BigCommerce B2B Edition has great features that businesses need all baked into one BigCommerce app. There are many app features; this article will focus on one specific feature: the freedom to customize your unique customer company structure. This article outlines how you can do this in BigCommerce's B2B Edition app.
What is the Company Account Structure?
There are two ways BigCommerce B2B Edition focuses on improving your ability to organize your customers.
First, the Company Account Structure allows you to set up parent and sub-accounts within a single company profile.
Second, once a company is created, that company can create user roles and user permissions.
When used in tandem, merchants can build a website structure to fit their specific needs. This will allow merchants to increase their sales and improve relationships with customers without needing to pay for expensive development on features.
This is useful for merchants selling to organizations with multiple departments or locations that need individualized access but centralized billing and management. For instance, a wholesaler of school supplies can create one account for the school district, with separate logins for each school to place orders under that umbrella. It’s a flexible way to manage complex buying organizations.
BigCommerce B2B Company Account Structure
The Company Account Structure allows businesses to set up parent and sub-accounts within a single company profile. This is useful for merchants selling to companies with multiple departments or locations that need individualized access but centralized billing and management. For instance, a wholesaler of school supplies can create one account for the school district, with separate logins for each school to place orders under that umbrella. It’s a flexible way to manage complex buying organizations.
Here's what the parent-to-sub-account breakdown could look like. This is referred to as a company account hierarchy in BigCommerce.
User Roles and User Permissions within the Company Account
Each company, once set up in BigCommerce B2B Edition, can set up the details of its company account. If the customer is not so tech-savvy, the company account can also be set up from the back-end in the BigCommerce admin dashboard.
When setting up a company account, there can be unique user roles and user permissions set up for each employee. There are three primary user roles that have their own set of user permissions. They are outlined below:
Admin – People given this role can manage all aspects of the company account. This includes permission for other employees, quotes, orders, invoices, etc.
Senior Buyer – The senior buyer can approve shopping lists that other buyers create, approve orders, and review order history.
Junior Buyer – This role can create shopping lists for approval, but cannot purchase any items on their own.
Configuring a company account using these user roles and user permissions can unlock ordering efficiently for customers. Additionally, this can take some of the burden off of an inside sales team or outside sales team by empowering the customer to self-serve.
Conclusion
BigCommerce B2B Edition’s Company Account Structure gives merchants powerful tools to organize and manage their customers more effectively. By allowing companies to set up parent and sub-accounts, assign user roles, and define permissions, this feature supports a wide range of complex organizational structures. It’s a flexible, scalable solution that improves the buying experience for customers and streamlines order management for businesses. If you’re selling to companies with multiple users, departments, or locations, this feature can make a measurable difference in operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Want to boost revenue and streamline your B2B operations?
Contact Anchor Group to learn how BigCommerce B2B Edition can help!
BigCommerce Certified Partner, Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner
As a BigCommerce Certified Partner and an Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner, Anchor Group is ready to handle BigCommerce and NetSuite projects alike! Whether you have one platform and are looking to integrate the other, are considering a full-scale implementation of both platforms or need support with ongoing customizations, our team is ready to answer any questions! Get in touch!
