Magento 2 for manufacturers: how to use the platform for D2C, B2B and growing your own e‑commerce

Simple and configurable products

A simple product corresponds to a single item, usually with its own SKU. A configurable product combines many such products on one product page.

Say a clothing manufacturer offers one hoodie in five colours and six sizes. Instead of creating 30 separate product pages, it can set up one configurable product where the customer picks the colour and size.

Each variant can have its own SKU, price and stock level, so the manufacturer can manage the availability of each combination independently. The same mechanism works for furniture, footwear, electronics, tools or home furnishings.

How to create and manage variants is covered in the Magento 2 documentation on configurable products (opens in a new tab).

Product sets and selling kits

Magento 2 also supports grouped products and bundle products.

Grouped products present several independent products on one page. A workshop equipment manufacturer, for instance, can show a complete line of tools and let the customer order the pieces they need.

A bundle product, on the other hand, builds a set out of specific products in which the customer can choose individual components. A furniture manufacturer could offer a set of a table and chairs, with the chair model chosen from a prepared list. An electronics manufacturer can use it for kits made up of a device, extra equipment and accessories.

Bear in mind, though, that the standard bundle mechanism does not replace a production system or an advanced configurator. It is meant above all for sales kits. More in Adobe's documentation on bundle products (opens in a new tab).

Technical attributes and catalogue filtering

For technical products, the right attribute structure has a direct effect on how easy the store is to buy from.

A customer looking for a pump may need to filter by power, flow rate, power supply type and maximum lift height. Someone buying lighting may want to see only products with a given colour temperature, wattage and IP rating.

Magento lets you create your own attributes and group them into sets matched to each product category. Attributes can be used to display specifications, compare products, build variants and create catalogue filters.

That gives the manufacturer an advanced product search shaped around the way its customers look for specific items.

Preparing the data properly matters, though. If the same parameter appears in the company database under different names or in different units, it has to be standardised before it is imported into the store.

For details, see the Magento documentation on product attributes (opens in a new tab) and how layered navigation and filters work (opens in a new tab).

Configurators for made-to-order products

In some industries, choosing a standard variant is not enough.

A furniture manufacturer may let customers set dimensions, material, colour, extra fittings or finish themselves. Each of those decisions can affect the price and whether the product can be made at all.

Magento has standard customisable product options for choosing certain features or entering custom information. They do not, however, provide advanced management of dependencies between components, or separate stock levels for every possible configuration.

More demanding projects can build a custom configurator or integrate Magento with an external CPQ tool. Such a configurator can take care of choosing components, validating the configuration and calculating the price; Magento then handles the cart, payment and order.

If the product is only made after purchase, the integration can also pass the full configuration on to the ERP or the system that runs production.

The difference between simple custom options and configurable products is explained in Adobe's documentation on customisable options (opens in a new tab).

Presenting the brand and its products your own way

In distributors' stores, products from competing brands are often shown side by side, and the customer compares their prices, specifications and availability. Its own store lets a manufacturer present the range more fully, show how products are used and explain the differences between models.

A tool manufacturer can publish detailed guides to choosing equipment. A furniture company can show room arrangements, available materials and care instructions. A cosmetics manufacturer can extend product pages with detailed information on ingredients and how to use them.

Magento provides CMS content management and rich product pages. More bespoke solutions can be built with additional modules and a well-designed frontend.

Selling complementary products and spare parts

The manufacturer's own store is also where it can grow sales of complementary products. Magento has standard related products, up-sells and cross-sells, which show customers products linked to the item they are viewing or buying.

A power tool manufacturer can suggest spare batteries and compatible accessories. A lighting manufacturer can show bulbs, mounting parts and products from the same collection.

Spare parts are a particularly interesting use. A manufacturer that knows which parts fit which device models can use that to build a catalogue that helps customers buy the right part. With large catalogues this may need an additional data model or a PIM integration.

Direct access to customer data

Its own D2C channel lets a manufacturer analyse customer behaviour and interest in individual products.

With the right analytics tools in place, the business can see which products are viewed, which variants go into the cart, which items are bought together and where customers abandon their purchase.

That information can be useful beyond the e‑commerce team too. It can inform decisions about the product range, new product development and inventory planning.

Magento can be integrated with analytics tools, CRM and marketing automation systems. What data is exchanged should fit the needs of the business and the data protection rules that apply.

