing technical complexity.

3. Shopify Plus — easiest modern experience

Shopify Plus has become much more capable for B2B. Its current B2B functionality includes company profiles, customer-specific catalogs, payment terms, PO numbers, reordering and quick bulk ordering through an order form. Shopify

There are also apps specifically designed for distributor-style SKU ordering—for example, quick-order interfaces where buyers can search SKUs, paste multiple SKU/quantity lines and build a large cart without opening individual product pages. Shopify App Store

I'd choose this if: you want the simplest admin experience and fastest implementation, and your B2B requirements aren't unusually complex.

The key question I'd use to decide

If your buyer's typical workflow is something like:

"I need 14 cases of SKU 10482, 6 of SKU 10483, 20 of SKU 10921... I'll paste my list and submit."

then BigCommerce B2B would be my starting point.

If it's more like:

"Each customer has a different contract price, multiple buyers/approvers, credit limits, negotiated quotes, complicated account hierarchies, and ERP-driven rules."

then I'd investigate Adobe Commerce.

If it's:

"We want B2B ordering but also a polished DTC storefront, and our team doesn't want to maintain a huge commerce stack."

then Shopify Plus is very compelling.

One thing I'd strongly recommend: don't evaluate these platforms based merely on their ability to hold a large number of SKUs. For a distributor, the critical test is whether a buyer can go from SKU list → quantities → customer-specific pricing → inventory → checkout in under a couple of minutes. That's where the platforms differ much more.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs, the right platform is usually less about “can it host products?” and more about whether it can handle:

• large catalogs and complex attributes
• customer-specific pricing
• contract/volume pricing
• ERP inventory sync
• SKU-based ordering (“enter 25 SKUs and quantities”)
• saved order templates and reordering
• buyer accounts with permissions
• quotes, purchase orders, and payment terms

The strongest candidates are usually: SoftwareXP Shopify

My typical shortlist for a distributor

If you have:

• 10,000–250,000 SKUs
• an ERP like NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Epicor, Infor, etc.
• buyers who reorder the same items frequently

I would usually start with:

1. BigCommerce B2B — best overall balance for many distributors. BigCommerce
2. Adobe Commerce — if pricing/catalog rules are unusually complicated. Imaginaire
3. OroCommerce — if your business is primarily wholesale/B2B rather than consumer retail. SoftwareXP

Features I would require in your case

A distributor-focused storefront should have:

• Quick order pad: paste/upload SKU lists and quantities
• CSV order upload
• Saved carts / order templates
• “Buy again” from previous orders
• Customer-specific catalogs
• Tiered pricing by account
• Real-time inventory availability
• ERP integration
• Sales rep ordering tools
• Punchout/EDI support if large customers require procurement integration

One important question changes the recommendation a lot:

How many SKUs are we talking about (10k, 100k, 1M+), and what ERP/inventory system do you run? Also, are most buyers reordering known SKUs or searching/browsing the catalog?

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog, I’d narrow the field to Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce B2B, and Shopify Plus. The best choice depends heavily on how complex your customer-specific pricing and ordering workflows are.

My shortlist

1. Adobe Commerce — my pick for a complex distributor

Adobe Commerce has unusually strong native B2B ordering functionality. Its Quick Order lets buyers enter SKUs/product names, enter multiple SKUs, and import orders into the quick-order form. Experience League Experience League

It also has requisition lists, which are excellent for distributors: customers can maintain recurring product lists and add many items to a cart at once. Experience League Experience League

For the catalog/pricing side, Adobe Commerce supports shared catalogs, company-specific pricing, quotes, company accounts, and B2B payment/shipping workflows. Experience League Experience League

I'd favor it if you have:

• Tens or hundreds of thousands of SKUs
• Lots of customer-specific price lists
• Complex product attributes/variants
• Multiple warehouses or websites
• Sales reps plus self-service buyers
• ERP/PIM integrations
• Buyers who routinely order by SKU rather than browse

The tradeoff is implementation complexity and ongoing technical overhead.

experienceleague.adobe.com

2. BigCommerce B2B — probably the best SaaS alternative

I'd look very seriously at BigCommerce B2B Edition if you want strong B2B functionality without taking on as much platform infrastructure as Adobe Commerce.

It's particularly attractive for a distributor because the architecture is geared toward large catalogs, multiple storefronts, integrations and B2B workflows.

3. Shopify Plus — best if you also have substantial DTC

Shopify has substantially expanded its native B2B capabilities. B2B now includes companies, company locations, catalogs, volume pricing, quantity rules, payment terms and self-service ordering. Shopify Help Center Shopify

On Shopify Plus, you get unlimited B2B catalogs and can assign catalogs directly to individual companies/company locations. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

It also has quick order lists, allowing B2B customers to add multiple product variants to their cart from a single interface. Shopify Help Center

I'd choose Shopify Plus when ease of administration and a unified B2B + consumer storefront matter more than having the deepest possible distributor-specific functionality.

help.shopify.com

What I'd choose for your use case

If you tell me “we're a distributor, have 100k+ SKUs, customers know the SKUs they want, and they need to paste/upload a list of 20–500 SKUs and quantities”, my ranking would be:

1. Adobe Commerce — strongest fit for sophisticated distributor workflows
2. BigCommerce B2B — strongest SaaS-oriented alternative
3. Shopify Plus — best if DTC/ease of use is equally important

One important distinction: don't evaluate platforms based merely on whether they support a large number of products. For a distributor, I'd specifically test SKU lookup speed, bulk SKU entry/CSV upload, customer-specific catalogs, price lists, UOMs/case packs, inventory by warehouse, contract pricing, reordering, PO workflows, and ERP integration. Those are much more consequential than the nominal SKU limit.

If you give me roughly SKU count, number of B2B customers, ERP (e.g. SAP/NetSuite/Dynamics), and whether you need DTC, I can make a much more concrete Adobe vs BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus recommendation.

For a distributor with a large SKU count and B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus.

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — my first look

This is probably where I'd start for your use case. Its B2B functionality includes a Quick Order Pad, where buyers can enter SKUs or upload orders in bulk, plus shopping lists, quotes, preset pricing and a mobile buyer portal. BigCommerce

That maps particularly well to distributors where customers might say:

SKU 10482 — 24
SKU 88291 — 12
SKU 77104 — 6

rather than browsing hundreds or thousands of product pages.

bigcommerce.com

2. Adobe Commerce — strongest for very complex catalogs

If your catalog and pricing logic are really complicated, Adobe Commerce is worth serious consideration. Its native B2B Quick Order supports SKU/name lookup, multiple SKU entry, and CSV upload, while Shared Catalogs let you maintain customer/company-specific products and pricing. Experience League Experience League

It also has requisition lists, quotes, company accounts and purchase-order workflows. Experience League

The downside is implementation/maintenance complexity: I'd choose it when your business requirements justify an enterprise-grade, highly customizable platform rather than simply because you have lots of SKUs.

business.adobe.com

3. Shopify Plus — excellent if you also have DTC

Shopify has substantially expanded its native B2B capabilities. Plus provides unlimited B2B catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies/locations, volume pricing, quantity rules and B2B quick-order lists. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

Shopify also explicitly says Plus can support over one million products and variants, so a large catalog isn't inherently a reason to rule it out. Shopify

I'd favor it if you're thinking:

one platform for distributor B2B + consumer/DTC + strong ecosystem + relatively easy administration.

shopify.com

My recommendation

For a pure distributor/B2B business, I'd rank them:

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — best starting point
2. Adobe Commerce — best for extremely complex B2B requirements
3. Shopify Plus — best if B2B and DTC need to coexist

One important distinction: SKU count isn't actually the thing I'd use to select the platform. I'd evaluate your number of SKUs × number of customer-specific price lists × ERP integration × order-line volume × product variants.

If you tell me roughly (a) number of SKUs, (b) number of B2B customers, (c) whether every customer has different pricing, and (d) what ERP you use, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 platforms and explain why.

SKU 10482 — 24
SKU 88291 — 12
SKU 77104 — 6

rather than browsing hundreds or thousands of product pages.

bigcommerce.com

2. Adobe Commerce — strongest for very complex catalogs

If your catalog and pricing logic are really complicated, Adobe Commerce is worth serious consideration. Its native B2B Quick Order supports SKU/name lookup, multiple SKU entry, and CSV upload, while Shared Catalogs let you maintain customer/company-specific products and pricing. Experience League Experience League

It also has requisition lists, quotes, company accounts and purchase-order workflows. Experience League

The downside is implementation/maintenance complexity: I'd choose it when your business requirements justify an enterprise-grade, highly customizable platform rather than simply because you have lots of SKUs.

business.adobe.com

3. Shopify Plus — excellent if you also have DTC

Shopify has substantially expanded its native B2B capabilities. Plus provides unlimited B2B catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies/locations, volume pricing, quantity rules and B2B quick-order lists. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

Shopify also explicitly says Plus can support over one million products and variants, so a large catalog isn't inherently a reason to rule it out. shopify.com

I'd favor it if you're thinking:

one platform for distributor B2B + consumer/DTC + strong ecosystem + relatively easy administration.

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d put Adobe Commerce and Shopify Plus at the top of the shortlist.

My ranking

*Shopify's native quick-order experience is good, but for a true SKU/qty grid, CSV upload, or sophisticated order form, you may want an app/customization.

1. Adobe Commerce — my first choice for a complex distributor

This is particularly compelling if you have tens or hundreds of thousands of SKUs, multiple price lists, customer-specific catalogs, complex account structures, or ERP integration.

Its B2B functionality has a native Quick Order feature where buyers can enter SKUs/product names, enter multiple SKUs, or upload a CSV. Experience League Experience League

It also supports shared catalogs with customer-specific pricing, company accounts, purchase orders, quotes, payment/shipping workflows, and requisition lists. Experience League Experience League

That combination is very well suited to a distributor where buyers might do something like:

SKU 18472 — 50
SKU 29103 — 24
SKU 77192 — 100
SKU 88201 — 12

…and submit the whole order without navigating hundreds of category pages.

I'd choose Adobe Commerce if your catalog and pricing logic are genuinely complex.

2. Shopify Plus — best if you prioritize simplicity and speed

Shopify has substantially expanded its native B2B capabilities. B2B is now available across Shopify plans, while Plus adds things particularly useful for larger wholesale operations, including unlimited B2B catalogs and direct catalog assignment to individual companies/company locations. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

Shopify also has native quick bulk ordering, including product/variant lists and order-form-style purchasing. Shopify

The catch for your particular use case is that I'd investigate the order-entry UX carefully. Shopify's ecosystem has apps that provide searchable SKU tables, variant grids, and CSV bulk ordering, including apps specifically designed around B2B wholesale. Shopify App Store

So Shopify Plus can absolutely work, but you may end up with:

Shopify Plus + B2B + quick-order app + ERP/PIM integration

rather than everything being native.

3. BigCommerce B2B

I'd also evaluate BigCommerce, particularly if you want a SaaS platform but don't want to go as deeply into Shopify's ecosystem.

For a distributor, though, I wouldn't choose based simply on "which platform has the biggest catalog limit." The important question is whether the platform can efficiently handle your SKU model, customer-specific pricing, inventory sources, product data, search, and bulk ordering.

What I'd recommend for a distributor

If you tell me you have something like:

• 100k+ SKUs
• thousands of B2B accounts
• customer-specific price lists
• ERP inventory/pricing integration
• buyers who order by SKU
• CSV/Excel order uploads
• repeat orders
• multiple warehouses
• sales reps placing orders for customers

I'd lean Adobe Commerce.

If you have:

• large catalog
• relatively straightforward pricing
• fewer unusual B2B rules
• desire for a faster/easier implementation
• strong preference for SaaS
• DTC + B2B on the same platform

I'd lean Shopify Plus.

The quick-order requirement actually pushes me toward Adobe Commerce for a distributor: its native B2B Quick Order specifically supports SKU entry and CSV/multiple-SKU ordering rather than treating bulk ordering as an afterthought. Experience League Experience League

If you give me your approximate SKU count, number of B2B customers, ERP (e.g. NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics), and whether you need customer-specific pricing, I can narrow this down to Adobe Commerce vs Shopify Plus vs BigCommerce and tell you which architecture I'd use.

That combination is very well suited to a distributor where buyers might do something like:

SKU 18472 — 50
SKU 29103 — 24
SKU 77192 — 100
SKU 88201 — 12

…and submit the whole order without navigating hundreds of category pages.

I'd choose Adobe Commerce if your catalog and pricing logic are genuinely complex.

