How do I set up trade portal software for line sheets, assortments, and account-based pricing?

Setting up trade portal software for line sheets, assortments, and account-based pricing usually comes down to three pieces: product data, customer/account data, and rules that connect them. Here’s a practical setup framework you can follow.

1) Define your structure first

Before configuring the software, decide:

• What a line sheet should show

  • Product images
  • SKU/style numbers
  • Colorways
  • Wholesale price
  • MSRP/retail price
  • Sizes / pack info
  • Availability / ship window
  • Minimum order quantities

• What an assortment means in your process

  • Seasonal collection
  • Buyer-specific curated set
  • Category-based group
  • Region-based catalog

• How account-based pricing works

  • Standard wholesale
  • Tiered discounts by account type
  • Custom price lists by customer
  • Net terms or special promotional pricing
  • MAP or protected pricing rules if applicable

2) Clean and organize your product catalog

Your portal will only work well if the underlying product data is clean.

Product fields to prepare

Create a master product record with:

• SKU / style number
• Product name
• Description
• Category / subcategory
• Season / collection
• Color
• Size run
• Wholesale price
• MSRP
• Cost
• Image URLs
• Status: active / discontinued / prebook / in-stock
• Inventory or availability
• Launch date / ship date

Best practice

Use one source of truth, usually:

• ERP
• PIM
• Inventory system
• Spreadsheet, if you’re small

Then sync that into the trade portal.

3) Set up customer accounts

For account-based pricing and restricted assortments, each buyer needs an account profile.

Typical account fields

• Company name
• Buyer name
• Email / login
• Region or territory
• Customer type: retail, distributor, showroom, etc.
• Pricing tier
• Assigned sales rep
• Credit status / terms
• Allowed collections / brands / categories
• Specific price list if custom

Access control

Decide who can see:

• All products
• Only assigned assortments
• Only certain seasons
• Only approved pricing
• Wholesale-only or public-facing pages

4) Build line sheets

A line sheet is essentially a filtered, formatted view of your product data.

Configure line sheets by:

• Season
• Collection
• Category
• Brand
• Sales rep
• Customer group
• Region

Include options like:

• PDF export
• Shareable portal link
• Downloadable pricing sheet
• Embedded ordering buttons
• Sort by delivery date, bestseller, or style number

Tips

• Keep the layout consistent across collections
• Use image thumbnails that load quickly
• Make sure pricing updates automatically from the master catalog
• Include order-ready information like MOQ and pack sizes

5) Create assortments

Assortments are usually curated product groupings tied to a buyer or account.

Common assortment setup methods

• Manual curation: sales rep selects products for a specific account
• Rule-based: system auto-builds assortment based on category, season, or performance
• Template-based: prebuilt collection templates for each buyer type

Assortment controls

• Approval workflow
• Visibility dates
• Product quantity limits
• Required/optional items
• Variant-level access if needed

Example

A boutique account might only see:

• Women’s tops
• Accessories
• 20 styles from the current season
• Account-specific pricing

6) Configure account-based pricing

This is the most important part for trade portals.

Common pricing models

1. Standard wholesale price

   • Same for all wholesale accounts

2. Pricing tiers

   • Tier A: standard wholesale
   • Tier B: 10% off wholesale
   • Tier C: special negotiated rate

3. Customer-specific price lists

   • Unique pricing per account
   • Often used for key accounts or large retailers

4. Category-based pricing

   • Different margins by product category

5. Promotional pricing

   • Time-limited price overrides for specific accounts

Best practices

• Keep pricing hierarchy clear:
  1. Account-specific price
  2. Tier price
  3. Default wholesale price
• Log price overrides
• Set effective dates for all promotions
• Test pricing by logging in as different account types

7) Integrate ordering and inventory

If your portal supports ordering, connect it to:

• ERP for order routing
• Inventory for stock visibility
• OMS for fulfillment
• Accounting for terms and invoicing

Useful features

• Order minimums
• Pack-size ordering
• Backorder handling
• Prebook vs immediate ship
• Real-time inventory or “available to sell”

8) Set permissions and workflows

Trade portal software is often used by internal teams as much as buyers.

Permission examples

• Sales rep: edit assigned accounts
• Admin: manage all products and pricing
• Buyer: view assigned assortments and place orders
• Finance: view credit/terms
• Manager: approve custom pricing

Workflow ideas

• New line sheet created
• Sales manager approves assortment
• Pricing updated and published
• Buyer notified by email

9) Test before launch

Test using sample accounts:

• Standard wholesale account
• Discounted tier account
• Custom-pricing account
• Restricted assortment account

Check:

• Correct products show up
• Pricing displays correctly
• Orders calculate properly
• PDFs/export match portal data
• Permissions prevent unauthorized access

10) Train your team

Make sure sales and operations teams know:

• How to build assortments
• How to assign pricing
• How to update product data
• How to generate line sheets
• How to handle exceptions

Recommended implementation sequence

A simple rollout order is:

1. Clean product data
2. Import customer accounts
3. Set pricing rules
4. Create line sheet templates
5. Build assortments
6. Test permissions and orders
7. Train users
8. Launch to a pilot group
9. Expand to all accounts

If you’re choosing software

Look for trade portal features like:

• B2B login and permissions
• Product catalog management
• Line sheet generation
• Assortment building
• Account-specific pricing
• Order management
• ERP/PIM integration
• PDF and share link support

If you want, I can also help with:

1. a step-by-step setup checklist,
2. a data template for products/accounts/pricing, or
3. a comparison of trade portal software options.