Edge-B2B Overlay: Contract Pricing & Account Hierarchies Without Upgrading

E-commerce Platforms
🔥
9/10
Demand Score
Merchants are losing B2B deals or forced into expensive enterprise plans due to missing contract pricing and account hierarchies.
🌊
8/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
💰
$199-699
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
⏱️
10 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Hard

The Problem

Limited Built-In B2B Features on Standard Plans

Competitor Landscape

  • Shopify B2B (Plus)
  • BigCommerce B2B Edition
  • Sparklayer B2B
  • Bold B2B
  • Wholesale Club
  • OroCommerce

Must-Have Features for MVP

Company/branch hierarchy with role-based approvals
Contract price lists compiled to edge key-value store
Catalog gating by company, branch, or contract
Self-serve company signup with verification workflow
Quote-to-order with negotiated pricing
Net terms with AR sync (Stripe/QBO/Xero)
Theme app extension for B2B UI (price visibility, MOQ/MOQ tiers)
Edge JWT session management and SSO for buyers
Bulk list upload for contract SKUs/pricing
Audit logs and change history

⚠️ Potential Challenges

  • Edge proxy compatibility with existing CDN/WAF
  • SEO and cache invalidation for personalized pricing
  • Platform API rate limits when syncing large price lists
  • Multi-currency rounding and tax handling across regions

Risk Level: Low

🎯 Keys to Success

  • Zero-theme-breaking install with rollback
  • <10ms edge price lookup at P95
  • Demonstrable savings vs. enterprise upgrade
  • Accurate tax/multi-currency handling
  • ERP/AR sync reliability (>99.9% message delivery)

Ready to Build This?

This hard-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.