2. Shopify Plus — best if you prioritize simplicity and speed

Shopify has substantially expanded its native B2B capabilities. B2B is now available across Shopify plans, while Plus adds things particularly useful for larger wholesale operations, including unlimited B2B catalogs and direct catalog assignment to individual companies/company locations. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

Shopify also has native quick bulk ordering, including product/variant lists and order-form-style purchasing. Shopify

The catch for your particular use case is that I'd investigate the order-entry UX carefully. Shopify's ecosystem has apps that provide searchable SKU tables, variant grids, and CSV bulk ordering, including apps specifically designed around B2B wholesale. apps.shopify.com

So Shopify Plus can absolutely work, but you may end up with:

Shopify Plus + B2B + quick-order app + ERP/PIM integration

rather than everything being native.

3. BigCommerce B2B

I'd also evaluate BigCommerce, particularly if you want a SaaS platform but don't want to go as deeply into Shopify's ecosystem.

For a distributor with a large SKU count, I’d narrow the field to BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. The deciding factor is how complex your catalog/pricing rules are and how much you want to customize.

My first choice: BigCommerce B2B

bigcommerce.com is particularly compelling for a distributor because its B2B Edition has a Quick Order Pad where buyers can enter SKUs and upload orders in bulk. It also supports buyer portals, shopping lists, quotes, customer-specific pricing and headless/API-based implementations. BigCommerce

That's very close to the workflow I'd want for a distributor:

Customer logs in → searches/enters SKUs → quantities → submits 50–500 line items → gets their negotiated pricing → checkout.

Adobe Commerce is the heavyweight option

business.adobe.com is worth serious consideration if you have tens or hundreds of thousands of SKUs, complicated product relationships, multiple customer price lists, multiple websites, or substantial ERP/PIM integration requirements.

Its B2B functionality includes shared catalogs, company accounts, quotes, requisition lists and Quick Order by SKU/product name. Its newer storefront tooling also supports multiple-SKU entry and CSV upload. Experience League Experience League

The tradeoff is implementation complexity: it's much more of an enterprise commerce project than a turnkey SaaS deployment.

Shopify Plus is the easiest modern option

shopify.com has become considerably more attractive for B2B. Plus provides unlimited B2B catalogs and lets you assign catalogs directly to companies and locations, which is useful for distributor-specific pricing. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

Its native B2B functionality includes quick-order lists, but if by "quick order form" you mean a giant searchable SKU/quantity grid or CSV upload, you'll likely want an app or custom storefront. Shopify's ecosystem has apps specifically providing searchable product tables, variant grids and CSV bulk ordering. Shopify App Store

What I'd choose

If you're primarily a distributor: BigCommerce B2B Edition would be my starting point.

If your catalog/pricing architecture is extremely complicated: Adobe Commerce.

If you want the fastest/easiest path to a polished ecommerce experience and your B2B requirements aren't exceptionally complicated: Shopify Plus.

One important caveat: SKU count alone shouldn't determine the platform. A 300,000-SKU distributor with relatively simple products can be easier than a 30,000-SKU distributor with 200 customer-specific price lists, pack sizes, substitutions, minimum-order quantities, branch-level inventory, and ERP-driven availability.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, what ERP you're on (e.g. NetSuite, Epicor, SAP, Dynamics, Infor), and whether customers need customer-specific pricing, I can give you a much more specific BigCommerce vs. Adobe vs. Shopify recommendation.

For a distributor with a large SKU count, I’d narrow the field to Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce B2B, and Shopify Plus. The right choice depends heavily on how complicated your pricing, customer accounts, and ERP integration are.

My first choice: Adobe Commerce

If your buyers commonly say things like “SKU 18472, 12 cases; SKU 93821, 4 cases”, Adobe Commerce is particularly strong.

Its native B2B Quick Order lets customers:

• Enter SKUs directly
• Enter multiple SKUs at once
• Upload a CSV containing SKUs and quantities
• Search by SKU or product name
• Maintain requisition lists for repeat purchases

That's unusually well aligned with distributor purchasing behavior. Experience League Experience League

It also has shared catalogs, customer-specific pricing, company accounts, quotes, payment/shipping rules, and requisition lists, which become important when you're selling the same 20,000+ SKUs to hundreds or thousands of accounts with different pricing. Experience League Experience League

Downside: it's a heavier implementation. You generally want a capable development/integration team, particularly if your ERP, inventory, pricing, and customer hierarchy are complicated.

BigCommerce B2B

I'd put BigCommerce B2B Edition very close to Adobe if you want a more SaaS-oriented platform and don't want as much infrastructure/maintenance.

It's especially attractive if you need:

• Company accounts and multiple buyers
• Customer-specific catalogs/pricing
• Purchase orders and credit limits
• ERP integration
• Large product catalogs
• A relatively straightforward SaaS operating model

Shopify Plus

Shopify has become much more credible for B2B. Its current B2B functionality includes company accounts, catalogs, customer-specific pricing, quantity rules, volume pricing and payment terms. Plus removes the three-catalog limitation and allows catalogs to be assigned directly to companies/locations. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

The catch for your particular use case is quick ordering. Shopify's native B2B experience isn't as distributor-oriented as Adobe's dedicated SKU/CSV Quick Order. There are apps that add searchable order tables, variant grids and CSV ordering, but that means another dependency. Shopify App Store

What I'd choose

If you told me:

“We're a distributor, have 50,000 SKUs, customers know our part numbers, pricing varies by account, and buyers want to paste/upload an order instead of browsing.”

I'd shortlist:

1. Adobe Commerce — best functional fit
2. BigCommerce B2B — best SaaS alternative
3. Shopify Plus — best if ease of operation/DTC is equally important

One important distinction: SKU count itself isn't the thing I'd use to choose the platform. I'd focus more on SKU × customer-specific pricing × inventory locations × variants × ERP synchronization × order-entry workflow. That's where distributor implementations get difficult.

If you give me roughly (1) number of SKUs, (2) number of B2B customers, (3) ERP you use, and (4) whether you also sell DTC, I can give you a much more specific platform recommendation and architecture.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs and repeat B2B buyers, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Shopify Plus, and Adobe Commerce. The key distinction is how much B2B complexity you have versus how important speed/simplicity is.

1. BigCommerce B2B — my first choice

bigcommerce.com

This is probably where I'd start for a traditional distributor. BigCommerce specifically targets wholesalers/manufacturers and supports thousands of products, SKUs and variants, while B2B Edition includes buyer portals, company accounts, account-specific pricing, purchase orders, payment terms, bulk ordering and approval workflows. BigCommerce BigCommerce

The important part for your use case: buyers can order on behalf of their company, use shopping lists, and place bulk orders, rather than navigating through individual product pages. BigCommerce

2. Shopify Plus — excellent if ease of use matters

shopify.com

Shopify has become a very serious B2B option. Its native B2B functionality includes customer-specific catalogs, pricing, quantity rules, volume pricing, company accounts, payment terms, PO numbers, reordering, and a dedicated quick bulk-ordering experience. Shopify Shopify

The catch is that if your distributor workflows get unusually complicated, you may end up adding apps/custom development where BigCommerce or Adobe has functionality closer to the core platform.

3. Adobe Commerce — if your operation is really complex

experienceleague.adobe.com

Adobe Commerce is particularly compelling if you have very complex customer-specific catalogs, pricing rules, account hierarchies, quoting, approvals, or ERP-driven processes. Its native Quick Order functionality lets buyers enter multiple SKUs manually or import them into a quick-order form. Experience League

I'd choose it when the business complexity justifies the additional implementation and maintenance burden.

What I'd choose for a distributor

If you're primarily selling thousands of SKUs to repeat wholesale customers:

BigCommerce B2B → strongest default choice.

If you also have a consumer/DTC business and want one elegant platform:
Shopify Plus → probably the better choice.

If you have highly customized pricing/catalog/approval/ERP requirements:
Adobe Commerce → worth the extra complexity.

One particularly important question is how buyers currently place orders. If they're sending you Excel/CSV files, emailing SKU lists, or calling sales reps with something like "give me 12 of A123, 6 of B442, 24 of C991...", I'd prioritize a platform's SKU-grid/quick-order experience and CSV import over its normal storefront experience. BigCommerce and Adobe are especially strong candidates there; Shopify can do it natively and through apps as well. Experience League Shopify App Store

If you tell me roughly (1) number of SKUs, (2) number of B2B customers, (3) your ERP—NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, etc.—and (4) whether you also sell DTC, I can narrow this to the best 1–2 platforms for your distributor and explain the likely architecture.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs and repeat B2B buyers, I’d shortlist Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, and Shopify Plus. The best choice depends heavily on how complex your catalog/pricing and ERP integration are.

1. Adobe Commerce — my pick for a complex distributor

Adobe Commerce is particularly strong if you have tens/hundreds of thousands of SKUs, customer-specific catalogs, complicated pricing, sales reps, multiple buyer roles, or deep ERP requirements.

Its native B2B functionality includes shared catalogs, customer-specific pricing, company accounts, quotes, requisition lists, and Quick Order. The Quick Order feature lets buyers enter multiple SKUs, paste a list, or upload a CSV containing SKUs and quantities. Experience League Experience League Experience League

experienceleague.adobe.com

I'd choose it if: your catalog and pricing logic are genuinely complicated and ecommerce is becoming a core ordering system rather than simply a website.

2. BigCommerce — probably the best SaaS option

BigCommerce is worth serious consideration for distributors because it has strong B2B functionality without the infrastructure/maintenance burden of Adobe Commerce.

It supports company accounts, customer-specific experiences, buyer roles, purchase orders, credit/net terms, and sales-rep ordering on behalf of customers. BigCommerce

bigcommerce.com

I'd choose it if: you want substantial B2B capabilities but would rather have a SaaS platform and keep the implementation relatively manageable.

3. Shopify Plus — best UX, especially if you also sell DTC

Shopify Plus has become much more capable for B2B. Its B2B offering includes company/location accounts, customer-specific catalogs, quantity rules, volume pricing, payment terms, reordering, and Quick Order Lists. Shopify Shopify Help Center

Plus is particularly interesting if you have both wholesale and DTC because you can run them on the same platform. Shopify also has its Trade B2B theme with built-in quick-order functionality. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

For a really SKU-heavy distributor, though, I'd investigate whether Shopify's native catalog/order experience meets your needs before committing. There are also apps that provide spreadsheet-style product tables and CSV bulk ordering. Shopify App Store

shopify.com

My recommendation

If I were evaluating this for a distributor, I'd rank them:

Adobe Commerce → BigCommerce → Shopify Plus

if your priority is large catalog + sophisticated B2B ordering.

But I'd rank them:

Shopify Plus → BigCommerce → Adobe Commerce

if your priority is ease of use + excellent storefront + DTC/B2B on one platform.

The key question isn't actually SKU count. It's catalog complexity. A distributor with 500,000 SKUs and simple pricing can be easier than one with 30,000 SKUs where every customer has a different price list, availability, MOQ, pack size, contract, and approval workflow.

If you tell me roughly (1) SKU count, (2) number of B2B customers, (3) ERP you're using, and (4) whether customers need customer-specific pricing, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 platforms and explain why.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs, the right platform usually depends less on raw product count and more on whether you need complex B2B workflows: customer-specific pricing, contract catalogs, buyer permissions, bulk ordering, ERP sync, sales-rep ordering, and fast repeat purchases. Shopify Axim Commerce

Here are the platforms I would shortlist:

Shopify Razoyo### My likely picks for a distributor

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — best default choice

• Good balance of scalability and operational simplicity.
• Supports: - customer-specific price lists
• company accounts and buyer roles
• purchase orders and payment terms
• bulk ordering/reordering
• ERP integrations
• multi-storefront setups

BigCommerce BigCommerceThis is often the sweet spot for distributors that have moved beyond a basic ecommerce store but do not want to run a heavy custom platform.

2. OroCommerce — best if your business is truly distributor-first
Consider it if you have:

• thousands to hundreds of thousands of SKUs
• many customer-specific catalogs
• sales reps involved in orders
• RFQs and negotiated pricing
• complex account hierarchies

It is designed around B2B commerce rather than adapting a retail storefront into wholesale. Razoyo

3. Adobe Commerce — best for maximum complexity
Choose this when you need things like:

• highly customized pricing engines
• complex workflows
• multiple brands/business units
• deep ERP/PIM integrations
• very custom buying experiences

It is powerful, but usually requires a stronger technical team and larger implementation budget. Netguru

Features I would require for your use case

For a distributor, I would not choose a platform unless it supports:

• Quick order by SKU

• type SKU + quantity
• paste a spreadsheet list
• upload CSV
• reorder previous purchases
• Fast catalog search

• manufacturer part numbers
• aliases
• customer-specific product visibility
• B2B accounts

• multiple buyers per company
• approval workflows
• purchasing limits
• Pricing

• customer-specific contracts
• volume breaks
• tier pricing
• negotiated pricing
• Back-office integrations

• ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Epicor, Acumatica, etc.)
• inventory availability
• order status
• customer credit/payment terms

A practical recommendation by company size

• <10,000 SKUs, moderate complexity: BigCommerce B2B or Shopify Plus
• 10,000–100,000+ SKUs, serious wholesale operation: BigCommerce B2B or OroCommerce
• Very complex enterprise distribution: Adobe Commerce, SAP Commerce, or a composable architecture

If you tell me:

1. approximate SKU count,
2. your ERP (NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics/etc.),
3. whether customers have negotiated pricing, and
4. whether you need a sales rep portal,

I can narrow this to 1–2 platforms.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs, I’d shortlist Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce B2B, and Shopify Plus B2B. The right choice depends heavily on how complicated your pricing, customer accounts, and ERP integration are.

