What I Learned Talking B2B eCommerce with Znode
B2B eCommerce isn’t just “B2C with a login.” Anyone who’s worked with manufacturers or distributors knows that. Complex pricing models, multiple catalogs, ERP dependencies, account hierarchies, approvals, and portals aren’t edge cases — they’re the baseline.
That’s why I was excited to sit down with Tom Flierl, Chief Commercial Officer of Amla Commerce (Znode), on a recent episode of Beyond the Cart, the Human Element podcast. This wasn’t a surface-level conversation about trends or buzzwords. It was a practical discussion about what our development team is seeing when they get hands-on with a modern B2B platform — and why architectural alignment matters so much when you’re trying to build something that will actually scale.
In this post, I want to unpack some of the key takeaways from that conversation with Tom: what “API-first” really means in a B2B context, why composability has always been part of B2B commerce, and why the right platform-partner alignment can reduce complexity instead of adding to it.
B2B Has Always Been Composable — Even Before We Called It That
One of the first things that came up in the conversation was composability. It’s been a popular topic in eCommerce for the last few years, but from my perspective — and from Znode’s — B2B has always been composable.
Manufacturers and distributors have never operated in a single system. ERPs, CRMs, PIMs, WMS platforms, and custom databases have always been part of the equation. The real challenge hasn’t been whether systems are composable — it’s whether the eCommerce platform is designed to work within that reality without becoming fragile or prohibitively expensive to maintain.
That’s where Znode’s API-first approach stood out to me. The platform is built around thousands of prebuilt API endpoints designed to exchange data with the systems B2B organizations already rely on. Ecommerce becomes a flexible layer in the ecosystem, not a monolith that everything else has to bend around.
“Every manufacturer, every distributor has their own unique requirements. Flexibility is probably the number one requirement for having a good B2B eCommerce platform. That’s why we’ve built everything API-first — with that in mind.”
Tom Flierl, Chief Commercial Officer at Amla Commerce
From a development standpoint at Human Element, that architectural decision sets the tone for everything else — integrations, front-end delivery, scalability, and long-term sustainability.
Multi-Store, Multi-Catalog Isn’t Optional in B2B
One requirement I see over and over again with manufacturers and distributors is the need for multiple storefronts. Sometimes that’s driven by mergers and acquisitions. Other times it’s dealer portals, regional brands, or customer-specific experiences behind login.
What often gets underestimated is how quickly this becomes a catalog problem.
Many B2C platforms still assume a one-store, one-catalog model — or they treat multi-store as a bolt-on. In B2B, that approach breaks down fast. Different customers need access to different products, pricing programs, or formularies, all managed centrally.
Znode tackles this with what they call a commerce PIM — a catalog management layer built directly into the platform. Catalogs can be applied one-to-many or many-to-one across storefronts, which makes it possible to serve the right products to the right accounts without duplicating data or building brittle custom logic.
From my perspective, this is one of those foundational B2B capabilities that either saves months of custom development or creates years of technical debt, depending on how it’s handled.
Pricing, Performance, and the Reality of B2B Data
Pricing is another area where B2B complexity can’t be ignored. Account-specific pricing, contract pricing, negotiated rates, and volume tiers aren’t “advanced features” — they’re table stakes.
What impressed me about Znode’s approach is how pricing is decoupled from products and supported through unlimited price lists. That’s not just a flexibility win — it’s a performance win. Instead of making constant pricing calls back to an ERP (and dealing with latency or throttling), pricing logic can live where it makes the most sense for the customer experience.
Add in support for multi-warehouse or multi-distribution-center inventory, and you start to see a platform that’s clearly designed around how B2B organizations actually operate — not how B2C platforms try to retrofit themselves for B2B use cases.
Beyond the Storefront: Portals, Quotes, and Real-World Workflows
One of the highlights of the conversation for me was Znode’s support for portals, not just traditional storefronts.
In many B2B scenarios — especially for manufacturers — orders don’t start with checkout. They start with quotes, projects, and staged orders that may never hit the ERP unless a deal is won. Sales reps, dealers, distributors, and even end customers all need different levels of access throughout that process.
Znode’s portal accelerator supports those workflows out of the box:
- Sales teams can stage and manage quotes
- Dealers can assemble project-based orders
- Customers can manage delivery timing and logistics
- Approvals and workflows stay centralized
These are the kinds of capabilities that are often treated as custom enhancements elsewhere, but in reality, they reflect how B2B commerce already works offline. Bringing that complexity online without reinventing everything is a big deal.
Developer Flexibility Without Breaking the Upgrade Path
From an agency standpoint, one of the most important parts of the discussion was development flexibility.
API-first doesn’t just mean “you can integrate with things.” It means developers can extend the platform safely, without touching the core or compromising future upgrades. Znode supports multiple extension paths, allowing teams to build custom logic around the platform while keeping the SaaS upgrade path intact.
That matters a lot.
Too often, I see platforms that promise flexibility but force developers into brittle overrides or long-term maintenance traps. The ability to extend via APIs, custom tables, and user-defined fields — all of which automatically expose themselves through the API layer — creates room for innovation without sacrificing stability.
It also makes proof-of-concepts much faster to deliver, which is something I’m especially excited about. Being able to stand up a realistic B2B experience quickly helps stakeholders validate requirements early and move forward with confidence.
Why the Right B2B Partnership Matters
Technology alone doesn’t solve B2B complexity. Experience does.
One of the reasons I’m excited about our partnership with Znode is the shared understanding that B2B eCommerce is fundamentally different from B2C. It requires different questions, different assumptions, and a much deeper appreciation for how manufacturers and distributors actually operate.
At Human Element, our role is to bring architectural planning, technical strategy, and real-world B2B experience to every engagement — not just development resources. Znode’s role is to provide a platform that respects those realities instead of fighting them.
When those two things align, manufacturers and distributors get more than a new eCommerce site. They get a foundation for sustainable digital growth.
A Final Thought
If there’s one message I’d emphasize coming out of this conversation, it’s this one from Tom:
“If you’re a manufacturer or distributor, make sure you’re using a real B2B platform. Don’t rework your internal processes to adapt to eCommerce — and don’t spend significant dollars customizing something that was never meant to be B2B.”
With the right platform and the right partner, B2B eCommerce doesn’t have to feel like an uphill battle. It can be a real competitive advantage.
If you haven’t yet, I’d encourage you to listen to the full podcast episode. And if you’re exploring what modern B2B commerce could look like for your organization, we’d be happy to continue the conversation.