Does a D2C store have to compete with distributors?

Growing direct sales can worry existing trade partners, especially if the manufacturer starts selling the same products to consumers at prices below those its distributors offer.

Magento can run separate price lists and catalogues for different channels, but how they are used follows from the company's commercial strategy.

A manufacturer might, for example, build D2C sales around the brand's full range, additional services, personalisation or products not available through traditional distribution. It can also dedicate its own store to spare parts, accessories and new collections.

So before launching D2C, it is worth settling the role of the new channel, the pricing policy and how the business will keep working with its existing partners.

Individual catalogues for business buyers

A manufacturer may have several groups of buyers it wants to show a different range to. Authorised distributors, for example, might see the full product catalogue while smaller wholesalers see only part of it.

Adobe Commerce B2B has shared catalogues: catalogues with individual prices, assigned to specific companies. The manufacturer can manage what each trade customer is offered without building a separate store for each of them.

In Magento Open Source, customer groups and group prices can be used. More extensive control over access to the catalogue needs additional solutions.

More in the documentation on shared catalogues in Adobe Commerce B2B (opens in a new tab).

Company accounts and staff permissions

A large business buyer may have several employees responsible for different stages of purchasing. One prepares the order, another approves it, and the finance team controls payment terms.

Adobe Commerce B2B lets you create company accounts, define an organisational structure and give users specific permissions. The manufacturer can then offer each trade customer a purchasing environment that follows its internal procedures.

Company accounts and permissions are described in Adobe's documentation on company account structure (opens in a new tab).

Placing wholesale orders quickly

Business buyers often order the same products at regular intervals. They do not need to browse the whole catalogue every time, open one product page after another and add items to the cart by hand.

Adobe Commerce B2B has quick order, which takes orders by SKU. The customer can enter a list of products by hand or import it from a file.

A wholesaler ordering 80 different products, for example, can prepare a list of their catalogue numbers and quantities and add every line to the cart at once, without searching for each item separately.

There are also requisition lists, lists of regularly ordered products. Unlike a standard cart, a list stays saved after the order is placed and can be used again and again.

Both are covered in Adobe's documentation: quick order (opens in a new tab) and requisition lists (opens in a new tab). In Magento Open Source, similar solutions need additional modules or custom development.

Negotiating quotes with distributors

Not every wholesale order can be fulfilled from a fixed price list. A large distributor may expect an individual discount, a change in quantities or additional commercial arrangements.

Adobe Commerce B2B provides negotiable quotes, which let the negotiation happen on the platform itself.

The business customer prepares a cart and sends a request for a quote. A sales representative reviews the order, proposes terms and sends the quote for approval. Both sides can continue negotiating, and the history of what was agreed stays recorded in the system.

That lets the manufacturer move part of its sales communication out of email and into the B2B platform. The account manager still takes part in the negotiation, but everything about a given quote is in one place.

The process in detail is set out in Adobe's documentation on negotiable quotes (opens in a new tab).

Order approval on the buyer's side

In larger companies, an order often has to be approved by the purchasing manager or whoever holds the budget.

Adobe Commerce B2B lets you define approval rules for purchase orders. Approval can depend on the order value, the employee's role or the organisational structure.

A distributor's employee might, for example, place orders up to a certain amount on their own. Larger purchases need a manager's approval, and orders above a further threshold may need sign-off from someone else as well.

That way, buying on the manufacturer's platform can follow the trade customer's internal procedures.

More in the documentation on B2B purchase order approval rules (opens in a new tab).

Trade credit and deferred payment terms

In wholesale, individual payment terms and credit limits are often the norm.

Adobe Commerce B2B offers company credit: a credit limit assigned to a trade customer, control over how much of it is used, and a record of settlements.

A distributor might, for example, get a set purchasing limit and place orders on deferred payment. The system checks the available limit against the recorded transactions.

It is important to tell apart handling a limit on the purchasing platform from the company's accounting and receivables control.

If the manufacturer manages settlements in its ERP, the two systems should exchange information about available limits, payments and outstanding balances. Without the right integration, the data shown in Magento can differ from the real state of the accounts.

How this works is described in the company credit documentation (opens in a new tab).

Prices for customer groups

Group pricing assigns different product prices to specific customer groups. A manufacturer might have a group for retail customers, one for standard wholesalers and one for strategic partners, each getting the right purchasing terms.