My ranking

🥇 Adobe Commerce — strongest for a complex distributor

Adobe Commerce is probably my first look if you have tens of thousands+ of SKUs, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, multiple customer tiers, complex account hierarchies, or substantial ERP integration.

Its B2B functionality includes shared catalogs, company accounts, negotiated quotes, requisition lists, and—particularly relevant to you—a Quick Order interface where buyers can enter SKUs individually, paste multiple SKUs, or upload a CSV with SKUs and quantities. Adobe Experience League Adobe Experience League

experienceleague.adobe.com

Why I'd favor it: you can build the buyer experience around "I know my SKUs; let me place my replenishment order" rather than forcing wholesale customers to browse a consumer-style storefront.

🥈 BigCommerce B2B — possibly the sweet spot

BigCommerce is worth serious consideration if you want sophisticated B2B capabilities without taking on as much platform complexity as Adobe Commerce.

I'd particularly investigate it if your requirements are:

• Huge searchable catalog
• Customer-specific price lists
• Company accounts and buyer permissions
• Bulk/quick ordering
• Multiple storefronts or brands
• ERP/PIM integration
• Headless capability
• Less custom infrastructure to maintain

Industry comparisons currently position BigCommerce B2B as particularly strong for large catalogs and headless implementations. Shopify IWD Agency

🥉 Shopify Plus — best if speed and simplicity matter

Shopify Plus has gotten substantially better for B2B. Native B2B includes companies, company locations, catalogs, quantity rules, payment terms, and quick-order lists. Plus also allows unlimited B2B market catalogs and catalogs assigned directly to individual companies/locations. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

The caveat is the quick-order experience. Shopify's native functionality isn't as distributor-oriented as Adobe's SKU/CSV workflow. You can add apps that provide SKU grids, searchable product tables, variant grids, and CSV ordering. Shopify App Store

So I'd choose Shopify Plus if you're prioritizing ease of implementation, modern UX, and a relatively straightforward B2B model over highly customized distribution workflows.

The key question I'd use to choose

If your buyers typically say:

"Give me a box where I can paste 80 SKUs and quantities, apply my contract pricing, and submit the PO."

I'd lean Adobe Commerce or BigCommerce.

If they say:

"I want to search the catalog, see my pricing, reorder frequently purchased products, and occasionally place a bulk order."

I'd seriously consider Shopify Plus as well.

And if you have complex customer-specific pricing + thousands of accounts + ERP-driven inventory/pricing + multiple warehouses + sales-rep-assisted ordering, I'd put Adobe Commerce at the top of the evaluation.

If you tell me roughly (1) number of SKUs, (2) number of B2B customers, (3) ERP—NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics/etc., (4) whether every customer has different pricing, and (5) annual online order volume, I can narrow this down to a 2–3 platform shortlist and explain the architecture I'd use.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog, I’d shortlist Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, and BigCommerce. The best choice depends heavily on how complex your customer-specific pricing and ordering workflows are.

1. business.adobe.com — my pick for a complex distributor

Adobe Commerce's B2B functionality is unusually well suited to distributors. Its Quick Order lets buyers enter individual SKUs, paste multiple SKUs, or upload a file containing SKUs and quantities. Experience League Experience League

It also has Shared Catalogs, customer-specific pricing, company accounts, requisition lists, purchase approvals, and negotiated quotes. Experience League Experience League

I'd choose it if you have:

• Tens/hundreds of thousands of SKUs
• Lots of customer-specific price lists
• Complex product/category permissions
• Sales reps ordering on behalf of customers
• ERP/PIM integration requirements
• Buyers who routinely order by SKU or spreadsheet

The downside is implementation and ongoing technical complexity.

2. shopify.com — best balance of capability and ease

Shopify Plus now has quite a strong native B2B offering. It supports unlimited B2B catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies/locations, quantity rules, volume pricing, net terms, easy reordering, and quick order lists. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

Shopify specifically describes its newer B2B experience as allowing buyers to see products/variants in bulk and order through an order form, which is very relevant to a distributor. Shopify

The caveat: if your requirement is a really sophisticated "enter 200 SKUs + quantities / upload CSV / see customer-specific price and availability" workflow, you may end up extending Shopify with an app or custom development. Shopify's native quick-order list is more variant/product-oriented. Shopify Help Center

3. bigcommerce.com — worth serious consideration

BigCommerce is particularly interesting for distributors because its B2B functionality includes company accounts, credit management, purchase orders/net terms, shopping lists, and ordering on behalf of buyers. BigCommerce

I'd put it between Shopify and Adobe if you want strong B2B functionality without taking on quite as much platform complexity as Adobe Commerce.

My recommendation

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (e.g. 20k, 100k, 500k+) and whether you need customer-specific price lists + ERP inventory/availability, I'd rank the three specifically for your business.

For a traditional distributor, my initial ranking would be:

Adobe Commerce → BigCommerce → Shopify Plus

But if your priority is fast implementation, easy administration, and a polished buyer experience, I'd flip that toward Shopify Plus → BigCommerce → Adobe Commerce.

For a distributor with a large SKU count, I’d focus less on a traditional “online store” and more on a B2B commerce platform with strong catalog management, ERP/PIM integration, customer-specific pricing, and fast reorder workflows. The best fit depends on your catalog size, ERP, and complexity, but these are the platforms I’d shortlist:

For your quick order form requirement, prioritize these capabilities:

• SKU/part-number entry (type 10–500 SKUs and quantities quickly)
• CSV upload / spreadsheet ordering
• Saved order templates
• One-click reorder from history
• Customer-specific catalogs and pricing
• Pack sizes, minimums, and quantity breaks
• Real-time inventory availability
• ERP synchronization (NetSuite, SAP, Epicor, Dynamics, Infor, etc.)

Platforms with particularly strong quick-order workflows include Shopify B2B setups with quick-order extensions, distributor-focused platforms, and B2B-first systems such as OroCommerce. Unified Commerce Suite ORO INC.

My general shortlist by distributor profile:

• 10k–100k SKUs, want speed: BigCommerce B2B or Shopify Plus
• 100k–millions of SKUs, complex pricing: OroCommerce or Adobe Commerce
• Industrial parts / wholesale distribution with ERP-heavy workflows: OroCommerce, TrueCommerce, or a distributor-specific platform
• Buyers mostly know item numbers and reorder frequently: choose a platform with excellent SKU quick order, not just visual browsing

If you share:

1. approximate SKU count (50k? 500k? 5M?),
2. your ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Epicor, etc.),
3. whether customers have contract pricing, and
4. whether orders are mostly repeat/replenishment,

I can narrow this to 2–3 realistic choices.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog + B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d put Adobe Commerce and BigCommerce at the top of the shortlist, with Shopify Plus as the easier-to-operate alternative.

1. Adobe Commerce — my pick for a complex distributor

Adobe Commerce is particularly well suited if you have tens or hundreds of thousands of SKUs, customer-specific price lists, multiple buyer accounts, sales reps, and complicated ordering rules.

Its B2B Quick Order lets buyers enter SKUs manually, enter multiple SKUs at once, or upload a file containing SKUs. Experience League

It also has requisition lists, essentially reusable shopping lists for frequently reordered products. Experience League Experience League

For a distributor, the more important features are probably:

• Customer/company-specific catalogs and pricing
• Multiple buyers and approval workflows
• Purchase orders and payment terms
• Quotes
• Requisition/reorder lists
• SKU/CSV quick ordering
• Complex product relationships and merchandising
• APIs/integration options for ERP/PIM/WMS

Adobe explicitly positions Commerce around complex B2B catalogs, pricing and self-service purchasing. Adobe for Business Adobe for Business

I'd choose this if your ecommerce site is becoming a major operating system for the business rather than simply an online storefront.

2. BigCommerce B2B Edition — probably the best SaaS option

BigCommerce is extremely interesting for your use case.

Its B2B Edition has a Quick Order Pad where buyers can enter SKU numbers or upload orders in bulk, plus shopping lists, quotes, purchase orders, approval workflows, company accounts and a Buyer Portal. BigCommerce BigCommerce

That is very close to how distributor customers actually buy:

"Here's my list of 47 SKUs. Quantities are 12, 24, 6, etc. Submit the order."

rather than forcing them to browse 50,000 products.

I'd lean BigCommerce over Shopify if your business is primarily B2B distribution and you want SaaS rather than a heavily customized Adobe implementation.

3. Shopify Plus — excellent, but I'd scrutinize the catalog/B2B requirements

Shopify has significantly expanded its native B2B functionality in 2026. B2B now includes companies, catalogs, quantity rules, volume pricing and quick-order functionality. Shopify Help Center Shopify

Shopify Plus gives you unlimited B2B catalogs and direct catalog assignment to individual companies/company locations, which is important if every distributor customer has a different assortment or price structure. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

Its quick-order list lets B2B buyers add multiple product variants to their cart without navigating through the catalog. Shopify Help Center

I'd choose Shopify Plus if you also care substantially about DTC, marketing, merchandising, ease of administration and a large app ecosystem.

For a pure-play distributor with highly complex B2B workflows, though, I'd investigate BigCommerce/Adobe first.

4. commercetools — if you're building something very sophisticated

commercetools specifically targets manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers dealing with large catalogs, customer-specific pricing and approval workflows. Commercetools

I'd consider it if you have a strong engineering team and want a composable/headless architecture. I wouldn't pick it simply because you have lots of SKUs—the implementation complexity can be substantial.

My recommendation

If you told me:

"We're a distributor, have 50k–500k SKUs, customers reorder the same products constantly, prices vary by account, and we need ERP integration."

I'd shortlist:

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — best balance
2. Adobe Commerce — best for maximum complexity/control
3. Shopify Plus — best if DTC + ease of use are important
4. commercetools — best if you're deliberately going composable/headless

The quick-order experience should actually be one of your primary selection criteria, not an afterthought. For distributors, I'd demo each platform with a real scenario: upload a 200-line CSV → resolve SKUs → apply customer-specific pricing → enforce pack quantities/MOQs → show availability → submit PO → send order to ERP. That will reveal much more than a generic ecommerce demo.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, what ERP you use (e.g. SAP, NetSuite, Epicor, Dynamics), and whether customers have individual price lists, I can narrow this down to the 1–2 platforms I'd seriously evaluate.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs, the best ecommerce platforms are usually the ones built around B2B purchasing workflows, not just large product catalogs. The key capabilities to look for are:

• Fast ordering by SKU, part number, or CSV upload
• Customer-specific pricing and catalogs
• Account hierarchies and buyer permissions
• Reorders / saved lists
• ERP, PIM, and inventory integrations
• Strong search and filtering across thousands (or millions) of products

Here are the platforms I’d shortlist:

My likely picks for a distributor

1. BigCommerce B2B — best overall balance

bigcommerce.com

This is often the sweet spot for distributors because it combines enterprise catalog handling with less operational overhead than fully custom platforms. It supports customer-specific pricing, buyer accounts, reordering, quote workflows, and complex B2B purchasing patterns. BigCommerce

Good fit if you have:

• 10,000–500,000+ SKUs
• Multiple customer price tiers
• Dealer/distributor accounts
• Sales reps who need to assist buyers
• ERP integrations

2. Adobe Commerce — best for extreme complexity

experienceleague.adobe.com

Adobe Commerce is powerful when you need deep customization. Its B2B quick-order tools support workflows like entering multiple SKUs, SKU search, and CSV-based ordering. Experience League

Good fit if you have:

• Hundreds of thousands or millions of SKUs
• Complex product configurators
• Multiple websites/brands
• Highly customized pricing logic
• A strong internal development team

3. Sana Commerce — best if ERP is the center of truth

sana-commerce.com

If your distributor runs heavily on systems like Microsoft Dynamics or SAP, Sana can be attractive because it focuses on keeping pricing, inventory, and customer data synchronized with ERP systems. Sana Commerce

What I would avoid for a traditional distributor

• A basic Shopify store with a wholesale app bolted on (unless your catalog and pricing rules are relatively simple)
• Custom-built ecommerce from scratch unless you have unusual workflows
• Platforms without native SKU ordering or ERP synchronization

A few questions would narrow this down quickly:

1. Roughly how many SKUs do you have? (10k, 100k, 1M+?)
2. What ERP do you run? (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Epicor, Infor, custom?)
3. Do customers usually order by part number/SKU rather than browsing?
4. Do you need customer-specific contract pricing and inventory visibility?
5. Are you replacing an existing ecommerce system or starting fresh?

