Adding B2B eCommerce can make it easier for customers to buy, but it can also introduce a new challenge: another system your team has to keep aligned with the ERP.
For businesses using , that can mean maintaining customer-specific pricing, payment terms, product data, shipping rules, and orders across multiple systems. As the business grows, so does the risk of duplicated work, inconsistent information, and added complexity behind the scenes.
, a manufacturer and distributor of orthopedic braces, durable medical equipment, and medical devices, wanted a different approach.
As its customer base, product portfolio, and inside sales organization expanded, Manamed built its B2B eCommerce strategy around a simple principle: Business Central would remain the operational foundation of the business.
By implementing alongside Business Central and other specialized technologies, Manamed created a connected B2B commerce environment that supports personalized buying, efficient operations, and continued digital growth without recreating its core business processes in the webstore.
Key Highlights
- Business Central stays at the center. Customer, pricing, account, and order information remains managed within the ERP rather than being recreated in the eCommerce platform.
- Customers get an account-specific buying experience. Pricing, payment terms, shipping rules, tax requirements, and product access can be reflected online.
- Specialized technologies have clear roles. Manamed uses tools for product information, tax, shipping, marketing, and payments as part of a connected commerce ecosystem.
- The platform can evolve with the business. Manamed continues to expand EDI, automation, and AI-powered workflows without rebuilding its eCommerce foundation.
- Digital adoption continues to grow. Approximately 60% of customer orders are processed through commercebuild, with adoption expected to reach 80%.
What Manamed Needed From B2B eCommerce
Manamed serves a wide range of healthcare customers, including hospitals, surgery centers, distributors, physician practices, and other providers. Those customers do not all buy in the same way.
Individual accounts can have different pricing, payment terms, tax exemptions, shipping requirements, and product access. As Manamed grew, supporting that complexity through its previous customer portal became increasingly difficult.
Customer records, pricing, products, and orders needed to be synchronized between multiple systems. Every change or new technology could introduce additional maintenance.
The challenge was not simply launching a better storefront. Manamed needed to give customers a better digital buying experience without creating another operational system that had to replicate the rules already established in Business Central.
That decision shaped its approach to .
As Erik Lorenz, CIO at Manamed, explained:
“For us, Microsoft Business Central is the foundation of the business. Our eCommerce platform should extend the ERP, not replace it.”
4 Lessons From Manamed’s Business Central eCommerce Strategy
1. Define the ERP’s Role Before Adding eCommerce
One of the most important decisions in any project is determining which system owns the information that drives the business.
For Manamed, that system is Business Central.
Rather than allowing the webstore to become another source for customer, pricing, account, and order data, Manamed keeps those processes within its ERP. commercebuild extends that information into the customer-facing experience, giving customers a digital way to interact with the business without requiring Manamed to maintain a second set of core operational rules.
For other Business Central users, this is an important architectural decision to make early. Understanding which system owns pricing, customers, products, and orders can help prevent unnecessary duplication and complexity as eCommerce grows.
2. Use Account Data to Personalize B2B Buying
B2B personalization does not always mean marketing personalization.
For Manamed, it means making sure customers see an online buying experience that reflects the way they actually do business with the company.
Individual accounts can have their own pricing, payment terms, tax treatment, shipping rules, and product requirements. By connecting commercebuild with Business Central, Manamed can reflect more of those account-specific details in the webstore.
Buyers can access information relevant to their account instead of navigating a generic storefront designed to treat every customer the same.
Lorenz explained:
“Every customer has unique pricing, payment terms, shipping rules, and account requirements. Managing all of that through Business Central allows us to deliver the right buying experience for every customer.”
For B2B organizations with complex account relationships, this type of can reduce friction for customers while helping the business avoid recreating the same rules across multiple systems.
3. Give Every Technology a Clear Role
Keeping Business Central at the center does not mean asking the ERP, or the eCommerce platform, to do everything.
Manamed’s commerce environment includes several specialized technologies. supports product information management, handles tax automation, supports advanced shipping calculations, manages marketing automation, and supports payment processing.
Each technology has a defined role within the broader environment.
This gives Manamed flexibility to introduce new capabilities as its needs change without rebuilding its entire eCommerce foundation.
For organizations evaluating ERP-integrated eCommerce, there is an important lesson here. Scalability does not necessarily come from putting every capability into a single application. It can come from creating a connected technology ecosystem where each system has a clear purpose and the ERP remains the operational foundation.
4. Design eCommerce for Operational Growth
A scalable eCommerce strategy has to support more than website traffic and transaction volume. It also needs to consider what happens internally as the business grows.
As Manamed expanded its inside sales organization and digital ordering, it needed to support more customer activity without creating the same increase in administrative work.
With customer and order information connected to Business Central, teams can continue managing core information through established operational processes while customers interact with that information online.
That creates room for more customers and more digital transactions without requiring a separate set of webstore records to be maintained alongside the ERP.
Manamed has continued to evolve this environment by expanding EDI capabilities, introducing AI-powered workflows, and automating additional processes.
The broader lesson is that eCommerce scalability should be measured by more than how many orders a storefront can process. Businesses should also consider whether their underlying architecture can support more customers, more transactions, and new technologies without introducing unnecessary operational complexity.
What Results Did Manamed Achieve?
The strongest evidence of Manamed’s approach is customer adoption.
Approximately 60% of Manamed’s customer orders are currently processed through commercebuild, and the company expects that figure to reach 80% as additional sales processes are introduced.
That matters because the goal was not simply to launch another digital channel. Manamed wanted to create an online buying experience customers would actually use without requiring the business to duplicate the operational foundation it had already built in Business Central.
The company has also gained more flexibility across its broader commerce environment. UST Pay supports its payment infrastructure, while OSCO helps manage advanced shipping calculations. Together with commercebuild and Business Central, these technologies support a digital ordering environment built around Manamed’s specific operational needs.
As Lorenz summarized:
“commercebuild fits into our technology stack exactly where we need it. It extends Business Central without getting in the way of how we run our business.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why did Manamed choose an ERP-first eCommerce approach?
A: Manamed wanted core customer, pricing, account, and order information to remain managed within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central instead of duplicating those processes in a separate eCommerce platform.
Q: How does Manamed personalize its B2B eCommerce experience?
A: Manamed’s customers can have unique pricing, payment terms, shipping requirements, tax treatment, and product access. Connecting the eCommerce experience with Business Central helps support those account-specific requirements online.
Q: What technologies are part of Manamed’s eCommerce environment?
A: Manamed uses Business Central and commercebuild alongside specialized technologies including Plytix, Avalara, OSCO, ActiveCampaign, and UST Pay.
Q: How much of Manamed’s order volume is processed digitally?
A: Approximately 60% of customer orders are currently processed through commercebuild, with adoption expected to increase to 80%.
Q: What does this case study show about B2B eCommerce scalability?
A: It shows that scalability involves more than storefront capacity. The underlying architecture also needs to support more customers, transactions, and technologies without requiring the business to recreate or maintain its core operational processes in multiple places.
What Business Central Users Can Learn From Manamed
Manamed’s experience offers a useful lesson for Business Central users considering B2B eCommerce: start by deciding what you do not want to rebuild.
Determine which data, processes, and business rules should remain within Business Central. Identify where customers need greater self-service. Then build the commerce experience around those decisions.
That approach can give customers an easier way to buy while reducing the risk of creating another disconnected system your team has to manage as the business grows.
commercebuild helps Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central organizations extend ERP data and business logic into B2B eCommerce experiences built for complex customer relationships and digital growth.
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