B2B distribution terms, explained.
One definition each, no marketing. If a term is used elsewhere on this site, this is what we mean by it.
B2B ordering portal
A B2B ordering portal is a web interface where a distributor's business customers log in to browse an assortment priced for them and place orders directly.
A portal typically shows each business customer their own price list and their own available assortment, and lets them place and repeat orders without a phone call or a rep visit. It differs from a consumer storefront in that access is restricted to approved accounts, and pricing is usually negotiated per customer rather than public.
Most distributors who run a portal alongside other channels find that only a share of their customer base uses it regularly; the rest still order by phone, message or through a rep. That is a normal split, not a sign the portal failed.
Order capture
Order capture is the step where an incoming customer order, in whatever form it arrives, becomes a structured record a system can act on.
Order capture happens before an order can be checked against stock, priced, or shipped. It can be manual, a person reading an email and typing the lines into a system, or automated, software parsing the same email and producing the same structured record.
The format an order arrives in (email, PDF, spreadsheet, voice, chat) does not change what capture has to produce at the end: a record the next system in line can act on without a person retyping it.
Order desk automation
Order desk automation is the practice of turning incoming orders from email, attachments, messages and voice into ERP entries without a person retyping them.
The order desk is the point in a distributor's operation where incoming orders get read, matched to a customer and a catalog, and entered into whatever system tracks them. Automating it means removing the retyping step, not necessarily removing the person.
Most setups still route uncertain matches (an item that cannot be matched with confidence, a quantity that looks off) to someone for confirmation before the order is submitted.
SFA (Sales Force Automation)
Sales Force Automation is software that manages the work of a field sales team: route planning, visits, order taking and reporting.
SFA covers the software a field sales team uses day to day: planning which accounts to visit and in what order, recording what happened at the visit, taking or checking orders while there, and reporting the results back.
It is distinct from a DMS, which manages the distribution network as a whole rather than the individual rep's day.
DMS (Distributor Management System)
A Distributor Management System manages the operations of a distribution network, including stock, secondary sales and settlement between a producer and its distributors.
A DMS is typically used by a manufacturer or brand to see and manage how a network of independent distributors is performing: stock levels at each one, what they have sold on (secondary sales), and how settlement between the two sides works.
It sits at a different level than an SFA, which manages one distributor's own field team rather than a network of distributors.
OMS (Order Management System)
An Order Management System tracks an order from the moment it is received to the moment it is delivered and invoiced.
An OMS is the system of record for an order's lifecycle: received, confirmed, picked, shipped, invoiced. Some distributors run this as a distinct system; in others, the ERP itself performs the OMS role.
Either way, the term describes a function, not necessarily a separate piece of software.
EDI and EDIFACT
EDI is the structured electronic exchange of business documents between two companies' systems, and EDIFACT is the international standard that defines the message formats.
EDI predates most of today's API-based integrations and is still common in industries with long-established trading relationships, particularly retail and grocery. EDIFACT is one of several message-format standards under the EDI umbrella (ANSI X12 is the other common one, used more in North America).
A distributor's ERP either already supports EDI natively or connects to it through a value-added network or middleware layer.
Pre sales
Pre sales is a field model where the rep takes the order at the visit and the goods are delivered on a later route.
In a pre sales model, the rep's visit produces an order, not a delivery. The goods are picked and delivered later, on a separate route.
That means the vehicle on a pre sales route carries no stock for that day's visits, only paperwork and, increasingly, a device.
Van sales
Van sales is a field model where the rep sells and delivers from stock carried on the vehicle, in the same visit.
In van sales, the vehicle itself is the moving warehouse: stock is loaded in the morning, and each visit can result in an immediate sale, delivery and invoice from what is on board.
This model needs stock reconciliation at the end of the route: what left loaded versus what is still on the vehicle.
DSD (Direct Store Delivery)
Direct Store Delivery is a distribution model where goods go straight from the supplier to the retail outlet, bypassing the retailer's central warehouse.
DSD bypasses the retailer's central distribution center entirely; the supplier's own vehicle delivers straight to the store shelf or backroom.
It is common for products with short shelf life or that need frequent restocking, where waiting for a retailer's own DC cycle would mean stockouts.
Traditional trade
Traditional trade is the channel of small independent outlets served individually by a distributor, as opposed to organised retail chains.
Traditional trade is the independent, often family-run outlet: the corner kiosk, the small grocer, the independent bar. It is usually contrasted with organised or modern trade: supermarket chains and other retailers with centralised buying and their own logistics.
The two channels typically need different ordering, delivery and pricing approaches from the same distributor.
Secondary sales
Secondary sales are the sales from a distributor to its own customers, as distinct from primary sales from the producer to the distributor.
Primary sales are what a producer sells into a distributor; secondary sales are what that distributor then sells on to their own customers.
The distinction matters because primary sales alone can look healthy while stock simply piles up at the distributor. Secondary sales data is what shows whether product is actually moving to the end outlet.
Cut-off time
A cut-off time is the deadline by which an order must be confirmed to be included in a given delivery run.
Every route has a point after which an order can no longer be added without disrupting picking or loading that is already underway.
In categories with a fixed loading schedule, cold chain distribution in particular, the cut-off is tied to the truck's departure, not to when the office happens to close.
Order guide
An order guide is the customer specific list of items a buyer normally orders, used as the starting point for a new order.
An order guide is usually built from a customer's own purchase history rather than a generic catalog: the products they normally buy, in roughly the quantities they normally order.
It gives the customer a starting point to confirm or adjust, rather than a blank form to fill in from scratch.
Planogram compliance
Planogram compliance is the degree to which the actual shelf matches the agreed layout for a category or brand.
A planogram is the agreed layout for a category or brand on a shelf: position, facings, adjacent products.
Compliance is simply whether what is actually on the shelf matches that plan, checked in person and usually recorded with a photo tied to the outlet, date and person who checked it.
ERP integration layer
An ERP integration layer is the middleware that moves data between an external system and an ERP without either side having to change.
Rather than building a direct, one-off connection from every external system to the ERP, an integration layer sits in between and handles the translation, so the ERP does not need to know anything changed on the other side, and the other side does not need direct ERP access.
Hive365 is B2Bee's own version of this layer.