For a distributor with lots of SKUs and repeat B2B buyers, I’d narrow the field to BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus.

1. BigCommerce — my first choice

BigCommerce's B2B Edition has a Quick Order Pad specifically designed for buyers who already know their SKUs. Buyers can enter SKU numbers or upload orders in bulk, and it also supports shopping lists and quotes. BigCommerce

For a distributor, that's a very important distinction: you don't want to force a purchasing manager to navigate 30 pages of products just to reorder 40 known SKUs.

I'd look particularly closely at BigCommerce if you have:

• Thousands or tens of thousands of SKUs
• Customer-specific pricing
• Repeat orders/reorders
• Sales reps who want customers to self-service
• ERP integration
• Multiple customer groups/catalogs
• A need for a relatively low-maintenance SaaS platform

2. Adobe Commerce — best for very complex distribution

Adobe Commerce is the heavyweight option. Its B2B functionality includes shared catalogs, company accounts, negotiated quotes, requisition lists, and Quick Order. Quick Order supports SKU/name entry and, in the newer storefront implementation, multiple-SKU entry and CSV upload. Experience League Experience League Experience League

I'd choose Adobe over BigCommerce if your business has unusually complicated rules such as:

• Many customer-specific catalogs
• Highly customized tier/contract pricing
• Complex account hierarchies and permissions
• Sophisticated quoting/approval workflows
• Heavy ERP/PIM integration
• Significant custom business logic

The tradeoff is implementation and ongoing technical complexity.

3. Shopify Plus — best if ease of use matters

Shopify Plus has become quite capable for B2B. Plus provides unlimited B2B catalogs and allows catalogs to be assigned directly to individual companies/locations. Shopify also has native quick order lists, quantity rules, volume pricing and B2B company accounts. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

The catch for a distributor is that Shopify's native quick-order experience isn't as purpose-built around SKU/CSV bulk ordering as Adobe's or BigCommerce's. You can extend it with apps; for example, Shopify's ecosystem has apps supporting searchable product tables, CSV uploads and variant grids. Shopify App Store

My recommendation

If I were evaluating this for a distributor, I'd rank them:

BigCommerce B2B → Adobe Commerce → Shopify Plus

I'd start with BigCommerce unless your pricing/catalog/account logic is exceptionally complicated. Its combination of large-catalog capability + B2B-native features + Quick Order Pad + SaaS architecture is particularly well aligned with distribution.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (e.g. 10k/100k/1M), what ERP you use (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, etc.), and whether each customer gets different pricing, I can give you a much more specific recommendation and architecture.

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog + repeat B2B buyers + fast ordering, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. The best choice depends less on raw SKU count and more on how complicated your pricing, customer accounts, ERP integration, and ordering workflow are.

*Usually requires extensions.

My first look: BigCommerce B2B

For a distributor specifically, I'd put BigCommerce at the top of the shortlist.

Its B2B offering is designed around things distributors tend to need: company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, quotes, buyer portals, payment terms, and bulk ordering. Independent 2026 comparisons also specifically identify BigCommerce as a strong fit for B2B businesses needing more operational functionality without the complexity of Adobe Commerce. Imaginaire IWD Agency

The quick-order workflow is particularly important. Instead of making a buyer navigate thousands of PDPs, you can give them an interface where they enter SKUs/quantities, search the catalog, and add large numbers of products to the cart. BigCommerce's native B2B capabilities are well suited to this type of workflow. IWD Agency

When I'd choose Adobe Commerce instead

Adobe Commerce/Magento becomes compelling if your distribution business has really complicated rules, such as:

• Thousands or millions of SKUs with sophisticated catalog structures
• Customer-specific catalogs and contract pricing
• Complex product configuration
• Multi-level purchasing approvals
• Credit limits and account-specific payment rules
• Sophisticated RFQ/quote workflows
• Deep, real-time ERP integration
• Multiple business entities/websites/brands

Adobe's B2B functionality includes requisition lists, which let buyers maintain frequently ordered product lists and move those products directly into the cart. Experience League

The tradeoff is substantially greater implementation and ongoing technical overhead. Imaginaire Elogic Commerce

Shopify Plus is worth considering

Shopify Plus is attractive if you want B2B + DTC on the same platform and care heavily about ease of administration, storefront experience, and speed of implementation.

Shopify B2B supports company accounts, custom catalogs, volume pricing, payment terms, and related B2B functionality. Shopify

For the specific "buyer knows the SKUs and wants to order 80 items quickly" use case, Shopify's ecosystem also has quick-order applications that provide spreadsheet-style grids, SKU entry, CSV uploads, bulk add-to-cart, and saved order templates. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store

So I'd choose Shopify Plus when operational simplicity and a great storefront outweigh the need for extremely deep native B2B rules.

What I'd recommend for your situation

If you're primarily a B2B distributor, my ranking would be:

1. BigCommerce B2B — probably the best balance of catalog scale, B2B functionality, quick ordering, and integration flexibility.
2. Adobe Commerce — best if your pricing/catalog/ERP/account rules are unusually complex and you have the technical budget.
3. Shopify Plus — best if you also have a meaningful DTC business or want the easiest modern commerce platform, with a quick-order layer added where necessary.

One important point: don't evaluate platforms just by asking "how many SKUs can it handle?" I'd build the evaluation around your actual ordering workflow: customer logs in → sees their negotiated prices → searches/pastes 50–200 SKUs → enters quantities → validates availability/MOQs → submits PO/credit order. That's where the platforms start to differ substantially.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, what ERP you're on (e.g. NetSuite/SAP/Business Central), how many B2B customers, and whether pricing varies by customer, I can narrow this down to a specific recommendation and architecture.

For the specific "buyer knows the SKUs and wants to order 80 items quickly" use case, Shopify's ecosystem also has quick-order applications that provide spreadsheet-style grids, SKU entry, CSV uploads, bulk add-to-cart, and saved order templates.

Adobe Commerce/Magento becomes compelling if your distribution business has really complicated rules, such as:

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog, I’d narrow the field to BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. The “quick order form” requirement is important because distributors generally want buyers to type/paste SKUs and quantities rather than browse thousands of products.

My ranking

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — probably where I'd start

For a distributor, this is the one I'd investigate first.

Its B2B Edition specifically supports a Quick Order Pad, where buyers can enter SKU numbers or upload orders in bulk. It also has shopping lists, quotes, preset pricing, and a buyer portal. BigCommerce

That's a very natural workflow for distribution:

Customer logs in → searches/pastes 20–200 SKUs → enters quantities → submits PO/order.

It also gives you a SaaS platform rather than taking on the infrastructure and maintenance burden of a heavily customized Magento/Adobe installation.

Best fit if: you have tens/hundreds of thousands of SKUs, lots of repeat buyers, customer-specific pricing, and want a relatively modern implementation without building everything yourself.

bigcommerce.com

2. Adobe Commerce — strongest for extreme complexity

If your distribution business has very complicated catalogs, customer-specific pricing, multiple websites, sophisticated ERP integration, negotiated pricing, or highly customized workflows, Adobe Commerce is extremely capable.

Its native B2B Quick Order lets buyers enter SKUs/product names and quantities, and orders with multiple SKUs can be entered manually or imported into the Quick Order form. Experience League Experience League

It also has shared catalogs, company accounts, quotes, requisition lists, etc. Experience League

The downside is implementation/maintenance. Adobe itself positions Commerce toward large enterprises with in-house technical teams, and comparisons put its implementation burden substantially above SaaS alternatives. Shopify

Best fit if: your ecommerce site is essentially a custom application sitting on top of a complicated distribution business.

business.adobe.com

3. Shopify Plus — excellent if you value simplicity

Shopify Plus has become considerably more capable for B2B. It supports company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, volume pricing, quantity rules and quick-order lists. Plus provides unlimited B2B catalogs and lets you assign catalogs directly to companies/company locations. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

The caveat is that its native "quick order" experience isn't as distributor-centric as BigCommerce/Adobe if what you really mean is:

SKU | Qty | SKU | Qty | SKU | Qty → Add All to Cart

Shopify can get there, and there are B2B apps that add searchable product tables and CSV bulk ordering, but that can mean adding another component to the stack. Shopify App Store

Best fit if: you want the easiest-to-manage platform, excellent storefront UX, and a strong B2B foundation, and you're comfortable using an app/customization for the ultimate distributor-style order-entry experience.

shopify.com

What I'd choose for a distributor

I'd use this decision rule:

• Large catalog + lots of SKU-based repeat orders → BigCommerce B2B
• Extremely complex pricing/catalog/business rules → Adobe Commerce
• B2B + DTC + excellent UX + lower operational complexity → Shopify Plus
• Deep Salesforce ecosystem → Salesforce Commerce

One important distinction: SKU count itself isn't the main architectural question. I'd care much more about your number of customer-specific price lists, SKU/variant count, ERP/PIM integration, number of customer accounts, frequency of bulk orders, and how buyers actually place orders.

If you tell me roughly (1) number of SKUs, (2) number of B2B customers, (3) ERP you use—e.g. NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Epicor, etc.—and (4) whether you need customer-specific pricing, I can give you a much more specific BigCommerce vs Adobe vs Shopify recommendation, including the order-entry workflow I'd implement.

Its B2B Edition specifically supports a Quick Order Pad, where buyers can enter SKU numbers or upload orders in bulk. It also has shopping lists, quotes, preset pricing, and a buyer portal. BigCommerce

That's a very natural workflow for distribution:

Customer logs in → searches/pastes 20–200 SKUs → enters quantities → submits PO/order.

It also gives you a SaaS platform rather than taking on the infrastructure and maintenance burden of a heavily customized Magento/Adobe installation.

Best fit if: you have tens/hundreds of thousands of SKUs, lots of repeat buyers, customer-specific pricing, and want a relatively modern implementation without building everything yourself.

bigcommerce.com

2. Adobe Commerce — strongest for extreme complexity

If your distribution business has very complicated catalogs, customer-specific pricing, multiple websites, sophisticated ERP integration, negotiated pricing, or highly customized workflows, Adobe Commerce is extremely capable.

Its native B2B Quick Order lets buyers enter SKUs/product names and quantities, and orders with multiple SKUs can be entered manually or imported into the Quick Order form. Experience League Experience League

It also has shared catalogs, company accounts, quotes, requisition lists, etc. Experience League

The downside is implementation/maintenance. Adobe itself positions Commerce toward large enterprises with in-house technical teams, and comparisons put its implementation burden substantially above SaaS alternatives. Shopify

Best fit if: your ecommerce site is essentially a custom application sitting on top of a complicated distribution business.

business.adobe.com

3. Shopify Plus — excellent if you value simplicity

Shopify Plus has become considerably more capable for B2B. It supports company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, volume pricing, quantity rules and quick-order lists. Plus provides unlimited B2B catalogs and lets you assign catalogs directly to companies/company locations. help.shopify.com help.shopify.com

The caveat is that its native "quick order" experience isn't as distributor-centric as BigCommerce/Adobe if what you really mean is:

SKU | Qty | SKU | Qty | SKU | Qty → Add All to Cart

Shopify can get there, and there are B2B apps that add searchable product tables and CSV bulk ordering, but that can mean adding another component to the stack. apps.shopify.com

Best fit if: you want the easiest-to-manage platform, excellent storefront UX, and a strong B2B foundation, and you're comfortable using an app/customization for the ultimate distributor-style order-entry experience.

For a B2B distributor with a large SKU catalog, I’d shortlist BigCommerce, Shopify Plus, and Adobe Commerce. The key distinction is how complex your pricing/order logic is versus how much you value a managed platform.

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — my first look

For a distributor, BigCommerce B2B Edition is particularly compelling. It has native B2B capabilities around company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, bulk ordering, buyer portals, and payment/credit workflows. Current industry comparisons also specifically position it for B2B and headless commerce. Shopify Shopify

The big advantage for your use case is that bulk/quick ordering is a first-class B2B workflow, rather than something you'd necessarily bolt on after the fact.

I'd lean BigCommerce if you have:

• Thousands or tens of thousands of SKUs
• Lots of repeat purchasers
• Customer-specific pricing
• Sales reps moving customers toward self-service
• Buyers who know the SKU numbers they want
• ERP-driven inventory/pricing
• PO/credit/terms-based purchasing
• Potentially multiple storefronts or customer segments

2. Shopify Plus — best if you want a simpler ecosystem

shopify.com is a very strong alternative, particularly if you also have a consumer-facing business.

