Automating B2B Pricing: The Role of Fortis in Digital Commerce Integration

In B2C ecommerce, dynamic pricing might seem complex. In B2B ecommerce? It’s on a whole different level.

Unlike traditional retail, where most buyers see the same prices, B2B pricing is heavily personalised. Prices often depend on negotiated contracts, purchase volumes, customer-specific agreements, product configurations, or even geography.

Each buyer expects - and demands - their own unique price structure to be reflected perfectly, in real time, every time they interact with your digital channels.

The complexity is real:

• A single B2B customer might have hundreds of individually priced SKUs.
  
  
• Pricing terms might change quarterly based on negotiated supply chain contracts.
  
  
• Multiple regional price books need to align dynamically across currencies.
  
  
• Volume discount tiers may apply differently depending on deal structures or buyer history.
  
  

And with customers increasingly expecting fast, digital self-service journeys, any delay or discrepancy between ERP records and your ecommerce site can cause major friction.

According to McKinsey research, more than 80% of B2B buyers now expect a B2C-like ecommerce experience - fast, transparent, and accurate (source).

Yet, many businesses still rely on manual processes:

• Uploading pricing spreadsheets once a week (or less).
  
  
• Hard-coding discounts for each big client.
  
  
• Reactively managing errors only after customers complain.
  
  

The result? Lost sales, increased support tickets, pricing disputes, and damage to customer trust.

In this evolving landscape, manual pricing management is no longer viable. B2B companies that want to stay competitive - and profitable - must embrace automation, integration, and real-time pricing updates.

This is where Fortis comes in.

By connecting ERP, accounting, and digital commerce platforms seamlessly, Fortis enables dynamic, real-time pricing across the entire B2B customer journey - without the manual bottlenecks or operational risks.

In this quick business guide, we’ll explore:

• Why managing B2B pricing manually is so difficult - and risky.
  
  
• How Fortis automates real-time pricing updates across systems and channels.
  
  
• The operational and revenue benefits of integrating pricing into your digital commerce stack.
  
  
• How future-ready ecommerce businesses are using Fortis to scale smarter.
  
  

Let’s dive into why traditional B2B pricing management falls short - and what’s at stake if you don’t modernise.

Why B2B Pricing is Difficult to Manage Manually

At first glance, updating pricing might seem like a simple administrative task. Update a few spreadsheets, upload a file, refresh your storefront.

In reality, B2B pricing is a far more complex, high-stakes operation - one that manual processes simply cannot manage at scale.

Let’s break down the key challenges.

1. Multiple Pricing Variables

Unlike B2C retail, where one product typically has one price for all customers, B2B businesses must manage layers of pricing complexity, including:

• Volume-based pricing: Discounts that kick in based on purchase quantity.
  
  
• Customer-specific negotiated prices: Individual pricing agreements based on long-term contracts.
  
  
• Product segmentation: Different pricing for slight variations of the same base SKU (materials, configurations, markets).
  
  
• Regional pricing: Adjustments for currency, tax, and international shipping terms.
  
  

This complexity means a single mistake - such as failing to apply the correct volume discount - can lead to:

• Lost trust with high-value clients.
  
  
• Pricing disputes that slow down deals.
  
  
• Potential revenue leakage on large orders.
  
  

Manual spreadsheet management cannot reliably handle this variability at scale.

2. Siloed Systems and Data Discrepancies

Many B2B organisations store pricing data across multiple systems:

• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): The master pricing database.
  
  
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Customer-specific terms and special agreements.
  
  
• Ecommerce platform: Web pricing visible to buyers.
  
  
• Accounting software: Contract billing and invoice validation.
  
  

Without automation, ensuring perfect alignment across all these systems is nearly impossible.
Manual updates inevitably lead to discrepancies between what a customer sees online, what a sales rep quotes, and what finance invoices.

When customers encounter mismatched pricing across channels, trust erodes immediately. In fact, according to a report by PwC, 32% of customers say they would stop doing business with a brand they loved after just one bad experience (source).

Fortis solves this by syncing ERP-driven pricing in real time directly to your commerce platform - eliminating discrepancies and safeguarding customer confidence.

3. Human Error and Operational Drag

Even the best pricing teams make mistakes when processes are manual:

• Uploading outdated spreadsheets.
  
  
• Forgetting to apply customer-specific discounts.
  
  
• Overwriting negotiated prices during updates.
  
  

These errors are not just costly - they create serious operational bottlenecks:

• Increased customer service queries and escalations.
  