Group prices are available in both Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. Adobe's documentation sets out how to configure prices for customer groups (opens in a new tab).

Where individual trade terms apply to a large number of trade customers, standard groups may not be enough. That is the point to consider Adobe Commerce B2B features or an integration with price lists managed in the ERP.

Quantity discounts

Tier pricing makes the unit price depend on the quantity ordered. A manufacturer can, for instance, set a standard price for single orders and further price breaks for larger batches.

It is most useful in wholesale, but it can be used in D2C too, for example for larger packs of products, consumables or accessories.

A household chemicals manufacturer, for instance, can offer a lower unit price for a whole carton rather than a single item. A packaging manufacturer can tie the price to orders of 100, 500 or 1,000 units.

How to set up price breaks is described in Adobe's documentation on tier pricing (opens in a new tab).

Promotions and individual trade terms

Magento can also run promotions on specific products, categories, customer groups or cart contents. A manufacturer can, for example, run a promotion on a chosen collection in its D2C store without changing its standard terms with distributors.

Catalogue price rules apply discounts automatically to products that meet given conditions. Cart price rules, in turn, create promotions that depend on what is in the cart.

Both need careful configuration. If the manufacturer uses several kinds of discount at once, it should check how they are calculated together to avoid cutting its margin by accident.

For details, see the Magento documentation on catalogue price rules (opens in a new tab).

Separate price lists for different markets

A manufacturer selling in Poland and Germany does not have to charge identical prices in all its stores. Magento lets you set the price scope at the website level, so the same product can have a different base price in the Polish and the German market.

Not every price has to follow the current exchange rate either. Each market can have its own pricing policy, reflecting logistics costs, competition or how the brand is positioned.

What matters is configuring the price scope and the base currencies of each website correctly. This is explained in Adobe's documentation on price scope (opens in a new tab).

Working with several warehouses

Magento can create many inventory sources, which can correspond to real warehouses, bricks-and-mortar stores or other locations that fulfil orders. A manufacturer might have a central warehouse, one at the production plant and one dedicated to sales abroad.

Each location can hold its own stock levels. Sources are then assigned to stocks, which are linked to sales channels, so you can decide which warehouses each website draws on.

Two terms need telling apart: a source is a location where goods are stored or shipped from, while a stock expresses the combined availability of products in the sales channel it is assigned to.

Exactly how this works is set out in Adobe's documentation on stocks and sources (opens in a new tab).

Reserving products once an order is placed

Magento uses stock reservations, which reduce the risk of the same products being sold twice at the same time. When a customer places an order, the system counts the reservation against the salable quantity. The products are physically deducted from a specific source when the shipment is made.

Say a manufacturer has 50 units of a product. A D2C customer orders 5 and a distributor orders another 20. If both orders draw on the same stock, Magento takes the reservations into account when it calculates what is still available.

This is described in the documentation on source selection algorithms and reservations (opens in a new tab).

Remember, though, that Magento's reservations cover orders the platform handles. If the manufacturer also sells by phone, through sales reps or through other systems, availability has to be synchronised with those channels.

Choosing the warehouse that fulfils an order

Magento has a source selection algorithm that helps decide which location an order should be fulfilled from. The manufacturer can set warehouse priorities and use them when preparing shipments.

Domestic orders, for example, can be served first from the central warehouse, and orders from abroad from a warehouse closer to that market.

The standard mechanisms recommend sources to fulfil orders from. More complex rules, taking into account specific logistics costs or individual carrier contracts, for instance, may need extending.

Selling products that are temporarily out of stock

Magento supports backorders, that is, taking orders for products whose current stock is insufficient. A manufacturer can use this for products that will be available again after the next delivery or production batch.

You can decide whether the customer may order such an item and whether they should be told it is unavailable.

Backorders on their own do not work out when production will actually finish, though. To show reliable delivery dates, availability has to be tied to the relevant information from the ERP or the production planning system.

Configuration is described in Adobe's documentation on backorders (opens in a new tab).

Integrating Magento 2 with the ERP

The ERP can be the main system for operational information about products, stock, prices and orders. Magento can take from it the data it needs to sell, and then pass back information about new orders.

A typical integration might cover:

• synchronising SKUs and basic product data;
• updating stock levels and availability;
• passing on price lists and individual trade terms;
• exporting D2C and B2B orders;
• updating fulfilment statuses;
• passing on information about sales documents and shipments.