Shopify Plus now supports unlimited B2B catalogs and direct catalog assignment to individual companies/company locations, along with quantity rules and volume pricing. Shopify Help Center Shopify Help Center

The caveat for a distributor is the quick-order experience. Shopify can absolutely provide it, but you may use an app. For example, the Shopify App Store currently has B2B quick-order solutions supporting searchable product tables, variant grids, and CSV uploads. Shopify App Store

So I'd choose Shopify Plus when ease of implementation, storefront UX, app ecosystem, and combining B2B + DTC are especially important.

3. Adobe Commerce — if your business rules are unusually complicated

business.adobe.com remains the heavyweight option.

It has particularly deep B2B functionality around company hierarchies, shared catalogs, negotiated pricing, quotes, requisition lists, credit limits, and permissions. Shopify

I'd seriously consider it if you have things like:

• Thousands of customer-specific price lists
• Complicated contract pricing
• Multiple levels of buyer approval
• Sophisticated quoting
• Highly customized product configuration
• Very complex ERP/OMS/PIM integrations
• An internal engineering/IT team capable of owning the platform

The downside is substantially greater implementation and ongoing technical complexity than a SaaS platform. Shopify Imaginaire

My recommendation

For a typical large distributor, I'd start with BigCommerce B2B Edition.

I'd rank them:

1. BigCommerce B2B — best balance of large catalog + B2B functionality + fast ordering
2. Shopify Plus — best if ease of use and B2B/DTC convergence matter more
3. Adobe Commerce — best if your business processes are exceptionally complex

One important point: don't evaluate platforms primarily on "how many SKUs can it handle." Modern platforms can handle very large catalogs. The harder problem is making a 50,000-SKU catalog usable for a buyer who says, "Give me 12 of SKU 48172, 4 of 99201, and 24 of 77104."

I'd specifically test each platform with a SKU/part-number quick-order screen, CSV upload, saved/reorder lists, customer-specific pricing, inventory availability, and ERP synchronization. That's much more representative of a distributor's real workload than browsing the storefront.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, number of B2B customers, ERP (NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics/etc.), and whether customers order by SKU/part number, I can narrow this to a specific recommendation and architecture.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs and repeat B2B buyers, I’d narrow the field to BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. The biggest question is whether you want maximum B2B functionality or a lower-maintenance platform.

My first choice: BigCommerce B2B

For a distributor, BigCommerce B2B Edition is probably where I'd start. It has strong support for large catalogs, company accounts, customer-specific pricing, shared catalogs, bulk ordering and B2B workflows without requiring the amount of custom development that Adobe often does. Current comparisons also put BigCommerce particularly strongly in the mid-market/pure-B2B category. Elogic Commerce Shopify

The quick-order experience is especially important for your use case. You want buyers to be able to do things like:

• Paste a list of SKUs + quantities
• Search SKUs without navigating the catalog
• Enter quantities in a spreadsheet-like grid
• Upload a CSV/Excel order
• Reorder previous orders
• See their contract/customer-specific pricing
• Handle hundreds of line items in one order

That's much more appropriate for a distributor than a conventional consumer-style product browsing experience.

Shopify Plus is worth serious consideration

If you want something easier for your team to operate and you also have a meaningful DTC business, Shopify Plus is very attractive. Shopify has native B2B functionality for company accounts, catalogs, pricing and payment terms, but some of the more distributor-oriented bulk-order functionality can be provided through apps. Shopify Shopify

For example, current Shopify apps support SKU entry, CSV uploads, searchable product grids, variant grids and one-click reordering. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store

So I'd think of Shopify as:

Excellent commerce platform + B2B layer + quick-order app

rather than assuming the core platform alone will give you the perfect distributor order-entry experience.

When I'd choose Adobe Commerce

I'd move toward Adobe Commerce if your catalog/pricing structure is genuinely complicated—for example:

• Thousands/tens of thousands of SKUs with complicated attributes
• Different catalogs for different customers
• Multiple price books and contract pricing
• Customer-specific product availability
• Complex account hierarchies
• RFQs and negotiated quotes
• Approval workflows
• Requisition lists/reordering
• Significant ERP/PIM customization

Adobe has one of the deepest native B2B feature sets, including company hierarchies, shared catalogs, quotes, requisition lists and complex purchasing workflows. Elogic Commerce Shopify

The tradeoff is implementation and ongoing technical complexity. It's powerful, but I'd avoid it if your primary goal is simply "make it easy for our existing customers to log in and order 50 SKUs quickly."

What I'd recommend for a distributor

My rough ranking would be:

1. BigCommerce B2B — best starting point for a pure distributor with a large SKU count.
2. Shopify Plus — best if simplicity, speed, and/or DTC are important.
3. Adobe Commerce — best if your pricing/catalog/order logic is unusually complex.
4. Salesforce Commerce Cloud — compelling if Salesforce is already the center of your sales operation.

The ERP integration may actually be more important than the ecommerce platform. If you're running something like NetSuite, Epicor, Infor, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, etc., I'd evaluate how each platform handles synchronization of SKU master, inventory, customer-specific pricing, customer accounts, order status and credit/payment terms before making the final decision.

If you tell me roughly (1) number of SKUs, (2) number of B2B customers, (3) your ERP, (4) whether you have DTC, and (5) whether customers have individual pricing/catalogs, I can give you a much more specific BigCommerce vs. Shopify Plus vs. Adobe recommendation.

For a large SKU distributor, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Shopify Plus, and Adobe Commerce. The deciding factor is less “how many SKUs can it hold?” and more how well it handles customer-specific catalogs/pricing, bulk ordering, ERP integration, and account workflows.

My first choice: BigCommerce B2B

For a distributor, BigCommerce B2B Edition is probably where I'd start. It is particularly well suited to businesses where buyers already know their SKUs and need to place large, repetitive orders quickly, rather than browse a consumer-style storefront.

It also tends to be a better fit when you need things like customer-specific pricing, company accounts, purchasing controls, quotes, and ERP integration without building as much from scratch. A recent 2026 comparison specifically calls out BigCommerce's strength for mid-market B2B and buyer-portal functionality. elogic.co

Shopify Plus is compelling if you also have DTC

Shopify has gotten considerably stronger for B2B. Its current B2B offering supports company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, quantity rules, payment terms, bulk purchasing and reordering. elogic.cowww.shopify.com

The catch for your particular requirement: Shopify's native B2B functionality doesn't currently include a dedicated order form, so I'd expect to add an app for the "type in 50 SKUs + quantities" workflow. There are apps that provide searchable product tables, CSV ordering and variant grids specifically for this purpose. apps.shopify.com

So I'd pick Shopify Plus when you want one excellent platform for both wholesale and DTC, rather than because it has the strongest native distributor ordering experience.

Adobe Commerce if your B2B operation is really complex

Adobe Commerce is the one I'd investigate if you have hundreds/thousands of customer-specific rules, sophisticated approval workflows, RFQs/negotiated quotes, multiple websites, complex product relationships, or extensive ERP/OMS integration. Current comparisons continue to put it at the top for deep native B2B functionality. elogic.co

The tradeoff is implementation and ongoing technical complexity.

What I'd prioritize for your business

If your buyers commonly say:

"I need 24 of SKU 12345, 10 of SKU 87221, 50 of SKU 99102..."

then quick order should be a first-class requirement, not an afterthought.

I'd require the platform to support:

• SKU search/typeahead across the entire catalog
• Paste/import 50–500+ SKUs at once
• CSV upload
• Customer-specific pricing and product availability
• "Buy again" from previous orders
• Saved/recurrent order lists
• Minimum quantities and case packs
• Real-time inventory availability
• PO numbers and payment terms
• Multiple buyers/users per customer account
• Sales-rep-assisted ordering
• ERP synchronization for products, pricing, inventory and orders

My ranking for a distributor:
1. BigCommerce B2B → strongest starting point for pure B2B distribution
2. Shopify Plus → best if B2B + DTC and ease of operation matter
3. Adobe Commerce → best when B2B rules/workflows are exceptionally complex

If you tell me roughly SKU count (e.g. 20k vs 500k), number of B2B customers, ERP (NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics/etc.), and whether you also sell DTC, I can narrow this down to a specific recommendation and architecture.

For a B2B distributor with a large SKU catalog, I’d put BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus at the top of the shortlist. The deciding factor is how complex your pricing, ERP integration, and buyer workflows are.

My pick: BigCommerce B2B Edition

For a distributor specifically, I'd start with BigCommerce B2B Edition. Current comparisons give it particularly strong marks for SKU-pad/quick ordering, customer-specific price lists, company accounts, quotes, payment terms, and ERP integration. IWD Agency Elogic Commerce

The quick-order experience is particularly important for your use case. You want buyers to be able to do something like:

SKU | Quantity
ABC-123 | 24
XYZ-456 | 6
98765 | 100

…and submit the whole order without navigating hundreds or thousands of product pages.

BigCommerce also has a strong API/integration story, which matters if your catalog, inventory, customer-specific pricing, or availability lives in an ERP rather than the ecommerce platform. Imaginaire IWD Agency

When I'd choose Adobe Commerce instead

I'd move to Adobe Commerce if you're talking about genuinely complicated distribution operations—multiple customer hierarchies, highly customized catalogs, sophisticated approval chains, complex credit rules, negotiated quotes/RFQs, or real-time ERP-driven pricing.

Its B2B functionality is deeper than Shopify's, including requisition lists, negotiable quotes, approval workflows, shared catalogs, and credit management. The tradeoff is substantially more implementation and ongoing technical overhead. Elogic Commerce Imaginaire

When Shopify Plus makes more sense

Shopify Plus is attractive if you have a significant DTC business alongside wholesale and want one modern platform with relatively low operational overhead. Its B2B capabilities have become considerably stronger, including company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, payment terms and quick ordering. Imaginaire IWD Agency

I'd be more cautious with Shopify if B2B is the core business and your order process is heavily sales-rep/quote/ERP driven. That's where BigCommerce or Adobe tends to make more sense.

The bigger question for a distributor

SKU count alone shouldn't determine the platform. I'd evaluate these five things:

1. Quick order: SKU search, CSV upload, saved/repeat orders, bulk quantity editing.
2. Customer-specific catalogs: Can customer A see 8,000 SKUs while customer B sees 2,000?
3. Contract pricing: Customer + product + quantity + negotiated price rules.
4. ERP integration: Especially real-time inventory, pricing, credit availability, order status and customer data.
5. Sales-rep ordering: Can reps easily place orders on behalf of customers without manually recreating orders?

For a distributor, I'd rank BigCommerce B2B Edition first, Adobe Commerce second, and Shopify Plus third unless your DTC business or Shopify ecosystem changes the equation. A 2026 comparison focused specifically on distributors similarly finds BigCommerce particularly strong on B2B workflows while Adobe wins when operational complexity becomes extreme. IWD Agency Atwix

If you tell me roughly (a) number of SKUs, (b) number of B2B customers, (c) ERP—NetSuite/Dynamics/SAP/etc., (d) whether customers have unique pricing, and (e) annual online revenue, I can narrow this to the best 1–2 platforms for your operation.

SKU | Quantity
ABC-123 | 24
XYZ-456 | 6
98765 | 100

…and submit the whole order without navigating hundreds or thousands of product pages.

BigCommerce also has a strong API/integration story, which matters if your catalog, inventory, customer-specific pricing, or availability lives in an ERP rather than the ecommerce platform. Imaginaire IWD Agency

When I'd choose Adobe Commerce instead

I'd move to Adobe Commerce if you're talking about genuinely complicated distribution operations—multiple customer hierarchies, highly customized catalogs, sophisticated approval chains, complex credit rules, negotiated quotes/RFQs, or real-time ERP-driven pricing.

Its B2B functionality is deeper than Shopify's, including requisition lists, negotiable quotes, approval workflows, shared catalogs, and credit management. The tradeoff is substantially more implementation and ongoing technical overhead. Elogic Commerce Imaginaire

When Shopify Plus makes more sense

Shopify Plus is attractive if you have a significant DTC business alongside wholesale and want one modern platform with relatively low operational overhead. Its B2B capabilities have become considerably stronger, including company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, payment terms and quick ordering.

I'd be more cautious with Shopify if B2B is the core business and your order process is heavily sales-rep/quote/ERP driven. That's where BigCommerce or Adobe tends to make more sense.

The bigger question for a distributor

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog + B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. My default pick would be BigCommerce unless you have unusually complex ERP/pricing workflows.

