Cornerstone Trade Group
Wholesale ordering rebuilt from the ground up — custom price tiers, net-30 invoicing, and rep-assisted carts on a single Shopify Plus platform.
Get Free ConsultationIntroduction
Cornerstone Trade Group is a wholesale distributor of industrial fasteners, safety equipment, and MRO supplies serving 1,200 trade accounts across the southeastern United States. Their ordering workflow had not changed in nine years: buyers would email or fax purchase orders to a team of eight inside sales reps who manually entered them into a legacy ERP system. This process averaged 47 minutes per order, created a backlog during peak periods, and made real-time inventory visibility impossible for the buyers. Creative Labs was engaged to design and build a purpose-built B2B storefront on Shopify Plus.
Key Performance Highlights
64% faster order processing
47 min manual entry → 17 min self-service
1,200 accounts onboarded
With tiered pricing and credit terms in 30 days
89% rep time recaptured
Reps shifted from data entry to account growth
$1.4M incremental orders
From after-hours self-service in first 6 months
The Challenge
A Nine-Year-Old Ordering System That Was Costing Millions in Opportunity
Cornerstone's buyers operated on tight project timelines and needed to place orders quickly — often outside business hours. The fax-and-email workflow meant orders placed after 4PM wouldn't be processed until the next morning, causing supply delays that cost buyers confidence and cost Cornerstone repeat business. Eight inside sales reps were spending 80% of their time on order transcription rather than account development.
The technical challenge was equally significant: 1,200 distinct accounts each with negotiated price tiers (up to 12 different pricing schedules), net-30 or net-60 credit terms, account-specific product catalogs, and rep-to-account assignments. Shopify's native B2B functionality covered roughly 60% of these requirements — the remaining 40% required custom Shopify Functions, a purpose-built customer-facing app, and a real-time ERP integration.
Strategic Execution
Engineering a Modern B2B Commerce Platform on Shopify Plus
B2B Account Architecture & Custom Price Logic
We mapped Cornerstone's 12 pricing tiers into Shopify Plus company profiles, using the B2B API to assign price lists, payment terms, and purchasing limits per account. For the four pricing schedules exceeding Shopify's native tier structure, we implemented custom Shopify Functions to apply account-specific discounts at checkout. Account-level product visibility was controlled through custom collections logic — buyers saw a catalog filtered to their approved SKUs only, enforced server-side.
Custom B2B Ordering App with Rep-Assisted Cart
A React-based Shopify app gave inside sales reps the ability to build carts on behalf of buyers, apply account-level pricing, and submit orders for buyer approval before payment. The 'rep cart' feature allowed reps to maintain relationships during the transition without requiring buyers to place every order themselves. Buyers received an activity feed showing order history, open quotes, and shipping status — dramatically reducing inbound 'where's my order' calls.
Real-Time ERP Inventory Sync & Net Terms Integration
A two-way REST API integration with Cornerstone's ERP synced inventory levels every 15 minutes, pushed confirmed orders into the ERP automatically, and pulled shipment tracking data back into the Shopify buyer dashboard. Net Terms Now was integrated to allow qualifying accounts to place orders on approved credit terms directly through checkout, with approval status synced from the ERP's AR module.
Buyer Onboarding Program & Change Management
We built a guided onboarding flow that authenticated existing accounts via ERP account number, auto-assigned the correct price list and payment terms, and walked buyers through their first digital order with contextual tooltips. A Klaviyo email sequence educated buyers on self-service features over 10 days post-onboarding. Within 30 days, 94% of accounts had placed at least one digital order without rep intervention.
The Outcome
A Self-Service Platform That Scaled the Business Without Scaling Headcount
Within 30 days of launch all 1,200 wholesale accounts were onboarded with correct pricing, terms, and catalog access. Order processing time fell from an average of 47 minutes to 17 minutes — a 64% reduction that freed eight reps to focus on account development rather than data transcription.
After-hours ordering generated $1.4M in incremental orders in the first six months. The inside sales team's pipeline grew 34% as reps redirected time toward proactive account outreach. The platform paid for itself before onboarding was even complete.
“Our reps were becoming glorified data entry clerks and our buyers were frustrated by the wait times. Creative Labs built something that made both groups happy simultaneously. The platform paid for itself before we were even done with onboarding.”
Diane Kowalski
Director of Operations, Cornerstone Trade Group
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