The exact scope depends on the ERP in use and on how the manufacturer organises its work.

Magento provides APIs for exchanging data with external applications. The technical possibilities are described in the official REST API documentation for Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source (opens in a new tab).

Which system should be the source of the data?

When integrating Magento with the ERP, settle on one system responsible for each kind of information. For example:

This is an example division of responsibility. In a given company it may look different.

The key is to avoid the same data being edited independently in several systems while the integration does not say which version wins.

When does a manufacturer need a PIM?

Picture a company with 5,000 products, several dozen technical parameters and a catalogue produced in five languages.

If all of that information is kept directly in Magento, updating it can become more and more labour-intensive, especially when the same data also has to go into PDF catalogues, marketplaces and trade partners.

A PIM lets you prepare product information in one place and then pass it on to the relevant sales channels. Magento can take the data it needs through the API or a dedicated integration, and you can decide which attributes are shared by every store and which need their own translations or values.

Not every manufacturer needs a PIM, though. With a relatively small catalogue and simple processes, managing the data directly in Magento can be enough.

Partial orders and deliveries from several warehouses

Magento supports partial shipments, so an order with several items does not have to go out as a single parcel.

Say a customer orders five products. Three are in the central warehouse and the other two in another one. Depending on the configuration and how logistics are organised, the manufacturer can send separate shipments instead of holding back the whole order.

The system can record shipment information and tracking numbers. This is described in Adobe's documentation on shipping orders (opens in a new tab).

Pallet freight and individual delivery costs

For manufacturers selling heavy or bulky products, standard courier methods may not be enough.

Magento can calculate delivery costs from given conditions such as weight, number of items, order value and delivery location. Table rate shipping is one of the tools for this.

The manufacturer can therefore set different delivery rates for given weight ranges and locations. Adobe's documentation describes how to configure table rate shipping (opens in a new tab).

If the delivery cost depends on the number of pallets, non-standard dimensions, how the goods are unloaded or an individual carrier quote, an additional solution may be needed. The same goes for transport arranged by distributors, deliveries by the manufacturer's own fleet, or deliveries straight from the production plant.

Separate language and currency versions

Magento uses a hierarchy of websites, stores and store views to manage different store configurations. A manufacturer could run a Polish D2C store, a German D2C store and a separate B2B platform for international distributors.

Depending on the architecture chosen, each website can have its own price list, range and purchasing terms.

Language versions can be handled with store views, and base currencies set at the website level. More in the documentation on the website, store and store view structure (opens in a new tab).

Local payment and delivery methods

Selling abroad takes more than translating the store. The manufacturer should take into account local preferences for payment, delivery and how prices are shown, and in some cases local payment and logistics integrations will have to be built.

Magento can configure these for the relevant websites, but whether specific integrations are available should be checked before the project starts.

Taxes and sales documents

Magento has tools for configuring tax rates and rules, but it does not by itself settle every tax obligation that comes with selling internationally. Different rules may apply depending on the country, the type of product, the sales model and the buyer's status.

So before selling in a new market, establish the tax requirements and how documents are exchanged with the finance and accounting system. More complex processes may need an integration with a specialised tax system.

Performance, security and developing the platform

Implementing Magento also means planning for how the platform will be run afterwards. A large catalogue, several websites, complex B2B price lists and regular synchronisation with the ERP all create load that should be accounted for when the infrastructure is designed.

Correct cache configuration, data indexing and the way scheduled jobs run are particularly important. Adobe covers them in the cache management documentation (opens in a new tab) and the Magento indexing documentation (opens in a new tab).

The manufacturer should also plan security updates, monitoring of the store and testing of changes.

With a shared installation serving D2C and B2B, a technical problem can hit both channels at once. That is why the manufacturer should put in place the right infrastructure, update procedures, integration monitoring and a test environment.

Magento performance with a large product catalogue

A manufacturing company with tens of thousands of SKUs and several stores can generate far more load than a small retail store. Updating stock levels, recalculating B2B price lists, importing product data and indexing the catalogue are especially demanding.

Magento uses caching and indexing to reduce the number of operations performed when store pages are displayed. Adobe recommends, among other things, proper configuration of Varnish, the cache and scheduled jobs.