1. BigCommerce B2B — my first choice

For a distributor, this is probably where I'd start. BigCommerce's B2B capabilities are designed around things like company accounts, customer-specific pricing, buyer permissions, bulk ordering/quick order, quotes, purchase orders and payment terms. Independent 2026 comparisons also rate it particularly well for mid-market B2B businesses that need substantial buyer-portal functionality without the complexity of Adobe. elogic.co

The important part for you is the ordering workflow: a buyer shouldn't have to navigate 50 product pages to order 50 SKUs. You want:

SKU → quantity → add to cart → checkout

plus ideally CSV upload, saved lists, reorder-from-history and customer-specific pricing.

2. Adobe Commerce — if your catalog/business rules are really complicated

I'd move Adobe Commerce to #1 if you're talking about things like:

• 100k+ / 1M+ SKUs
• highly complex product relationships
• multiple customer price lists
• sophisticated contract pricing
• multiple warehouses
• RFQs and negotiated quotes
• multi-level purchasing approvals
• complicated ERP/OMS integration
• substantial internal engineering resources

Adobe has particularly deep native B2B functionality, including shared catalogs, company accounts, requisition lists, quotes and approval workflows. elogic.co

The tradeoff is implementation and ongoing technical complexity. It's a powerful platform, but I'd avoid choosing it merely because you have "lots of SKUs."

3. Shopify Plus — excellent if simplicity and speed matter

Shopify has improved its native B2B capabilities substantially in 2026. Plus supports unlimited catalogs, customer/location-specific pricing, payment terms, quantity rules and other B2B functionality. www.shopify.com

The catch for your particular use case is the quick-order experience. Shopify's ecosystem can fill this gap very well: for example, current apps provide searchable SKU tables, variant grids and CSV bulk ordering. apps.shopify.com

So I'd think of it as:

Shopify Plus + a serious B2B quick-order application

rather than assuming the out-of-the-box storefront is the ideal distributor order-entry interface.

What I'd prioritize for your business

Don't make "number of SKUs" the primary platform-selection criterion. I'd test these workflows with each vendor:

1. Buyer enters 30 SKUs by SKU number and quantities.
2. Uploads a CSV containing 500 SKUs.
3. Every SKU automatically displays that customer's negotiated price.
4. Out-of-stock items show appropriate availability/substitution information.
5. Buyer can repeat last month's order with one click.
6. Buyer can save a frequently ordered SKU list.
7. Different buyers under the same company have different permissions.
8. Sales rep can place an order on behalf of the customer.
9. Orders/prices/inventory synchronize reliably with your ERP.
10. The system remains fast when searching across the entire catalog.

That last point is particularly important: a 500,000-SKU catalog with excellent SKU search can be much better than a 50,000-SKU catalog with a beautiful but slow storefront.

My ranking for a distributor

BigCommerce B2B → Adobe Commerce → Shopify Plus

I'd choose BigCommerce if you're primarily B2B distribution and want a strong balance of scale, native B2B ordering and manageable implementation.

I'd choose Adobe if you're an enterprise distributor with highly customized pricing/order/ERP logic.

I'd choose Shopify Plus if you're also heavily DTC/brand-oriented and want the easiest overall commerce platform, accepting that you'll likely use an app/customization for the distributor-style quick-order interface.

If you tell me roughly (1) number of SKUs, (2) number of B2B customers, (3) ERP—NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics/etc., (4) whether you sell DTC too, and (5) whether customers need contract-specific pricing, I can narrow this to a specific recommendation and architecture.

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog, I’d narrow the field to BigCommerce B2B, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. The key distinction is how complex your B2B pricing/catalog rules are versus how much you value implementation simplicity.

My first look: BigCommerce B2B

For a distributor, BigCommerce B2B Edition would probably be my first platform to evaluate. Its B2B storefront API specifically supports quick-order-pad workflows and retrieving products by SKU, which is exactly the sort of interaction you want when buyers already know their part numbers rather than browsing thousands of products. docs.bigcommerce.com

I'd want the buyer experience to look something like:

SKU | Qty | Price | Availability
10482 | 12 | $18.42 | In stock
77391 | 4 | $142.00 | 3 days
99201 | 24 | $6.85 | In stock
[Add all to cart]

Then layer on customer-specific price lists, contract pricing, minimum quantities, PO numbers, payment terms, sales-rep access, and ERP inventory/pricing integration.

Adobe Commerce is the heavyweight option

If your business has genuinely complicated rules—multiple customer hierarchies, shared catalogs, sophisticated pricing, quoting, approval workflows, etc.—Adobe Commerce is exceptionally capable.

Its B2B functionality includes quick ordering by SKU/product name, CSV ordering, requisition lists, company hierarchies, quotes, and account-specific purchasing workflows. business.adobe.com

The downside is that you're buying into a substantially more complex implementation and ongoing technology stack. I'd choose it when the complexity requires it, rather than simply because you have a lot of SKUs.

Shopify Plus has become much more interesting for distributors

Shopify has expanded its native B2B capabilities considerably. B2B now includes quick order lists, quantity rules, volume pricing, payment terms, company accounts and self-service ordering. Plus adds things particularly useful for complex catalogs, including unlimited B2B catalogs and direct catalog assignment to individual companies/locations. help.shopify.com

Shopify also now explicitly supports a quick bulk-ordering experience where buyers can order multiple variants from a dedicated order form. www.shopify.com

If your buyers need something more like a traditional distributor order-entry screen—search SKU → enter quantity → repeat 50 times → upload CSV → submit PO—Shopify can do it, but I'd scrutinize the exact implementation. There are also B2B apps that add searchable product tables and CSV ordering. business.adobe.comapps.shopify.com

What I'd choose

If you're primarily a distributor:
1. BigCommerce B2B Edition → my starting point.

If you're a very large/complex enterprise:
2. Adobe Commerce → strongest when business rules and customization outweigh simplicity.

If you also have a significant DTC/brand business:
3. Shopify Plus → particularly attractive if you want B2B and DTC on a common platform.

The most important thing, though, isn't the raw SKU count. A catalog of 500,000 SKUs with simple pricing can be easier than 30,000 SKUs with customer-specific pricing, multiple warehouses, UOM conversions, contract pricing, discontinued/replacement SKUs, and ERP-controlled inventory.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs, number of B2B customers, ERP (e.g. NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics), and whether pricing is customer-specific, I can give you a much more concrete BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus vs Adobe Commerce recommendation for a distributor like yours.

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog and buyers who already know what they want, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. The key distinction is how much complexity you have around pricing, ERP integration, customer-specific catalogs, and ordering.

My first choice: BigCommerce B2B

BigCommerce B2B

I'd put BigCommerce at the top of your evaluation list if you're a traditional distributor.

It has native B2B functionality around company accounts, customer-specific pricing, purchase orders/net terms, buyer permissions, shopping lists, reordering and sales-rep ordering. It also emphasizes SKU-level pricing and integrations with external systems—important when your ERP is the real source of product/pricing data. www.bigcommerce.com

The quick-order experience is particularly important for your use case: you want something closer to:

SKU | Description | Customer Price | Available | Qty
12345 | Widget A | $12.40 | 847 | 24
12346 | Widget B | $8.75 | 1,204 | 50
12347 | Widget C | $31.20 | 92 | 10

rather than forcing a buyer to navigate hundreds of category pages.

Shopify Plus is the strongest alternative

Shopify B2B

Shopify has actually improved considerably for B2B. Its current B2B offering includes quick bulk ordering, where buyers can see products/variants and order from product pages or a separate order form. Plus also gives you unlimited catalogs and customer/location-specific pricing. www.shopify.com

The catch for a distributor is that the best SKU-pad/CSV-ordering experience may involve an app rather than being entirely native. For example, apps can provide searchable product tables, variant grids and CSV bulk ordering. apps.shopify.com

So I'd choose Shopify Plus if customer experience, speed of implementation, and a modern storefront are more important than having the deepest distributor-specific functionality out of the box.

Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce

This is the one I'd investigate if you're talking about hundreds of thousands/millions of SKUs, complicated customer-specific price books, multiple brands/regions, sophisticated ERP logic, or highly customized ordering workflows.

It's extremely capable, but you're buying a much more substantial technology project. If your goal is simply "let our customers search 50,000 SKUs and type quantities into an order form," it can be overkill.

What I'd do in your situation

I'd evaluate them in this order:

1. BigCommerce B2B → best starting point for a distributor
2. Shopify Plus → best if you prioritize usability/implementation and have relatively straightforward B2B rules
3. Adobe Commerce → best if your catalog/pricing/ERP complexity is genuinely enterprise-level

One thing I'd not compromise on: make the quick-order interface a first-class part of the project, not an afterthought. For distributors, I'd want SKU search + multi-line entry + CSV upload + customer-specific pricing + real-time inventory + saved order lists + one-click reorder.

If you tell me roughly (a) number of SKUs, (b) number of B2B customers, (c) what ERP you use—e.g. NetSuite, Epicor, SAP, Dynamics—and (d) whether every customer has different pricing, I can narrow this down pretty sharply.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d narrow the field to BigCommerce, Shopify Plus, and Adobe Commerce.

My ranking

\*Shopify's quick-order experience is particularly strong with apps; there are currently apps supporting SKU paste, CSV upload, searchable product tables, saved lists, and one-click reordering. apps.shopify.comapps.shopify.com

🥇 I'd start with BigCommerce

For a distributor, BigCommerce B2B is probably the first platform I'd evaluate.

The important distinction is that you're not really looking for a conventional ecommerce storefront. You need something closer to a digital order-entry system:

• Thousands/tens of thousands of SKUs
• Customer-specific price lists
• Customer-specific catalogs
• Quantity breaks
• Multiple users under one customer account
• PO/payment terms
• Reordering
• SKU search / SKU-pad ordering
• CSV bulk ordering
• Sales-rep-assisted ordering
• ERP inventory and pricing synchronization

BigCommerce has a particularly strong native B2B feature set around customer groups, pricing, catalogs, quoting and bulk ordering. Current 2026 comparisons also put it toward the top for complex B2B use cases. www.shopify.comwww.iwdagency.com

🥈 Shopify Plus if ease of use matters most

I'd choose Shopify Plus if you want your ecommerce team to be able to operate the system easily and you also care about having a polished DTC-style storefront.

Shopify now has native B2B capabilities including companies, catalogs, customer-specific pricing and purchasing controls. www.shopify.comapps.shopify.com

The interesting part for your use case is that the quick-order experience can be excellent. For example, current Shopify apps let buyers paste SKUs and quantities, upload CSVs, search/filter product tables, save order lists and reorder previous purchases. apps.shopify.com

So you could make the main B2B experience something like:

Quick Order
SKU | Qty
10482 | 12
88371 | 24
19201 | 6

[Upload CSV] [Add to Cart]

rather than forcing a buyer to navigate a 50,000-product catalog.

🥉 Adobe Commerce if the catalog is really complex

I'd consider Adobe Commerce when you're talking about very large catalogs plus complicated business rules—multiple brands, sophisticated customer hierarchies, highly customized pricing, complex ERP logic, RFQs, requisition lists, approval workflows, etc.

It's extremely capable, but there's a corresponding increase in implementation and technical overhead. Current comparisons characterize it as the option for large enterprises that need deep customization. www.shopify.com

The big question is your SKU count

There's a meaningful difference between:

• 5,000 SKUs
• 50,000 SKUs
• 500,000+ SKUs

At the upper end, I'd pay much more attention to PIM architecture, search infrastructure, ERP integration and catalog modeling than to the storefront itself. One current B2B comparison specifically flags million-SKU catalogs, fitment data and parts finders as scenarios where platform architecture becomes critical. www.shopify.comwww.iwdagency.com

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have, what ERP you're on (e.g. NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Epicor), and whether customers have negotiated pricing, I can give you a much more definitive BigCommerce vs. Shopify Plus vs. Adobe recommendation.

For a large SKU distributor selling B2B, I’d put BigCommerce B2B Edition at the top of your shortlist, with Shopify Plus B2B and Adobe Commerce as the other serious contenders.

