ERP Software Built for Wholesale Trade
Different prices for different customers. Bulk orders across multiple suppliers. Credit accounts to track. IBIOS manages the complexity of wholesale trade without the spreadsheet chaos.
Why wholesale trade is hard to manage
One product, four different prices — and every customer expects the right one
The defining problem of wholesale trade is pricing complexity. The same box of tiles might be sold at full retail price to a homeowner who walks into the showroom, at trade price to a tiler with an account, at contractor rate to a housebuilder on a volume deal, and at a negotiated margin to a preferred trade customer. Managing four price points across hundreds of products on a spreadsheet is how costly quoting errors happen.
Credit accounts add a second layer of complexity. Trade customers expect to buy on account, pay on agreed terms, and carry a balance. If you do not track credit limits and outstanding invoices by account, you end up supplying customers who are already overdue — and finding out when the invoice is never paid.
Then there are the suppliers. A wholesale distributor typically buys from many different manufacturers and importers, each with their own price list, discount structure, and lead times. Keeping those buying prices accurate and applying them correctly to customer quotes requires a system built for multi-supplier operations.
IBIOS was built to handle this complexity from day one.
How IBIOS helps wholesale trade
Six things that remove the pricing chaos
From trade account management to bulk order tracking, built for the realities of wholesale distribution.
Multi-Tier Pricing Without Spreadsheets
Trade price, retail price, contractor price, volume discount — each customer type sees the price they should see. IBIOS stores each pricing tier against the customer record and applies it automatically when a quote is built.
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Credit Account Tracking
Log credit limits, payment terms, and outstanding balances for each trade account. IBIOS flags accounts that are approaching their limit before you process an order. Invoicing is coming soon.
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Bulk Order Management
Wholesale orders involve pallets, not single items. IBIOS tracks bulk supplier orders line by line, records partial deliveries, and matches goods-in against the original purchase order. Discrepancies are visible immediately.
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Supplier Margin Dashboard
Track your buying price and selling price by brand and by supplier. The margin dashboard shows which product lines are performing and which are being sold at the wrong price. Role-gated so only managers can view cost data.
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AI Quote from Supplier Price Lists
Upload a supplier price list PDF. Quote Studio reads it into quote lines in about 60 seconds, then matches them to your own products. Build a customer-facing quote with your margin applied, ready to send, without re-typing a single line.
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AI Receptionist for Trade Enquiries (coming soon)
Coming soon: trade customers ring for stock checks and order updates. When it launches, IBIOS’s AI receptionist will handle routine enquiries, check live availability data before answering, and pass complex calls to the right person — without putting customers on hold.
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Why most software gets wholesale pricing wrong
Generic CRM and invoicing tools handle one price list. Wholesale trade needs many. IBIOS was designed for this from the ground up.
Per-customer pricing tiers
Each customer account stores its own pricing tier. Quotes are built with the correct prices applied automatically — no manual lookup, no risk of quoting the wrong rate.
Multi-supplier brand pricing
Track buying price and discount rate by supplier and by brand separately. IBIOS holds your actual landed cost for every product from every supplier.
Credit limit visibility at point of quote
Before processing an order for a trade account, IBIOS shows the account’s credit limit and current balance. You decide before committing stock, not after.
Role-gated margin data
Sales staff quote customers at the right price without seeing cost data. Managers see the full margin picture. Permissions are set once by an admin and apply everywhere.
Bulk delivery tracking
Record pallet-level deliveries line by line. Partial arrivals are logged against the purchase order so your stock records stay accurate even when deliveries are split.
See pricing
Founding prices for waiting-list members are explained on the pricing page.
Go to the pricing pageBuying guide
Choosing software for a trade wholesaler: price lists, trade accounts and stock you can trust
Written by the IBIOS team. IBIOS was built inside a working bathroom showroom in Northern Ireland, where it runs the business day to day. Last updated 17 October 2026.
How do you choose software for a trade wholesaler?
A wholesaler lives or dies on three numbers: the right price for each customer, the right stock figure in each location, and the money each trade account owes. Choose software by how reliably it keeps those three straight, then look at everything else.
- Price lists. Trade, retail and contract prices, supplier price rises applied without retyping, and a clear record of which price a customer was charged.
- Trade accounts. Each account’s terms, what it owes and how it pays, visible to whoever takes the next order.
- Stock by location. Branch, warehouse and any external store, with goods-in checked against the supplier order.
- How orders arrive. Phone, email, counter, website and marketplaces. Each channel should land in the same order list.
- Picking and delivery. Decide how much warehouse and route planning you need, because this is where systems differ most.
