Häufig gestellte Fragen
What does a wholesale ERP cost?
Cloud solutions are usually billed per user per month, with trade-oriented packages sitting well above the entry-level tariffs — the vendor quotes the ERP trade package from weclapp at around 163 euros per user per month, for example, while Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, since the price adjustment at the end of 2025, typically sits in the range of about 80 to 110 US dollars per user per month (Essentials around 80, Premium around 110). Xentral, by contrast, is billed via package prices with unlimited users, and solutions such as Sage 100 are available both on-premises and hosted, but in the German market are now predominantly licensed on a subscription model per user per month. The licence is rarely the largest item, since implementation, data migration, training and customisations often amount to several times the first annual licence. Specific figures depend heavily on company size, assortment depth and the historically grown IT landscape; a detailed breakdown is provided in our guide to ERP costs.
Which interfaces are mandatory in wholesale?
In wholesale, there is generally no way around EDI: anyone supplying large industrial and retail customers must master EDIFACT messages such as ORDERS, ORDRSP, DESADV and INVOIC, frequently supplemented by SAP IDoc as well as OCI or cXML punchout for customers' procurement portals. On top of that come connections to B2B shops, marketplaces where applicable, and accounting via a DATEV interface. For the German e-invoicing mandate, the standards-compliant formats XRechnung and ZUGFeRD 2.x, which conform to the European standard EN 16931, are also relevant. Many wholesalers rely on EDI converters or iPaaS platforms for the technical implementation, since individual key accounts demand EDI as a prerequisite for supplier activation.
When is SAP worthwhile for wholesale?
SAP S/4HANA typically only plays to its strengths with large wholesale groups, several hundred users or strongly international business with multi-currency consolidation. Below that, established mid-market ERPs such as Sage 100, Sage X3, Dynamics 365 Business Central or weclapp are usually more economical and faster to implement. Decisive is less the pure user count than the complexity of document volume, warehouse structure and internationalisation. In practice, the exact threshold varies with the industry requirements, customising depth and existing IT landscape of the specific setup.
How long does implementing a wholesale ERP take?
Mid-market ERP projects in wholesale typically take around 8 to 16 months, while larger multi-site or group projects can run considerably longer. Pure cloud implementations with little customisation often sit at the lower end or below, on-premises projects with heavy customising more towards the upper end. Data migration is usually considered the most time-critical factor: taking over 50,000 and more item masters including batch, serial number and best-before date logic frequently ties up several months. A structured approach with weighted criteria is described in our guide ERP selection in 7 steps.
What does the e-invoicing mandate mean for wholesalers?
Since 1 January 2025, domestic companies in B2B business must be able to receive structured e-invoices, so wholesalers too need to be technically and organisationally prepared for this. For issuing invoices, staggered transition periods apply: paper and PDF invoices (the latter only with the recipient's consent) generally remain permissible until the end of 2026, and for companies with prior-year revenue of up to 800,000 euros even until the end of 2027. From 1 January 2028, the issuance obligation applies to domestic B2B invoices largely without exception. Permissible formats are, in particular, those conforming to the European standard EN 16931, such as XRechnung and ZUGFeRD 2.x, which is why a wholesale ERP should cleanly support these e-invoicing formats.
Which ERP functions matter for batches, best-before dates and multi-warehouse operations in wholesale?
Wholesalers dealing in perishable or regulated goods need end-to-end batch and serial number tracking as well as best-before date (BBD) management to ensure traceability and delivery capability. Also important is genuine multi-warehouse capability with any number of sites and sub-warehouses, dynamic bin allocation and mobile data capture via scanner. Complementing this are a differentiated conditions system with scales, bonuses and promotions, plus the handling of drop shipping, direct delivery and consignment stock. At very high warehouse throughput, a dedicated WMS alongside the ERP can pay off, while at smaller volumes the ERP's own warehouse module is generally sufficient.