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — my first choice

BigCommerce B2B

This is particularly well matched to distributors. BigCommerce specifically supports extensive catalogs with thousands of products, SKUs and variants, and its B2B tooling includes company accounts, customer-specific pricing, bulk ordering, purchase orders, net terms, requisition lists, approval workflows and buyer portals. www.bigcommerce.com

The important part for you is the ordering workflow. A buyer shouldn't have to navigate 50 pages of products to place a replenishment order. BigCommerce's B2B functionality is designed around business purchasing, including shopping lists and placing orders on behalf of buyers. www.bigcommerce.com

I'd especially consider it if you have:

• 10,000s–100,000s+ SKUs
• Customer-specific price lists
• Different catalogs by customer/account
• Sales reps who place orders for customers
• PO/net-terms customers
• Repeat/replenishment orders
• ERP/PIM integration
• Multiple brands or storefronts

2. Shopify Plus B2B — excellent if you prioritize simplicity

Shopify Plus B2B

Shopify has gotten substantially better for B2B. Its native B2B functionality now includes quick bulk ordering, where buyers can see products/variants in an order-form format and enter quantities directly. www.shopify.com

The advantage is the overall Shopify ecosystem and easier administration. The tradeoff is that very complex distributor requirements—especially unusual pricing, quoting, account hierarchies and ERP-driven logic—can push you toward apps or custom development. elogic.co

There are also dedicated quick-order apps that add spreadsheet-style SKU ordering and CSV uploads, so Shopify can provide a very good distributor ordering experience. apps.shopify.com

3. Adobe Commerce — if your catalog/ERP complexity is extreme

Adobe Commerce is the one I'd investigate if you're talking about hundreds of thousands or millions of SKUs, highly customized pricing, complicated customer hierarchies, sophisticated quoting/approval processes, or a very ERP-centric operation.

It has particularly deep native B2B capabilities, including requisition lists, negotiable quotes, approval workflows and complex procurement logic. elogic.co

The downside is implementation and ongoing ownership. It's considerably more of an enterprise IT project than BigCommerce or Shopify Plus.

What I'd choose for a distributor

If your primary requirement is:

"We have a huge catalog and our customers already know their SKUs. Give them a fast way to enter 20–200 SKUs and quantities, use their negotiated prices, and submit the order."

I'd choose BigCommerce B2B Edition.

If your requirement is instead:

"We want the easiest-to-manage modern ecommerce site, with B2B plus a DTC storefront."

I'd lean Shopify Plus.

If it's:

"Our pricing, catalog, customer hierarchy and ERP processes are extremely complicated and we're willing to invest heavily."

I'd look at Adobe Commerce.

One thing I'd prioritize in your evaluation: don't just demo the storefront. Ask each vendor to demonstrate a buyer taking a spreadsheet containing, say, 100 SKU/quantity pairs, uploading/pasting it, getting validation against the catalog, seeing their customer-specific prices and stock, and checking out in under a minute. That's much more representative of distributor ecommerce than the usual "browse product → add to cart" demo.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who reorder frequently, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Shopify Plus B2B, and Adobe Commerce. The “quick order form” requirement pushes BigCommerce especially high on my list.

1. My first choice: BigCommerce B2B Edition

For your use case, BigCommerce would probably be my starting point.

Its B2B platform specifically supports quick-order workflows: the B2B Storefront API has endpoints for finding products by SKU and a dedicated quick-order-pad workflow. It also supports company accounts, catalogs, pricing, and other wholesale functionality. docs.bigcommerce.comwww.shopify.comapps.shopify.com

That matters because your buyers probably don't want to browse 20,000 SKUs. They want something like:

SKU | Qty
ABC-123 | 12
ABC-456 | 24
XYZ-789 | 6
Add all to cart

For a distributor, I'd prioritize that workflow over flashy consumer-oriented ecommerce features.

2. Shopify Plus B2B

I'd choose Shopify Plus if you also care heavily about having a polished storefront and potentially selling DTC alongside wholesale.

Shopify Plus has native B2B company accounts, customer-specific catalogs, volume pricing, payment terms, etc. docs.bigcommerce.comwww.shopify.comapps.shopify.com

The catch is the quick-order experience. Shopify can absolutely do it, but the more sophisticated SKU-grid/CSV/paste workflow may involve an app. There are current Shopify apps specifically providing SKU search, bulk SKU paste, CSV ordering and saved order templates. apps.shopify.com

So I'd view Shopify as:

Excellent B2B platform + excellent storefront + quick-order layer

rather than choosing it because its native quick-order experience is the strongest.

3. Adobe Commerce

If you're talking about 50k–500k+ SKUs, extremely complicated customer-specific pricing, multiple warehouses/brands, sophisticated ERP integration, or highly customized purchasing workflows, I'd put Adobe Commerce on the shortlist.

It has very deep B2B functionality, including requisition lists, shared catalogs, negotiated pricing/quotes, permissions and complex account structures. elogic.co

But there's a substantial tradeoff: implementation and ongoing technical ownership are much heavier than BigCommerce or Shopify Plus. www.imaginaire.co.uk

What I'd recommend for a distributor

If I were evaluating this for your business, my ranking would be:

🥇 BigCommerce B2B Edition — best balance of large catalog + B2B + quick ordering + integrations.

🥈 Shopify Plus — best if customer experience, speed of implementation, and possibly combining B2B/DTC are major priorities.

🥉 Adobe Commerce — best if your catalog/pricing/ERP requirements are unusually complicated and you're willing to fund a more sophisticated technology stack.

One important distinction: “lots of SKUs” isn't necessarily the hard part. The things I'd investigate are:

• Number of SKUs and variants
• Number of customer-specific price lists
• Whether customers see different catalogs
• ERP (e.g. SAP, NetSuite, Epicor, Dynamics) integration
• Real-time inventory by warehouse
• Customer-specific MOQ/case-pack rules
• CSV/SKU bulk ordering
• Saved/repeat orders
• Sales-rep ordering on behalf of customers
• PO / Net-30/60/90 payment terms
• Quotes and negotiated pricing
• Multiple branches/locations under one customer
• Whether you need B2B + DTC on the same platform

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (e.g. 10k, 100k, 1M), what ERP you're running, and whether customers have individualized pricing, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 platforms and explain the architecture I'd use.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d shortlist Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce B2B Edition, and Shopify Plus—but I’d put Adobe Commerce first if the quick-order workflow is central.

1. Adobe Commerce — my pick for your use case

Adobe has unusually strong native support for the way distributors actually order. Its Quick Order lets buyers enter SKUs individually, paste multiple SKUs, or upload a CSV with SKUs and quantities. experienceleague.adobe.comexperienceleague.adobe.com

It also supports:

• Customer/company-specific catalogs and pricing
• Multiple buyers and purchasing permissions within an account
• Negotiable quotes
• Requisition lists for repeat orders
• Customer-specific payment/shipping options
• Large/complex catalogs
• Configurable-product grid ordering

experienceleague.adobe.com

The newer Adobe Storefront tooling is particularly interesting: its Quick Order component supports SKU search, multiple-SKU entry, CSV upload, and bulk add-to-cart, while Grid Ordering lets buyers enter quantities for multiple variants in one screen. experienceleague.adobe.com

Downside: Adobe is the most powerful option here, but also the one I'd expect to require the most implementation/technical resources.

Adobe Commerce B2B documentation

2. BigCommerce B2B — probably the best middle ground

I'd look seriously at BigCommerce B2B Edition if you want substantial B2B functionality without taking on as much complexity as Adobe.

It's particularly attractive if your requirements are things like:

ERP → product/catalog/pricing → B2B storefront → quick reorder → checkout

rather than highly customized procurement workflows.

BigCommerce also has multi-storefront and headless capabilities, and current industry comparisons generally position it as a strong mid-market B2B option. www.bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce B2B

3. Shopify Plus — excellent if simplicity matters more

I'd choose Shopify Plus if you have a significant DTC business alongside B2B, want the easiest administration, and your B2B requirements aren't exceptionally complex.

The tradeoff is that distributors often end up needing apps/custom development for things such as sophisticated quoting, approval chains, sales-rep workflows, and complex account hierarchies. www.bigcommerce.com

Shopify Plus

What I'd do in your shoes

If you have 50,000+ SKUs, hundreds/thousands of business customers, customer-specific pricing, ERP integration, and buyers who commonly place orders from SKU lists, I'd evaluate them in this order:

1. Adobe Commerce → best functional fit
2. BigCommerce B2B → best balance of capability and complexity
3. Shopify Plus → best if operational simplicity/DTC integration outweighs sophisticated B2B requirements

One important point: don't evaluate these primarily by how many SKUs they "support." The more consequential questions for a distributor are whether the platform can efficiently handle SKU search/indexing, customer-specific price lists, inventory/availability, ERP synchronization, variant ordering, bulk order entry, repeat orders, and account permissions.

If you tell me roughly (a) number of SKUs, (b) number of B2B customers, (c) ERP you're using, and (d) whether you need customer-specific pricing/quotes, I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 architectures for a distributor like yours.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs, I’d narrow the field to Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce B2B, and Shopify Plus. The right choice depends heavily on how complex your pricing, customer accounts, ERP integration, and ordering process are.

My shortlist

1. Adobe Commerce — strongest for a complex distributor

This would be my first look if you have tens of thousands+ of SKUs, customer-specific pricing, multiple catalogs, complicated product relationships, sales-rep workflows, or a sophisticated ERP integration.

Its B2B functionality has a native Quick Order feature where buyers can:

• enter SKUs individually
• paste multiple SKUs
• upload a CSV containing SKUs and quantities
• search by SKU/product name

It also supports shared catalogs with custom pricing and B2B quotes. experienceleague.adobe.com

Adobe Commerce B2B documentation

2. BigCommerce B2B — probably the best middle ground

I'd seriously evaluate BigCommerce if you want something more SaaS-like and easier to operate than Adobe Commerce, while still building a serious B2B catalog operation.

It is particularly attractive if your requirements are something like large catalog + multiple price lists + ERP integration + customer-specific purchasing + multiple storefronts, without wanting to maintain a heavily customized Magento/Adobe installation.

3. Shopify Plus — best if usability is the priority

Shopify has substantially improved its native B2B capabilities. B2B now includes company accounts, catalogs, customer-specific pricing, quantity rules, payment terms and bulk ordering. Shopify Plus allows unlimited B2B catalogs and catalogs assigned directly to individual companies/locations. www.shopify.com

Its new quick bulk ordering experience lets buyers order from a list of products/variants rather than navigating individual product pages. www.shopify.com

The caveat for a distributor is that Shopify's native quick-order experience may not be enough if your buyers essentially want "give me a spreadsheet-like order-entry screen for 200 SKUs." There are apps that add searchable product tables, variant grids and CSV ordering. apps.shopify.com

What I'd choose

If you tell me:

• approximate SKU count (10k / 50k / 250k+)
• number of B2B customers
• whether each customer has its own price list
• ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Epicor, Dynamics, etc.)
• whether buyers typically order by SKU/part number
• whether you need CSV/Excel upload
• whether you also have a DTC storefront

…I can give you a much more definitive Adobe vs BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus recommendation, including which one I'd actually deploy for a distributor like yours.

For a distributor with lots of SKUs and buyers who already know what they want, I’d put BigCommerce B2B Edition at the top of the shortlist.

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — my first choice

BigCommerce is particularly well aligned with distribution. Its B2B Edition has a Quick Order Pad where buyers can enter SKUs or upload orders in bulk, plus shared shopping lists, reordering, company accounts, quoting, invoices, and approval workflows. www.bigcommerce.com

It also explicitly targets large catalogs and says its infrastructure can handle catalogs of 2M+ SKUs, although your actual implementation should be load-tested against your catalog/search/PIM architecture. www.bigcommerce.com

For a distributor, the combination I'd care about is:

• SKU-level/customer-specific pricing
• Customer-specific product catalogs
• Quick order by SKU
• Bulk/CSV ordering
• Easy reorder from previous purchases
• Multiple buyers under one customer account
• Sales-rep ordering
• PO/net terms/invoicing
• ERP/PIM integration
• Multi-storefront if you have different brands, regions, or customer segments

BigCommerce supports essentially this stack natively through B2B Edition. www.bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce B2B Edition

2. Adobe Commerce — strongest if your business is unusually complex

Adobe Commerce is the one I'd investigate if you have sophisticated pricing, customer hierarchies, multiple websites, complex product configuration, or a large development/IT team.

Its B2B functionality has an actual Quick Order workflow: buyers can enter products by SKU/name, enter multiple SKUs, or upload them through the quick-order form. It also has requisition lists for repeat purchases. experienceleague.adobe.com

The advantage is depth and flexibility. The downside is that it generally demands more implementation and ongoing technical resources than a SaaS platform.

Adobe Commerce B2B documentation

3. Shopify Plus — attractive if DTC is equally important

Shopify Plus B2B has customer-specific catalogs/pricing, company accounts, payment terms, PO numbers, sales-rep permissions, and quick bulk ordering through a separate order form or product pages. www.shopify.com

The catch for a distributor is that you may end up adding an app for the exact ordering experience you want. For example, Shopify's ecosystem has apps that provide searchable product tables, variant grids and CSV-based SKU ordering. apps.shopify.com

So I'd choose Shopify Plus if B2B + consumer/DTC is a major part of the strategy. If you're primarily a distributor, I'd lean BigCommerce.