- Accounts link. Know exactly what passes to your accounts software and what is promised for later.
How should price lists and trade accounts work?
Most wholesalers run more than one price: a list price, trade bands, and special prices for a few big accounts. Whatever software you choose, test it with your real price structure, including a supplier price rise, before you commit.
Your price structure is the first thing to show us. We would rather check that IBIOS handles your bands and account terms the way you work than have you discover a gap after switching.
What about late-paying trade accounts?
Across the UK, including Northern Ireland, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act lets a business claim statutory interest and fixed compensation on late payments from other businesses, unless the contract sets out its own substantial remedy for late payment. Few wholesalers use it, but it helps to know what an overdue account could be charged.
IBIOS records payments against orders with the provider and transaction reference, and payment information is visible to managers and owners only.
Orders from the website and marketplaces
If you sell online as well as to the trade, orders from every channel should land in one place. IBIOS syncs orders from ShopWired and Wix today. Syncing stock levels back out to those channels is coming soon, not live yet.
When is a full wholesale or warehouse system the better fit?
If you pick hundreds of order lines a day by scanner, run your own delivery routes and need bin-level locations, a dedicated wholesale distribution or warehouse management system is the better fit today. In IBIOS, barcode scanning, shelf-level locations, delivery planning and counter sale (EPOS) are all coming soon, not live yet.
IBIOS suits smaller and mid-sized trade suppliers who quote, take orders across channels, receive goods against supplier orders and hold stock in more than one location.
Wholesale ERP, inventory app, accounts package or IBIOS?
How the usual options tend to work out for a trade wholesaler.
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale distribution ERP / WMS | High-volume picking, scanning, routes and bin locations. | Usually a bigger project to set up, and sized for larger operations. |
| Online inventory app | Stock levels synced to online channels. | Often light on quoting, trade accounts and supplier orders. |
| Accounts package alone | Invoices, statements and VAT for a small supplier. | Stock and orders sit outside it, so figures drift. |
| IBIOS | Trade suppliers who quote, take orders from several channels, receive goods against orders and hold stock in more than one location. | Early access by waiting list. Barcode scanning, shelf-level locations, delivery, counter sale (EPOS), marketplace stock sync and QuickBooks and Xero sync are coming soon, not live yet. |
What you need in place before you switch
- Your full price structure: list, trade bands and special account prices.
- A clean customer list with each trade account’s terms.
- A recent stock count per location.
- Your supplier list with current price files.
- A clear view of what must flow to your accounts software, and what can wait for accounts sync.
What it costs
For a wholesaler the costly errors are the wrong price on an invoice, stock that says yes when the shelf says no, and an account that keeps ordering while it is overdue. Weigh software on how it prevents those, not on the length of the feature list.
Founding prices for waiting-list members are explained on the pricing page. Each product, inventory or order management for example, works on its own.
Last reviewed October 2026.
What people get wrong
- Testing a system with simple prices instead of your real trade bands.
- Migrating a stock figure nobody has counted for a year.
- Running web and marketplace orders in a separate system from trade orders.
- Buying scanner-led warehouse software before your counts are reliable by hand.
- Letting every member of staff see payment details.
- Signing up on the strength of features described as coming next quarter.
Related reading
- Inventory control
- Order management
- Marketplace order sync
- Trade repeat orders example
- Late payment interest calculator
Wholesale business software FAQs
Can IBIOS hold stock in more than one warehouse or branch?
Yes. Stock can be held across more than one location; aisle, bay and shelf positions are coming soon.
Does IBIOS support barcode scanning?
Not yet. Barcode scanning and a scanner app are coming soon.
Can IBIOS take orders from my website?
Yes, from ShopWired and Wix. Orders sync into IBIOS today; stock sync back to those channels is coming soon.
Does IBIOS sync with QuickBooks or Xero?
Not yet. QuickBooks and Xero sync are coming soon.
Can IBIOS handle my trade price bands?
It depends on your price structure, so we check it against IBIOS with you before you commit. We would rather test the fit than promise it.
How do I get IBIOS?
Join the waiting list. IBIOS is in early access and there is no free trial.
Bring your price list
The quickest way to know whether IBIOS fits a wholesaler is to load your real prices and accounts. We will tell you where it fits today and where a dedicated wholesale system would serve you better.
IBIOS Limited · company no. NI743167 · 10 Ballyclare Road, Doagh, Ballyclare BT39 0PE · Production is hosted in the UK.
Ready to remove the pricing complexity?
Join the waiting list for early access. Or book a demo and see multi-tier pricing and supplier margin tracking in action.