If you have a dealer network and you're thinking about opening an online sales channel, you'll run into two different models: a B2B dealer portal and a B2C e-commerce site. Both look like "taking orders online" on the surface, but the problem they solve and the user they serve are completely different.
A B2B dealer portal is for the dealers and distributors already working with you to enter their own orders. The dealer sees their own price list, their statement and their order history; the need to phone in an order disappears. The portal stays in sync with the account and stock data in your ERP, because the person on the other end is already a registered customer in your system.
E-commerce, on the other hand, is for selling to an end customer — an individual or business buyer who's never worked with you before. Here the priority is a completely different experience: product discovery, promotions, easy checkout, and shipping. Pricing usually runs off a single list, with no dealer-specific pricing logic.
So which should you start with? If your problem is "taking orders from my dealers by phone is wasting time," the answer is clearly a B2B dealer portal — it digitises a relationship you already have, and it usually pays off faster because your customer base is already there. If your problem is "we want to reach an audience we've never sold to," then e-commerce is the right investment — but it's a longer game that requires marketing and customer acquisition.
Many companies run both: digitising the dealer network through a B2B portal, then stepping into e-commerce as a separate brand or channel. Axios Trade is built for the dealer side; Axios Store, currently in development, is built for the e-commerce side — and the two will share the same product and stock data.