My ranking for your use case

BigCommerce B2B Edition → Adobe Commerce → Shopify Plus

The important distinction is that I'd evaluate these platforms around your buyer workflow, not just catalog size. For example, if a buyer receives a spreadsheet like:

SKU | Qty
ABC-123 | 48
XYZ-882 | 12
LMN-441 | 100

…and expects to paste/upload it, get their contracted prices, see availability, and submit a PO in under a minute, BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce are especially compelling. BigCommerce's B2B APIs also specifically expose catalog/quick-order functionality for this kind of workflow. docs.bigcommerce.com

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (e.g. 50k vs. 500k vs. 2M), how many B2B customers, and what ERP/PIM you're using, I can narrow this down to the best architecture rather than just the best storefront.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog, I’d put BigCommerce B2B Edition and Shopify Plus at the top of the shortlist, with Adobe Commerce if your catalog/pricing complexity is extreme.

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — probably the best match

BigCommerce specifically targets wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors. Its B2B tooling includes SKU lists, CSV bulk ordering, one-click reordering, buyer roles/permissions, customer-specific pricing, requisitions and sales-rep tools. www.bigcommerce.com

That's important for your use case because a distributor's buyer often doesn't want to browse 5,000–100,000 products. They want to:

paste SKU 12345 → quantity 20 → SKU 67890 → quantity 5 → submit order

BigCommerce's quick-order functionality is much closer to that workflow out of the box than a typical consumer ecommerce setup.

BigCommerce B2B platform

2. Shopify Plus — excellent if speed and UX matter

Shopify has substantially improved its native B2B capabilities. Shopify Plus supports company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, quantity rules, volume pricing, payment terms and quick bulk ordering. Shopify specifically describes a B2B order form where buyers can order multiple products/variants without going through individual product pages. www.shopify.com

The catch for a distributor is that you may end up adding apps for more sophisticated purchasing workflows. For example, Shopify's App Store has B2B apps supporting searchable SKU tables, CSV uploads and variant grids. apps.shopify.com

Shopify Plus B2B

3. Adobe Commerce — when "lots of SKUs" means really lots

I'd consider Adobe Commerce when you have things like:

• hundreds of thousands/millions of SKUs
• complicated product attributes/fitment
• many customer-specific price books
• account hierarchies and purchasing approvals
• sophisticated quoting/RFQ
• requisition lists
• highly customized ERP/PIM integration
• multiple brands/catalogs/regions

It has the deepest native B2B feature set, but it's substantially more involved to implement and operate. elogic.co

My recommendation

If I were evaluating this for a distributor, I'd start with:

🥇 BigCommerce B2B Edition — best balance of large catalog + distributor workflows + quick ordering.

🥈 Shopify Plus — choose this if you value fast implementation, excellent storefront UX, and potentially combining B2B and DTC.

🥉 Adobe Commerce — choose this if your business has unusually complex catalog, pricing, account, or ERP requirements.

One thing I'd test before choosing is your actual order-entry experience, not just the storefront. Give each vendor a spreadsheet containing, say, 1,000 SKUs, then ask them to demonstrate: "A buyer knows these 80 SKUs and quantities—show me how they place this order." That will expose the practical differences very quickly.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (10k / 100k / 1M+), what ERP you're on (NetSuite, SAP, Epicor, etc.), and whether customers have contract-specific pricing, I can narrow this to 1–2 platforms.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog, I’d shortlist Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce B2B Edition, and Shopify Plus. The right choice depends heavily on how complex your pricing, ERP integration, and buyer workflows are.

1. Adobe Commerce — my pick for complex distribution

Adobe Commerce

This is particularly strong if your catalog is huge and you have customer-specific pricing, multiple price lists, complex company accounts, ERP-driven data, quotes, purchase approvals, and sales-rep workflows.

Its B2B functionality includes Quick Order, where buyers can enter SKUs individually, paste multiple SKUs, or upload a file; it also has reusable requisition lists for repeat purchases. experienceleague.adobe.com

A particularly useful detail for distributors: Adobe's Shared Catalog can assign customized products/pricing to individual companies, and its documentation specifically describes a performance option for merchants managing many shared catalogs. experienceleague.adobe.com

I'd choose it if: you have tens/hundreds of thousands+ of SKUs, complicated customer pricing, and an ERP/OMS that needs to be deeply integrated.

2. BigCommerce B2B Edition — probably the best SaaS option

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is very compelling for distributors because its B2B Edition has a Quick Order Pad for entering SKUs or uploading orders in bulk, along with shopping lists, quotes, and B2B buyer portals. www.bigcommerce.com

The advantage versus Adobe is that you're getting a more managed SaaS platform rather than taking on as much infrastructure/customization responsibility.

I'd choose it if: you want serious B2B functionality and catalog scale but don't want the operational complexity of Adobe Commerce.

3. Shopify Plus — best if ease of use matters

Shopify Plus

Shopify has become substantially better for B2B. Plus supports company accounts, customer-specific catalogs/pricing, quantity rules, volume pricing, payment terms, and quick bulk ordering through an order-form experience. www.shopify.comwww.shopify.com

The catch for a distributor is that some very specialized workflows can require apps or custom development. Shopify's own documentation, for example, points to third-party/custom solutions for capabilities such as CSV ordering in the buyer portal. www.shopify.com

I'd choose it if: you're also doing meaningful DTC/ecommerce, want the easiest admin experience, and your B2B requirements aren't extraordinarily complex.

My recommendation

For your description, I'd rank them:

1. Adobe Commerce — if the catalog and B2B complexity are genuinely substantial.
2. BigCommerce B2B — if you want SaaS and faster implementation while retaining strong distributor functionality.
3. Shopify Plus — if simplicity, DTC, and speed matter more than deeply specialized B2B workflows.

The quick-order requirement is important. I wouldn't evaluate these platforms based primarily on their normal storefront search. For a distributor, I'd demo the exact workflow:

Buyer enters 30 SKUs + quantities → system validates SKUs → applies that customer's contract pricing → shows availability → buyer submits PO → order goes to ERP.

I'd also test CSV upload, customer-specific catalogs, case-pack/MOQ rules, substitute SKUs, backorders, sales-rep ordering, and ERP price/inventory synchronization. Those are much more likely to determine whether the platform actually works for your business than the storefront itself.

If you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (e.g. 50k vs. 500k), what ERP you're on (NetSuite, SAP, Epicor, etc.), and whether you have customer-specific contract pricing, I can narrow this to a recommended architecture and platform.

For a distributor with a large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who already know what they want, I’d shortlist Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce B2B, and Shopify Plus—but they fit different operating models.

My pick: Adobe Commerce if you're truly catalog-heavy

Adobe Commerce has unusually strong native B2B functionality: Quick Order lets buyers enter multiple SKUs, paste a list of SKUs, or upload a file; requisition lists let customers repeatedly order common assortments; and Shared Catalogs support customer/company-specific products and pricing. experienceleague.adobe.com

That's particularly compelling for distributors because the buyer experience can be:

SKU → quantity → add to cart → checkout

rather than forcing a procurement customer to navigate thousands of product pages.

It also supports company accounts, negotiated quotes, purchase-order workflows and approval rules. experienceleague.adobe.com

The tradeoff is implementation and ownership complexity. If you don't have a strong technical team/partner, Adobe can be substantially more expensive and involved than a SaaS platform.

BigCommerce is probably the one I'd evaluate next

For a distributor that wants SaaS rather than running a heavily customized Commerce stack, BigCommerce is very attractive. Its B2B offering is designed around things like customer-specific pricing, company accounts, bulk ordering and complex B2B workflows. Current comparisons also put it particularly strong for distributors/manufacturers with complex pricing and ordering requirements. www.softwarexp.com

I'd seriously consider it if you have, say, tens or hundreds of thousands of SKUs, substantial ERP integration, multiple customer price lists, and don't want the operational burden of Adobe.

Shopify Plus: excellent, but I'd be more cautious for your use case

Shopify has substantially expanded its native B2B functionality in 2026, including company profiles, custom catalogs, volume pricing and payment terms. www.shopify.com

The issue is that a distributor's SKU-pad / bulk-order workflow often becomes more important than the normal Shopify storefront experience. Shopify can do this, but sophisticated quick-order tables, CSV ordering and similar workflows may require apps; for example, there are current Shopify apps specifically adding searchable product tables and CSV bulk ordering. apps.shopify.com

So I'd choose Shopify Plus when DTC + B2B coexistence and ease of operation are major priorities, rather than because it's the strongest platform for a huge industrial catalog.

The architecture I'd aim for

For a serious distributor, I'd prioritize these requirements above generic "ecommerce scalability":

1. SKU quick-order pad — paste/type 20–100 SKUs and quantities.
2. CSV/Excel order upload.
3. Reorder from previous orders.
4. Saved/requisition lists.
5. Customer-specific catalogs and price lists.
6. Customer-specific product availability.
7. ERP-driven inventory and pricing.
8. Multiple buyers/locations under one customer account.
9. PO/credit terms and approval workflows.
10. Fast search across the entire catalog.
11. API/headless capabilities if your ERP/PIM is sophisticated.
12. A storefront that doesn't try to render your entire catalog at once.

Bottom line: if you tell me roughly how many SKUs you have (50k / 500k / 1M+), what ERP you're on (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, Epicor, etc.), and whether you also sell DTC, I can narrow this to a 2–3 platform recommendation and explain which one I'd actually choose for your distributor.

For a distributor with a very large SKU catalog and B2B buyers who already know the SKU/part number they want, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Adobe Commerce, and Shopify Plus. The quick-order requirement changes the ranking quite a bit.

My ranking

\*Shopify's native B2B functionality is strong, but its native B2B feature set does not include an order form; apps can add SKU-paste, CSV upload and quick-order functionality. apps.shopify.comapps.shopify.com

1. BigCommerce B2B Edition — probably where I'd start

For a distributor, BigCommerce is my first platform to evaluate.

The important thing isn't simply "how many SKUs can it hold." It's whether buyers can efficiently navigate a huge catalog while getting the right customer-specific pricing, quantity rules, account permissions, payment terms, and ordering workflow.

BigCommerce is particularly strong on those B2B workflows, including quick-order/SKU-pad functionality, customer-specific pricing, quotes, and buyer-account capabilities. www.iwdagency.com

I'd favor it if your buyers commonly say:

"I need 12 of SKU 48392, 4 of SKU 77103, and 20 of SKU 99182."

rather than browsing through categories.

2. Adobe Commerce — best when the catalog is really complicated

If you're talking hundreds of thousands to millions of SKUs, complicated product attributes/fitment, multiple warehouses, multiple websites/brands, sophisticated pricing rules, or deep ERP integration, I'd put Adobe Commerce very high on the list.

It has particularly deep B2B capabilities around requisition lists, RFQs/quotes, approval workflows and complex procurement logic. www.iwdagency.comelogic.co

The tradeoff is operational complexity: you're taking on a considerably heavier implementation and engineering environment than BigCommerce or Shopify Plus.

3. Shopify Plus — best if you want the easiest platform to operate

Shopify Plus has become substantially more compelling for B2B. It now supports company accounts, buyer permissions, customer-specific catalogs, quantity rules, volume pricing, payment terms and self-service reordering. apps.shopify.com

For quick ordering, however, I'd plan on an app. For example, current Shopify apps can provide searchable product tables, SKU entry, variant grids and CSV bulk ordering. apps.shopify.com

So the architecture becomes:

Shopify Plus + B2B catalogs/pricing + dedicated quick-order app + ERP integration

That's a very attractive setup if you also have a consumer/DTC business and want one modern platform.

The feature I'd prioritize

Don't just ask vendors, "Can you handle 500k SKUs?"

I'd demo this exact workflow:

1. Buyer logs in.
2. They see their negotiated prices.
3. They paste 50–500 SKUs + quantities into a single order form.
4. Unknown SKUs are flagged immediately.
5. Substitutions/pack sizes are shown.
6. Inventory availability is displayed.
7. Customer-specific MOQ/case-pack rules are enforced.
8. Buyer submits against their PO/net terms.
9. The order flows automatically to the ERP.
10. Buyer can hit "Reorder" next month.

That will tell you far more than a generic catalog-size benchmark.

My default recommendation: BigCommerce B2B Edition if you're primarily a distributor/wholesaler; Adobe Commerce if your catalog and pricing logic are exceptionally complex; Shopify Plus if simplicity, speed, and potentially combining B2B + DTC are more important.

If you tell me roughly SKU count (e.g. 50k vs 500k vs 2M), ERP (NetSuite/SAP/Dynamics/etc.), number of B2B customers, and whether you also sell DTC, I can narrow this to a specific architecture and give you a BigCommerce vs Shopify Plus vs Adobe comparison for your operation.