With large catalogues it also matters to index on a schedule rather than run full updates on every product change. Details are in Adobe's official performance best practices for Magento (opens in a new tab).

This matters to a manufacturer above all when the ERP regularly sends thousands of price or stock updates to the store. Poorly designed synchronisation can cause delays, overload the database and make the store unavailable.

Magento 2 updates and security

Magento is a platform under constant development and needs updates and security patches installed regularly. The manufacturer should take care of access control to the admin panel, two-factor authentication, updates to third-party modules and proper protection of the server environment.

Integrations with the company's systems need particular attention. Connections to the ERP, PIM and WMS should use suitably limited permissions, secure authentication methods and error monitoring.

Adobe publishes information on Magento security patches (opens in a new tab) and guidance on securing the platform and infrastructure (opens in a new tab).

It is just as important to test updates before they go to production. Even a small change can affect custom modules, integrations or the checkout.

Handling returns with RMA

Adobe Commerce has a built-in RMA (return merchandise authorisation) mechanism for managing product return requests.

The customer can submit a request about an item they bought, give the reason for the return and follow its status. A member of the store's staff can then review the request and approve or reject it. Returns can also be managed for selected lines of an order.

RMA is an Adobe Commerce feature. In Magento Open Source, returns need an additional solution or an integration with an external system. Details are in Adobe's documentation on configuring RMA (opens in a new tab).

Remember that the technical configuration has to reflect consumer law and the separate rules for business customers. Switching off the option to submit a request in the system does not limit a consumer's statutory rights.

Handling complaints and warranty repairs

A device manufacturer may need a far more extensive process than accepting a standard return. Say a customer reports a fault in a device under warranty. The product goes to the service centre, where a technician diagnoses it, orders parts and carries out the repair.

Magento can take in the reports and show the customer their status. The service process itself may, however, need an integration with a separate complaints system or the ERP's service module.

Before implementation, decide whether the manufacturer only needs a submission form or full handling of the complaint lifecycle, including diagnosis, logistics, repair and cost settlement.

Selling spare parts and accessories

For manufacturers of devices, furniture and technical equipment, spare parts can be an important source of additional sales. Magento can link products together, show compatible accessories and create dedicated categories.

A custom parts finder can also be built, letting the customer find the right part from the device model or serial number.

If the manufacturer has an extensive compatibility database, it is worth keeping it in a suitable system and passing the information Magento needs to it. The same data can then serve the service team and other sales channels too.

Optimising product pages

A manufacturer has detailed technical knowledge of its products. It can use it to write descriptions that answer customers' specific questions.

The product page for an industrial pump, for example, can include data on flow rate, power consumption, connection parameters, applications and compatibility with other equipment.

When preparing product pages, it pays to have unique titles and descriptions, a logical heading structure and a clear presentation of specifications. Magento lets you define metadata for products and categories, and the manufacturer can extend product pages with its own attributes and additional information sections.

The SEO features available are described in Adobe's official documentation on search engine optimisation (opens in a new tab).

Category and URL structure

With a large catalogue, a well-designed category hierarchy matters. The manufacturer should consider both how its range is organised and how customers search for products.

A lighting manufacturer, for example, can use categories that correspond to applications, such as office, industrial or architectural lighting.

Magento lets you configure URLs and redirects, so when the catalogue structure changes, correct redirects from old addresses to new ones can be kept. How they work is set out in Adobe's documentation on URL rewrites (opens in a new tab).

This is especially important when migrating from another e‑commerce platform, when the manufacturer already has indexed product pages and traffic from search engines.

SEO when selling abroad

A manufacturer running several language versions of its store should make sure each page correctly states its language and target country. Unique metadata, local product naming and content matched to how people search in that market matter too.

If the Polish and German versions of the store have a similar catalogue, URLs, canonical tags and hreflang have to be designed properly.

Magento offers tools that support managing URLs and metadata, but a complete international SEO setup, particularly automatic hreflang management, may need additional development.

A manufacturer's content marketing

A manufacturer can also use its own store as a place to publish educational content about its products. Buying guides, instructions, model comparisons and articles about specific applications can attract customers at different stages of the buying process.

A building materials manufacturer, for example, can publish guides on choosing the right materials for particular uses and then link them to its product range.

Magento provides a CMS for managing pages. If the manufacturer plans an extensive knowledge base or a blog, it can use an additional module or an integration with an external CMS.