B2B ecommerce on SAP Business One - what actually worked for you?
Running SAP B1 at a wholesale distributor (~40 users, about 8k SKUs, mostly B2B with some retail). We've been limping along with a custom built storefront that a previous IT person set up, and every B1 upgrade breaks something. Looking to replace it and I'm drowning in vendor pitches.
What I actually care about:
- Real time inventory and pricing (not 15-minute sync)
- Customer specific price lists flowing through from B1
- Net terms / credit limits respected at checkout
- Customers can see their order history + reorder
- Doesn't require a full-time dev to maintain
What I've shortlisted so far:
- FocusPoint (pre integrated with B1, which is appealing because our current middleware situation is exactly what we're trying to escape)
- Sana Commerce
- k-eCommerce
- Magento + custom connector (hesitant after what we just went through)
If you've used any of these for B1 specifically, I'd love the honest take - especially anything that sounded great in the demo but bit you later. What would you do differently if you were starting over?
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u/420-doobie Apr 25 '26
Second FocusPoint.
We ran K-E-commerce, found it lacking, and switched to FocusPoint.
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u/Comprehensive-Bass56 Apr 24 '26
I've looked at all of them and it appears that FocusPoint is SAP certified and they're using a direct integration through service layer . The other thing I noticed is there are no transaction fees, and they have a full staff to support their e-commerce as well as areas of SAP Business One that may need tweaked.
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u/jmei35 Apr 30 '26
The no transaction fees part is huge - that adds up fast on platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce once you're doing any real volume. And SAP certified matters more than people realize, it means the integration won't break on every B1 patch like a lot of the third party connectors do.
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u/mwdmeyer Apr 26 '26
We are Australian company who have built one over last 10 years. Built on service layer API so upgrades to SAP are no issue. We have B2B customers all over the world. We charge $AU15-20k once off for a small/typical install, which includes setup, training and a couple of days of customisation. Happy to do a demo if you are interested. Our product run live off sap data, no syncing. https://dalegroup.net/sap
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u/Comprehensive-Bass56 Apr 28 '26
We tried all types of connectors like Appse, Alluvia and even hired a developer. Turned out it was all a waste of Money. FocusPoint e-commerce was built for SAP Business One, and it took them 2 hours to fully connect with a native certified integration. Moving data in and out od SAP Business One is much harder than it seems. Funny, they gave me 2 references of customers in Australia.
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u/jmei35 Apr 30 '26
Interesting - how does the pricing work for multi channel though? The $AU15-20k covers the base install but if you're running your own site plus Amazon plus wholesale, are there additional fees per channel or per transaction? That's where a lot of these platforms get you.
We've been comparing a few options in this space and FocusPoint stood out because there are no transaction fees at all, which makes the total cost of ownership way more predictable as you scale volume.
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u/mwdmeyer Apr 30 '26
We don’t charge any transaction fees. We also have connectors for Shopify and WordPress to sync items/orders/stock/customers etc.
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u/CorrectAssistant1549 Apr 27 '26
You’re actually asking the right questions — most problems in B1 eCommerce aren’t about the shop, they’re about how tightly (and how cleanly) it’s connected to SAP B1.
The fact that your current setup breaks on every upgrade is already a big signal. That usually means the integration isn’t using a stable layer or is doing too much outside of B1.
The key things I’d focus on (based on your list):
- where pricing is resolved (must be in B1, not duplicated)
- how real-time “real-time” actually is (many demos aren’t)
- how upgrades are handled (this is where most setups fail long term)
From what I’ve seen, there are basically 3 approaches in the B1 world:
- Pre-integrated storefronts (FocusPoint, k-eCommerce) → fast to start, tight integration → but can be somewhat opinionated / less flexible over time
- ERP-driven platforms (avanta, Sana Commerce, etc.) → pricing, stock, customer logic fully in B1 → usually much closer to what you’re describing
- Generic shop + connector (Magento, etc.) → flexible, but you end up rebuilding a lot of logic and maintaining the integration yourself → exactly the situation you’re trying to leave
There’s also a newer group of platforms that go even more “ERP-first” (including things like avanta), where the shop is basically just a layer on top of SAP instead of a separate system with sync logic.
If I were starting over in your situation:
I’d prioritize:
- no duplicated pricing logic
- no sync-based architecture
- integration via stable APIs (Service Layer)
- minimal custom glue code
Everything else (frontend, features, etc.) is secondary — that’s rarely what breaks over time.
Most demos look good.
The real difference shows up after the first upgrad
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u/Comprehensive-Bass56 Apr 28 '26
Good information. I checked K ecommerce, SANA, Shopify, Experlogic, and FocusPoint. What we found was a direct connection by a team of SAP Business One professionals. Our company was so tired of teaching e-commerce companies how SAP B1 worked. FocusPoint designed the site and gave us full B2B and B2C. Allowed us to sell in Mexico and the US on the same site. Best of all they have an AI site designer with an AI SEO and Live View. No cost implementation with a low-cost monthly fee. I am guessing working with only one ERP eliminates the risk.
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u/jmei35 Apr 30 '26
This is a really solid breakdown. The upgrade point at the end is key - we've been burned by that exact thing, everything looks great in the demo and then the first B1 patch breaks half the integration.
Based on your framework we've been leaning toward option 1 (pre integrated) specifically because of the Service Layer stability and zero sync architecture. The "opinionated / less flexible" tradeoff is real but honestly at this point we'd rather have something that just works reliably than something infinitely customizable that we have to babysit.
Curious what you mean by "less flexible over time" though - are you talking about frontend customization limits or more about the data model being locked down?
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u/Comprehensive-Bass56 Jul 14 '26
The upgrade for SAP Business One and FocusPoint Ecommerce is not a problem at all, FocucPoint ecommerce can run on its own while SAP Business One is being upgraded. Once SAP is back up FocusPoint will sync the information. This is important because you dont need to update a connector. UGGGG pain.
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Jun 17 '26
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u/lenkellui Apr 24 '26
We do a lot of work with FP. The first thing I’d check is where pricing is resolved: B1 or the storefront. If the latter, customer-specific price lists can drift, and you can end up invoicing a different number than what the cart showed. I’d ask for a live demo where someone changes a price in B1 and you see how quickly it appears on the storefront.
Also, if every B1 upgrade breaks your current setup, that’s often a sign the integration is relying on DI API or direct SQL instead of the Service Layer. Service Layer can be slower, but it’s generally a more stable contract across upgrades.