Ask a distributor in Jeddah or a supplier in Sharjah how wholesale orders arrive, and you will hear about phone calls, WhatsApp voice notes, PDF price lists that go out of date the week they are sent, and a salesperson retyping everything into the system. It works, but it is slow, error-prone and depends on whoever happens to answer. B2B wholesale e-commerce moves that process online: trade customers see their prices, order in the right quantities and request quotes at any hour, while your team handles exceptions instead of routine. This guide covers what a wholesale store needs, how quantity price tiers, approved trade accounts, minimums and quote requests work in Commera, the e-commerce platform built by S-Plus, and the VAT points to settle before you launch in the Gulf.
What B2B wholesale e-commerce looks like in practice
Selling wholesale online is not simply a retail store with lower prices. Trade buyers behave differently:
- They buy in quantity. Price depends on volume, so the buyer needs to see clearly how much they save at 10, 50 or 100 units.
- They expect their own prices. A café, a salon or a reseller expects terms that the public does not see.
- They order in packs. Selling a single unit of an item that ships in cartons of 12 creates picking and packing problems.
- They negotiate. Large or recurring orders often need a quote rather than a fixed price.
- They need proper paperwork. Company name and VAT number matter for invoices and accounting.
A good wholesale setup answers all five. The Wholesale plugin in Commera covers the first four inside your normal store, and the fifth is handled with invoicing settings discussed later.
One store or two? Retail and wholesale side by side
Many Gulf businesses sell both ways: a coffee roaster sells bags to home customers and kilos to cafés; a cosmetics brand sells to shoppers and to salons. Running two separate stores doubles the work: two catalogues, two stock counts, two sets of product pages. With tiers and trade accounts, one store can do both. The same product shows the normal price to individuals and lower prices for larger quantities or for approved trade buyers, without a second store.
Quantity price tiers that apply themselves
The core of wholesale pricing is the tier table. Commera shows it on the product page under the price, with each tier's from-quantity, to-quantity, unit price, and optionally the saving percentage and the total for the current quantity. Here is how a tier table might look for a box of disposable cups priced at 60 SAR:
| Quantity | Unit price | Saving |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 9 boxes | 60 SAR | – |
| 10 – 49 boxes | 54 SAR | 10% |
| 50 – 99 boxes | 51 SAR | 15% |
| 100 boxes or more | 48 SAR | 20% |
The figures are illustrative. What matters is how the plugin behaves:
- Three price types. Each tier can be a fixed unit price, a percentage discount or an amount discount. You can limit which types appear in the editor to keep it simple for your team.
- Automatic in the cart. The tiers shown on the page are the ones calculated in the cart, including the mobile app cart, so the buyer never sees a different price at checkout. No coupon, no manual calculation.
- Never raises a price. Tiers are calculated on the current product price and never increase it. A cart line that already has an offer stays as it is.
- Display options. Show tiers as a table or as small cards, with a title in Arabic and English, an optional wholesale badge and a note under the table for each product.
- Variations. Variable products show "from" prices, and you can write different tiers for each option, such as size or colour, so the table changes when the buyer picks one.
Per-product tiers or global rules
Writing tiers on hundreds of products is tedious, so you can also create rules. A rule applies to all products or to selected categories or products, with a priority and a start and end date, and can be limited to wholesale customers only. You decide whether product tiers take precedence over rules, whether only rules apply, or both. A stationery distributor in Riyadh, for example, can create one rule giving 8% off any item in the office-supplies category from 24 units, then write special tiers on a few fast-moving products. Tiers can also be switched off on a specific product.
Approved trade accounts
Not every business wants wholesale prices visible to the public. The plugin lets you show prices to everyone or only to approved wholesale customers.
- You add a customer by email (they must already have an account in your store), together with company name, VAT number and a note.
- You can suspend or reactivate approval at any time.
- A regular visitor can see an invitation to log in instead of prices disappearing without explanation.
- You can also create a rule that applies to wholesale customers only.
Approval is in your hands: customers cannot apply to become wholesale buyers on their own. A business that wants trade terms sends you a wholesale inquiry, and you decide. For a distributor in Kuwait who sells only to licensed shops, this keeps pricing private and lets the sales team vet each account.
Minimum order quantities and pack multiples
For each product you can set a minimum order quantity and the step for the quantity field, for example a minimum of 10 in multiples of 5. That way a buyer can only order 10, 15, 20 and so on, matching how the goods are packed. The minimum is also enforced on the server when an item is added to the cart, so it cannot be bypassed by editing the page, and you can switch this enforcement off in the settings if you need to.
For a packaging supplier whose cups ship in cartons, or a food distributor selling cases of 24, this one setting removes a whole category of order corrections.
Quotes and negotiated deals
Some products should not have a buy button at all. Large equipment, custom orders and items whose price depends on the season are sold by negotiation. The plugin lets you choose the action button for each product:
- Add to cart, for fixed-price wholesale.
- WhatsApp, with a ready message that includes the product, quantity, price and link.
- Wholesale inquiry form, a quote request.
- Email or call.