  
• Slower order cycles as sales teams manually verify pricing.
  
  
• Time-consuming remediation that delays fulfilment and damages relationships.
  
  

Worse, the cost of an error multiplies the bigger the account - a 5% mistake on a £500,000 contract is a £25,000 margin leak.

With Fortis, pricing updates are automated, validated, and applied systematically across every touchpoint, freeing your teams to focus on strategy, not firefighting.

B2B pricing complexity is a feature, not a headache - but it’s a feature that demands sophisticated automation.

Manual management isn’t just inefficient - it’s a risk to revenue, customer satisfaction, and brand trust.

The Need for Real-Time, Accurate, Automated Pricing

B2B ecommerce has evolved. Buyers are no longer willing to wait for manual quote approvals or accept slow, error-prone processes. In a world where seamless, instant experiences are the norm, pricing must keep up.

Manual updates simply cannot deliver the speed, accuracy, and flexibility that modern B2B buyers expect.

Here’s why real-time pricing automation is no longer a luxury - it is a competitive necessity.

1. B2B Buyer Expectations Are Closer to B2C Than Ever

The line between B2B and B2C digital experiences has blurred: B2B buyers expect the same speed, transparency, and personalisation they get when shopping as consumers.

According to a 2021 McKinsey report, more than 80% of B2B buyers expect a B2C-like experience - meaning real-time pricing, instant access to product information, and seamless online ordering (source).

If your ecommerce site displays outdated prices, forces buyers to request quotes, or fails to reflect negotiated agreements, buyers will look elsewhere.

With Fortis, real-time pricing updates are automated across ERP, ecommerce, and customer portals, ensuring buyers see the right price at the right time.

2. Speed and Accuracy Create a Competitive Advantage

In B2B sales, speed matters. Companies that respond faster to inquiries and provide clear, accurate pricing close more deals.

Research from Harvard Business Review found that B2B companies that respond within an hour are seven times more likely to qualify a lead compared to slower responders (source).

Pricing delays kill momentum. When a buyer has to email for clarification, wait for a manual quote, or encounter conflicting pricing, it opens the door to competitors.

Automated real-time pricing:

• Speeds up purchase decisions.
  
  
• Increases customer satisfaction.
  
  
• Reduces negotiation friction.
  
  

Fortis empowers businesses to keep pace with buyer expectations without sacrificing pricing accuracy or margin control.

3. Pricing Complexity is Only Increasing

The future of B2B pricing is not getting simpler - it is becoming more layered and dynamic:

• Greater product customisation.
  
  
• Regional variations in taxes, duties, and logistics costs.
  
  
• Dynamic volume discounting based on real-time inventory levels.
  
  
• Market-driven pricing adjustments based on commodity fluctuations.
  
  

Trying to manage this manually is not sustainable. Every new complexity multiplies the risk of human error, inconsistency, and operational drag.

By automating pricing updates with a system like Fortis, businesses can:

• Handle complexity at scale.
  
  
• Ensure consistent customer experiences.
  
  
• Future-proof operations as market demands evolve.
  
  

Real-time pricing automation is no longer an innovation - it is the foundation for delivering the B2B experiences buyers expect. Speed, accuracy, and consistency are the new battlegrounds for trust and revenue growth.

How Fortis Automates Real-Time Pricing Updates

Managing complex B2B pricing manually is inefficient and risky. Fortis was built to solve this - by connecting ERP systems, accounting platforms, and digital commerce channels to ensure real-time, accurate pricing everywhere your customers interact with you.

Here’s how Fortis transforms the pricing workflow into a streamlined, scalable engine for growth.

1. Native ERP and Accounting System Integration

Fortis integrates directly with your core business systems - not around them.

• ERP integration: Fortis pulls real-time pricing, customer-specific discounts, and special contract terms directly from your ERP database.
  
  
• Accounting system sync: Pricing reflected in ecommerce portals matches billing and invoicing instantly, reducing discrepancies.
  
  

This ensures your ecommerce storefront is not operating from an outdated pricing snapshot - it reflects live, approved rates governed by your business rules.

Instead of updating multiple systems manually, Fortis acts as the single source of pricing truth across your digital channels.

Learn more about Fortis’ integration capabilities

2. Real-Time Sync to Ecommerce Platforms

Whenever a price changes in your ERP or accounting system, Fortis updates the ecommerce front-end automatically - without delay.

• Buyers browsing your site see their correct, negotiated pricing immediately.
  
  
• No need for manual product uploads, category updates, or separate discount configurations.
  
