Selling to consumers is great, but some online stores need more. If you have large quantities of stock, you have the ability to supply bulk orders for business-to-business sales. Catering to business and consumer buyers isn’t as difficult as you might think.

Anything a business, non-profit, association or government organization requires can be sold in bulk. For instance, school or office supplies represent two gigantic markets for bulk sales. Dinnerware, raw food and kitchen supplies are necessary in the restaurant business. These are just a few examples of quantity-driven markets.

Selling in large quantities requires you to cut a deal, reducing your profit per item but increasing your total profit from sales. But how to accomplish this through your website isn’t always so black and white. You’ll need to understand the opportunity at hand before you get started.

Here are five steps for handling bulk orders.

STEP 1: Set up discounts for bulk orders.
A strong ecommerce solution will offer ways to configure discounts for bulk orders. Organizations buy in bulk because they require quantity. But they also make large purchases to take advantage of wholesale discounts. With Shift4Shop, merchants have access to rules that automatically discount prices based on the number of items ordered.

STEP 2: Check on stock with manufacturers/distributors.
Big orders assume you have access to enough stock to fulfill them. Keep an open communication channel with your suppliers. Stay up to date with any quantity changes that could affect bulk orders on your end.

STEP 3: Ask for payment upfront.
As you create relationships with organizations, it’s important to build trust. If a non-reputable organization puts in a bulk order with you and bails, you’ll be stuck with the newly ordered stock from the distributor. Require payment upfront to avoid costly errors.

STEP 4: Create a landing page for wholesale/bulk order purchases.
To inspire confidence in your bulk order system, create a landing page that details how easy it is to place bulk orders. Target the types of organizations you cater to.

STEP 5: Add password-protected logins for frequent buyers.
To personalize the experience even further, allow frequent bulk buyers to sign in with saved settings. That way, organizations get the same experience every time they order, solidifying trust between your business and theirs.

For more information on building a B2B website, check the 9 Key Features That Make A Powerful B2B Ecommerce Platform.