You can write the button text in two languages, keep the add-to-cart button next to the wholesale button, and give each product its own WhatsApp number, email or phone, useful when different sales reps handle different product lines.
The quote request inbox
The inquiry form uses fields you choose: name, phone, email, company, quantity and message, and you decide which are required. Requests go to the admin panel, to your email, to both, or switch to WhatsApp, and you write the thank-you message the buyer sees. In the admin panel there is a list of every inquiry where you record a status (new, contacted, closed) and a note, so no request is forgotten.
If quote requests arrive on WhatsApp, a shared inbox stops them from getting lost on one salesperson's phone. Our guide to WhatsApp for business explains how Commera's OmniInbox assigns chats and tags customers, for example with a wholesale tag.
Checkout, payment and invoicing for wholesale orders
Wholesale orders go through your normal cart and checkout, using the payment methods and shipping options you already have. Trade buyers and retail shoppers share one simple flow, and the plugin adds what wholesale needs on top: tiered prices, quantity rules and quote requests. If your trade customers buy on terms such as 30-day credit, the S-Plus team can work with you on the right setup for those accounts.
To collect extra trade details at checkout, such as a company registration or VAT number, Commera's Checkout Fields plugin lets you add your own fields, mark them required or optional, and show the values on the order page, the email and the invoice.
VAT and invoicing for wholesale in the Gulf
VAT is not uniform across the GCC, which matters if you sell to trade buyers in more than one country:
| Country | Standard VAT rate |
|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 15% |
| United Arab Emirates | 5% |
| Bahrain | 10% |
| Oman | 5% |
| Kuwait | No VAT in force |
| Qatar | No VAT in force |
In Saudi Arabia, sales to VAT-registered businesses generally require a full (standard) tax invoice showing the buyer's details, while sales to consumers use a simplified tax invoice. Commera's ZATCA plugin issues simplified tax invoices with a ZATCA-format QR code, sequential numbering and your full seller details, generated inside your store for every consumer sale. If a large share of your sales is B2B and needs standard tax invoices, or ZATCA has selected you for a Phase 2 integration wave, the S-Plus team works with you and your accountant before launch on the integration route that fits your setup, such as connecting the store to your Fatoora-integrated accounting solution. Our article on ZATCA e-invoicing for online stores explains the phases in detail. Rates and rules change, so confirm them with the tax authority in each country you sell to.
Three wholesale scenarios from the Gulf
A coffee roaster in Riyadh
Home customers buy 250-gram bags at the retail price. Approved cafés log in and see kilo prices with tiers at 5, 20 and 50 kilos. Kilo products have a minimum of 5 in multiples of 5. Green-bean contracts use the inquiry form instead of a buy button.
A packaging supplier in Dubai
Prices are public, because volume buyers compare online. A global rule gives tiered discounts across the cups and containers categories, cartons enforce pack multiples, and custom-printed packaging uses a WhatsApp button routed to the sales rep's own number.
A cosmetics distributor in Kuwait
Prices are visible only to approved salons and resellers, each added with company name and a note. Visitors see a prompt to log in. A manual customer segment of trade buyers receives new-product announcements by WhatsApp, separate from retail campaigns.
Launch checklist
| Step | Decision |
|---|---|
| Pricing source | Per-product tiers, global rules, or both |
| Visibility | Prices for everyone or approved trade buyers only |
| Trade accounts | Who approves, and what details you record (company, VAT number) |
| Quantities | Minimums and multiples per product |
| Action button | Cart, WhatsApp, inquiry form, email or call, per product |
| Quote handling | Admin panel, email or WhatsApp, and who follows up |
| Invoicing | Simplified vs standard invoices, extra checkout fields |
| Markets | Which GCC countries you sell to, and their VAT |
If you sell to trade buyers in several Gulf countries, read our guide to running a multi-country online store with per-market prices, currencies and tax.
Frequently asked questions
Does the wholesale discount appear in the cart and at checkout?
Yes. Tiers are applied automatically in the cart at the same price shown in the table, including the mobile app cart.
What if a product already has a discount?
The plugin never raises a price, and a cart line that already has an offer stays as it is rather than changing.
Can I show wholesale prices to specific customers only?
Yes. Choose to show prices only to approved wholesale customers and add them by email. You can also create a rule that applies to wholesale customers only.
Can a customer register as a wholesale buyer by themselves?
No. Approval is done by you from the admin panel. A customer can send a wholesale inquiry, and you decide.
How are wholesale orders paid and invoiced?
Through your usual cart and checkout, with the payment methods and invoices you already use. The plugin adds the wholesale prices, quantities and quote requests on top.
Can I sell retail and wholesale from the same store?
Yes. The same product can show the regular price to individuals and tiered or trade prices to larger buyers, with no second store to maintain.
Move your wholesale orders online
B2B wholesale e-commerce is about giving trade buyers what they already ask your sales team for: clear volume prices, their own terms, the right pack sizes and a quick way to ask for a quote. Commera puts all of that in the same store you use for retail; explore it at commera.co. If you want S-Plus to design and build your wholesale store, see our e-commerce development service. Pricing depends on your plan and plugins, so contact S-Plus to plan your wholesale catalogue and pricing rules.