  
• Eliminates the risk of quoting incorrect prices during high-volume sales periods.
  
  

This real-time sync supports both logged-in customer-specific pricing and anonymous public catalog browsing, depending on your business model.

3. Special Pricing Agreements (SPAs) at Scale

In B2B commerce, SPAs are critical to customer retention and loyalty.

Fortis handles SPAs by:

• Assigning negotiated rates at the customer or account level.
  
  
• Automatically applying volume-based pricing tiers.
  
  
• Managing time-based or contract-renewal discounts.
  
  

SPAs are no longer "stored" on paper or trapped in siloed CRM records. With Fortis, SPA pricing is fully dynamic and visible across ERP, ecommerce, and sales enablement platforms - all updated in real time.

This ensures customers always see the deals they were promised, reducing frustration and negotiation friction.

4. Custom Business Logic and Margin Safeguards

Fortis gives you granular control over your pricing automation:

• Set minimum margin thresholds to prevent accidental discounting below cost.
  
  
• Apply rules for specific products, categories, geographies, or customer segments.
  
  
• Automate currency conversions and tax adjustments dynamically.
  
  

Custom rules ensure flexibility without sacrificing control. You can build pricing logic that matches your operational reality - and update it easily as your business evolves.

5. API-First Architecture for Future-Proof Integration

Fortis is built on an API-first framework, meaning it can connect to:

• Modern ecommerce platforms.
  
  
• Headless CMS systems.
  
  
• CRM platforms.
  
  
• ERP systems, including SAP, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, and more.
  
  

This flexibility ensures that Fortis grows with your digital transformation plans. Whether you are moving towards composable commerce or upgrading legacy systems, Fortis slots into your Symphony ecosystem without disruption.

Discover how Fortis fits into Symphony's ecommerce tech stack

Fortis removes the manual bottlenecks, delays, and risks that plague traditional B2B pricing workflows. It automates pricing across systems in real time, preserves margin, supports customer-specific agreements, and scales effortlessly as your business grows.

The Efficiency and Revenue Benefits of Pricing Automation

Automating pricing with a platform like Fortis is about more than just operational tidiness. It drives tangible improvements to efficiency, customer trust, profitability, and revenue scalability.

Here’s how businesses benefit when they move from manual pricing chaos to automated, real-time precision.

1. Reduced Manual Overhead

Manual pricing updates drain time and resources.

• Pricing teams spend less time uploading spreadsheets and verifying ecommerce listings.
  
  
• IT and operations teams are not tied up managing system discrepancies.
  
  
• Sales teams spend less time fielding pricing disputes and quoting corrections.
  
  

With Fortis automating real-time pricing updates from ERP to ecommerce, commercial teams can focus on higher-value activities like strategic pricing, customer engagement, and market expansion - not just maintenance.

According to Deloitte, companies that automate pricing processes report up to a 30% increase in operational efficiency (source).

2. Improved Customer Trust and Loyalty

In B2B, customer trust hinges on consistency.

If buyers receive one price from your website, another from your sales team, and a third on their invoice, trust erodes fast.

With Fortis:

• Customers always see accurate, contractually agreed prices.
  
  
• Special Pricing Agreements (SPAs) are automatically applied without human intervention.
  
  
• Pricing across channels - online, offline, invoicing - stays consistent.
  
  

This builds confidence, strengthens loyalty, and reduces the risk of disputes that slow down or kill deals.

3. Faster Sales Cycles

Speed matters in B2B sales. When pricing is accurate and visible in real time, purchase decisions happen faster.

Fortis enables:

• Immediate pricing reflection on ecommerce platforms and customer portals.
  
  
• Instant application of volume discounts and loyalty terms at checkout.
  
  
• Faster quote generation for custom or bulk orders via integrated APIs.
  
  

This reduces friction at the point of decision-making and accelerates revenue recognition.

Companies that respond to inquiries within an hour are up to 7 times more likely to convert leads, according to Harvard Business Review (source).

4. Data Integrity and Strategic Forecasting

Manual pricing updates introduce inconsistency into your data models.

By contrast, pricing automation with Fortis creates:

• Consistent, validated data flowing between ERP, ecommerce, CRM, and accounting.
  
  
• Clear audit trails for pricing approvals and updates.
  
  
• Cleaner sales and margin reporting across customer segments and product categories.

Better data enables better decisions - from promotions to inventory management to pricing strategy shifts.

5. Margin Protection and Revenue Optimisation

Errors in manual pricing can quietly erode margins over time - especially in high-volume environments.

