Distribution

Commerce Experiences That Drive Outcomes for Distributors

Our deep expertise across distribution helps you unleash the full potential of your digital commerce experience. We’ll work with you to create a solution that reflects your business needs so every outcome we deliver helps drive more value from your investment.  

$0 to $700m

ecommerce sales for a beverage distributor

52%

increase in online revenue for a top 10 electrical distributor

67%

of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Experience

We Understand Distributors Business Needs

Built on the realities of inventory management, fulfillment operations, and complex pricing structures, we design commerce solutions that improve efficiency, increase order velocity, and strengthen customer relationships.  

Self-Service That Actually Reduces Work 

Self-service in distribution goes beyond basic functionality. Customers need to manage accounts, place and reorder products, track deliveries, and handle returns independently without relying on a sales representative. Features like barcode printing and online invoice payment are often treated as add-ons, but they are essential to making these workflows efficient. We design these experiences to be fast, intuitive, and reliable, enabling customers to complete everyday tasks without friction while reducing manual effort for your internal teams. 

Payments and Procurement 

Distributors need to support a wide range of payment methods and purchasing workflows across customer types and channels. We implement flexible payment experiences aligned with modern frameworks, enabling secure, scalable processing for credit cards and alternative payment methods while maintaining a seamless checkout experience. Many customers also operate within procurement systems and expect frictionless punchout experiences, and we bring deep experience across multiple implementations to ensure ordering flows are reliable, consistent, and easy to maintain across platforms and partners, creating a connected transaction experience from purchase through payment. 

Complex Buying Flows Made Simple  

Multi-step approvals, role-based permissions, and account hierarchies are core to how distributors operate. We design solutions that streamline these processes so purchasing teams can move quickly while staying aligned with internal rules and budget controls. This is especially critical for high-frequency purchasing categories such as MRO products, where repeat ordering and operational continuity are essential. This extends to contract pricing, matrix pricing models, and customer-specific assortments, ensuring each buyer sees the right products, pricing, and terms based on their relationship and agreements.

Value Added Services That Drive Differentiation  

Distributors increasingly compete on more than product availability. Value added services such as labeling, light assembly, inspection, and staging create meaningful differentiation and new revenue opportunities. We design digital experiences that make these services easy to discover, configure, and request. The result is a more complete customer experience that strengthens relationships and increases lifetime value

Supply Chain Optimization

Distributors need real-time visibility and control across the supply chain to operate efficiently. We connect commerce experiences with inventory, fulfillment, and logistics systems to improve forecasting, optimize inventory levels, and reduce operational costs, while using data and analytics to identify purchasing patterns, monitor customer behavior, and surface trends that inform smarter inventory and demand decisions, resulting in a more responsive supply chain that improves accuracy, increases efficiency, and better aligns with evolving customer expectations. 

Integration Expertise for the Distribution Ecosystem

Distributors rely on accurate data and strong integrations with systems such as ERP, CRM, PIM, and payment services. Our team has deep experience implementing punchout, along with SAP-aligned payment flows that follow best practice integration standards. These integrations power real-time inventory visibility, dynamic pricing, and streamlined order processing, while also enabling owned marketplace models and drop ship workflows that expand product offerings without increasing operational burden. The result is stronger operational efficiency and a more responsive experience that better meets customer needs. 

“Having Smith and being able to tap into them really helps us see technically where things are going in the B2B ecommerce space. That is a huge value to us.”

Eric Hall, Senior Director, B2B Ecommerce, Breakthru Beverage Group 

FAQ

  • How do you support high frequency, repeat ordering for distributors? 

    We design ordering experiences around the realities of distribution. We implement capabilities like quick order, saved carts, order history, and bulk upload to streamline repeat purchases. These solutions reduce friction, minimize errors, and support the speed and scale required for high-volume B2B transactions.  

  • How do you handle complex pricing models across customers and channels? 

    We structure pricing strategies that reflect how distributors actually operate. This includes contract pricing, customer-specific pricing, volume discounts, and promotions. Since we integrate directly with core systems, we ensure pricing is accurate, consistent, and dynamically presented across every touchpoint.  

  • How do you support punchout and procurement integrations? 

    We bring deep experience implementing punchout integrations across a range of procurement platforms, ensuring seamless connectivity between your commerce environment and your customers’ purchasing systems. The result is a consistent and reliable buying experience that aligns with how your customers already work.  

  • How do you enable real-time inventory visibility for distributors?  

    We connect commerce experiences directly with ERP and warehouse systems to deliver accurate, location-based inventory data. This includes availability by branch, backorder logic, and delivery timelines, giving customers the transparency they expect while supporting better operational decision-making.  

  • How do you manage order fulfillment across multiple warehouses? 

    We create fulfillment solutions that reflect the complexity of distribution operations, including multi-warehouse inventory, order routing, and split shipments. These capabilities ensure orders are fulfilled efficiently while maintaining visibility and consistency from checkout through delivery.  

  • How do you use product content to drive conversion?

    We help produce and manage product content at scale to drive conversion across distributor catalogs. Clear, detailed descriptions, specifications, imagery, and supporting assets reduce uncertainty and support faster decision-making. Product data is structured and enhanced for consistency and usability, while merchandising tactics like rule-based badging surface key details and guide purchasing decisions.

Case Studies

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Our Experience in Manufacturing

Rob Miller

We’re shaping the landscape of commerce and we’ve been doing it for more than 20 years. Some might say that’s a long time. We think we’re just getting started. Let us help you turn your potential into performance.

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