7 things a wholesale catalog needs

aiprice blog · a checklist before you launch

Wholesale catalogs are often built like "a webshop, only without payment". And they fail: partners take one look and go back to calling. The reason is that B2B trade runs on its own rules, and the catalog has to know them. Here are seven things that separate a working wholesale catalog from a pretty picture. The list comes from our own operations — we run four wholesale brands (pet supplies, pet food, harnesses, textiles) and take orders through catalogs exactly like this every day.

1. Minimum order value

Wholesale starts at a threshold: $100, $500, $1,000 — everyone has their own. The catalog should show that threshold honestly and visibly: a progress bar saying "add $80 more", not a surprise at checkout. The buyer fills the cart to the minimum themselves, without an awkward conversation with your sales rep.

2. Case-pack quantities

Wholesale doesn't sell "one mug" — it sells a case of 6, 12 or 24. If the catalog lets someone order 5 units of a 6-pack item, your manager cleans up the mess. Done right: the plus and minus buttons step by the case, and the buyer sees "case of 12" right on the product card.

3. Color and size choice must be mandatory

The classic wholesale return: "I thought they'd be black." If a product exists in several colors, the catalog must require the choice before the item goes in the cart, not hide it in a note. Same for sizes. One product card with color swatches inside: the range is visible and the confusion is gone.

4. Trade prices are not for public eyes

B2B pricing is commercial information. Your partners will not thank you if their own retail customers can google your wholesale prices. So a trade catalog must be hidden from search engines (noindex plus robots), accessible only through the link you give your partners. This is the fundamental difference from a webshop, which fights for search rankings.

5. Orders as a spreadsheet, not "we'll call you back"

A "leave a request and we'll call" form kills the point of the catalog: the buyer did all the work and the order still has to be dictated. The working pattern: cart → one button → the order flies to the seller's inbox as a clean table (SKU, name, quantity, price, total) in a format that imports straight into an ERP or accounting system. Zero retyping, zero transfer errors.

6. Current prices without "file versions"

A price list file has a fatal property: it goes stale the moment you send it. A catalog behind a link doesn't — but only if updating it isn't a separate job. The ideal: you send a new price list, the catalog is re-priced. No dashboards, no editing products one by one.

7. It opens on a phone in a second

Your customer — a shop owner or a buyer — browses your range on a phone, between other tasks. If the catalog is slow, demands an app or a signup, they close it. The test is simple: open your catalog on an ordinary phone over mobile data. Two seconds to the products is the norm.

Bonus: marketing inside the catalog. Promotions, struck-through old prices, even a prize wheel for buyers — all of it works in B2B too: partners are people. The point is that the mechanics stay under your control: you decide what runs and when.

The checklist

Minimum order with a progress bar
Case-pack steps on the +/− buttons
Mandatory color/size choice
Hidden from search engines
Orders emailed as a spreadsheet for ERP
Re-pricing from a new file, no dashboard
Fast to open on a phone

If your future catalog ticks all seven, it will sell. If building it by hand looks long, there is a shortcut: at aiprice everything on this list is built in, and the catalog is made from your Excel price list within 24 hours. First one free: hello@aiprice.com.ua.

All seven, live. Minimum order, case packs, color variants, cart — click through it the way your buyer would.
Open the demo catalog →