With Fortis:

• Minimum margin safeguards can be enforced automatically.
  
  
• Dynamic pricing rules can adjust to cost changes, currency shifts, or supply chain pressures.
  
  
• Volume discounts and promotions can be managed without risking unplanned margin loss.

This creates a sustainable path to growth - one where you can scale volume without sacrificing profitability.

Automated real-time pricing delivers a triple win - faster operations, happier customers, and a healthier bottom line.

When pricing accuracy is no longer a bottleneck, ecommerce businesses can scale confidently, improve forecasting, and focus on growth initiatives instead of fixing mistakes.

Building a Resilient Digital Commerce Architecture with Fortis

Pricing is not just a financial function - it is a critical pillar of digital commerce.

Without accurate, real-time pricing, even the best ecommerce experience will collapse under the weight of customer frustration, operational complexity, and margin leakage.

A modern, resilient commerce stack must treat pricing with the same strategic importance as customer experience, fulfilment, or marketing automation.

Here is how Fortis plays a central role in building that future-ready foundation.

1. Why Pricing Needs to Be Central to Your Digital Transformation

Many businesses prioritise customer experience redesigns, faster checkout flows, or expanded payment options - but leave pricing workflows untouched.

The business risk is clear:

• Inconsistent pricing damages trust faster than slow delivery or weak UX.
  
  
• Pricing errors at scale can destroy margin invisibly over time.
  
  
• Manual processes limit agility in a market that demands real-time adjustments.
  
  

Pricing is no longer an afterthought. It is a strategic differentiator.

By automating pricing and sales discounting with Fortis, businesses integrate accuracy, transparency, and control into every customer touchpoint.

2. How Fortis Fits Seamlessly into a Modern Tech Stack

Fortis is designed to be composable - flexible enough to fit into evolving digital ecosystems without forcing replatforming.

It connects easily with:

• ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite)
  
  
• Ecommerce platforms (both monolithic and headless)
  
  
• CRM platforms (for customer-specific pricing and SPAs)
  
  
• Accounting and billing systems (for invoice integrity)

Fortis enables pricing as a service layer across all digital channels - a scalable, future-proof approach.

3. Supporting Headless and Composable Commerce

Modern digital commerce is moving towards modular, API-driven architectures where best-of-breed systems connect through microservices.

Fortis supports this evolution by:

• Acting as the central pricing engine across all customer interfaces.
  
  
• Ensuring consistent pricing whether customers shop through web, mobile, marketplaces, or direct portals.
  
  
• Scaling easily as new customer touchpoints are added.
  
  

This future-proofs your ecommerce operations while maintaining margin protection and customer pricing accuracy.

4. Enabling Global Scalability

As businesses expand internationally, pricing complexity multiplies:

• Local tax structures and VAT.
  
  
• Currency conversion and dynamic exchange rates.
  
  
• Regional pricing strategies and promotions.
  
  

Fortis handles this complexity seamlessly, allowing businesses to:

• Localise pricing dynamically without duplicating data.
  
  
• Manage global discounting rules centrally.
  
  
• Ensure accurate pricing across multiple storefronts and geographies.
  
  

This allows businesses to pursue growth without being dragged down by operational complexity.

In short, pricing must be treated as a first-class citizen in your digital transformation journey.

With Fortis, businesses build resilient, scalable pricing architectures that support growth, protect margin, and deliver the transparent, real-time experiences modern B2B buyers expect.

B2B Pricing Accuracy, Speed, Trust - Powered by Fortis

B2B pricing complexity is not going away. If anything, it is growing - as customer expectations rise, global markets shift, and digital channels multiply.

Manual processes cannot keep up. Static price books cannot adapt fast enough.
And customers will not tolerate inconsistency, delays, or inaccuracies.

The businesses that succeed in modern B2B ecommerce will be the ones that treat pricing as a strategic, real-time asset - not just a backend function.

Fortis empowers you to:

• Automate pricing across ERP, ecommerce, CRM, and accounting systems.
  
  
• Ensure real-time, accurate, customer-specific pricing at every touchpoint.
  
  
• Eliminate manual errors, margin leakage, and operational bottlenecks.
  
  
• Build a scalable, resilient digital commerce architecture fit for the future.
  
  

With Fortis, pricing stops being a liability - it becomes your competitive advantage.

If you are ready to reduce pricing errors, improve customer trust, and accelerate revenue growth, now is the time to transform your approach.

Discover how Fortis powers smarter, real-time B2B pricing for modern digital commerce