Is Abakion B2B Ecommerce a standalone platform with its own database?

No. Abakion B2B Ecommerce is a display layer on Business Central and has no database or sync of its own.

Do I need to maintain data in two systems when I use Abakion B2B Ecommerce?

No. You only maintain data in Business Central. The changes show up on the webshop automatically.

Can the savings on the B2B side always cover the full cost of an ERP upgrade?

No, not always, but often. The savings depend on how large and complex the sync would have been if you had chosen a standalone B2B platform instead.

What do I need to do myself when I upgrade to Business Central with Abakion B2B Ecommerce?

You need to get your items, customers, and prices correctly into Business Central. The rest happens automatically, because the webshop shows the same data.

Does this only apply to an upgrade, or also to a completely new ERP system?

It applies to both situations. Abakion B2B Ecommerce always pulls data directly from the Business Central solution it is set up against.

How did Gaardbye Supply get Business Central and a B2B webshop up and running in two months?

Gaardbye Supply started on 1 January 2025 and sells goods to industrial companies around the world. Two months later, both Business Central and a B2B webshop in Danish and English were running at the two-person company.

The vendor is Abakion, which handled both the ERP system and the webshop. Two decisions, made long before the implementation, made the timeline possible, which was that the ERP system and the webshop should come from the same vendor, and that product data should be in place before the solution was switched on.

Why did Gaardbye Supply want a single vendor for both the ERP and the webshop?

The requirement was a single full-service vendor that could handle both the ERP system and the webshop. When two vendors have to meet over an integration, the question quickly becomes who is in the lead and who has the ball, which was a situation Freddie O. H. Gaardbye has been challenged on several times before.

The team at Gaarbye Supply spent several months looking for the solution. “It’s often in connection with APIs and integrations that many projects go wrong,” says Freddie O. H. Gaardbye.

Beyond the integrations, there were three requirements for the solution. Data had to synchronize live. Maintenance had to be minimal. And there should not be a bill for development hours every month, every time a small button was missing that fit the business.

And then there was the vendor’s response time. “We like the personal dialogue,” as he puts it. The requirement was someone who understands the business and responds quickly, instead of a chatbot or a call center where you end up at the back of the queue.

Can Business Central work for a company with only two employees?

Yes. After researching the market and watching a fair number of videos from both Abakion and other partners, Freddie and his wife concluded that Business Central can indeed be the right solution for a small company.

There was one real concern at the outset at Gaardbye Supply, and it was about size. Business Central and Navision are associated with larger companies, and with two employees the question was whether the company was using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Now being on the other side of the implementation, they are certain the choice was right.

Why does product data need to be in place before you go live?

Product data must be gathered and enriched before the solution goes live, because that work does not happen automatically. The preparation at Gaardbye Supply consisted of three things: they reviewed their own requirements specification and added more words to what was imprecise, they laid out an action plan toward the deadline on 1 March, and they got their data in order.

The last part was the biggest piece of work. Images, attributes and product data were gathered in large Excel sheets, so that when the solution was ready, Freddie O. H. Gaardbye and his wife could pour the data in and go live in a short time.

“It doesn’t come automatically. It just doesn’t.” Freddie O. H. Gaardbye adds that it doesn’t with AI either, there too, someone has to check the result and do the work properly.

That work requires an owner. His recommendation is to appoint one person who commits to the project and sets aside the time, so the task doesn’t fall between a lot of chairs.

Freddie O. H. Gaardbye and his wife themselves spent many evenings and days enriching products with attributes and images.

Does B2B place different demands on a webshop than B2C?

Yes. There are good B2C platforms with a lot of standard functionality for the private segment, but those assumptions don’t hold if you sell to businesses. Something as simple as sending an invoice to the customer is not standard on a B2C webshop. The same goes for customers who have to pay via EAN invoice, as public-sector customers typically must. That’s why the work starts by figuring out who the customers are and what matters to them specifically.

For Gaardbye Supply, the customer group is broad. It ranges from some of the largest companies in Denmark and North Jutland to the self-employed machinist who has just started up and needs advice and sparring.

How is data kept synchronized between the webshop and the ERP?

Data that only exists in one place is another major pitfall, alongside overlooking the demands of B2B customers.

With Business Central and the B2B webshop from Abakion, product data resides in the ERP system, which also functions as the PIM system. This means the same data is available in both places. The customer can see the item in the webshop, and the employee has the same information when a manual order has to be created for a municipality, a public entity or a larger company that doesn’t buy through the B2B portal.

That route doesn’t work automatically in all solutions. If you create your item in Shopify, all the data doesn’t move over to Business Central on its own. So find out what the workflows in your business look like before you choose a platform.

How does the integration show up in everyday life at Gaardbye Supply?

The integration between Business Central and the webshop shows up in the small situations. If a customer calls and needs help finding the right product or getting a different price, Freddie O. H. Gaardbye and his wife can adjust the sales quote directly in the Business Central app on their mobile. The customer presses F5 and can see the change.

In the mornings they talk with customers, advise and source goods. In the afternoons they pack the goods themselves and send them out into the world. They are hands-on with the entire process.

From there the customer places the order themselves, and it comes into the system without manual steps. And if they want to show customers more data, they can extend the solution to do so. “Even though it’s a finished system, there are still many possibilities to make it ours.”

Why is automation crucial for growth in a two-person company?

Automation keeps costs down and frees up time for what creates growth at Gaardbye Supply. which is the customers, new markets, new suppliers and partners.

Digitalization is not a side project in the company. The customer places an order, it is processed automatically, the shipping note is generated, the goods are shipped, and reordering happens automatically.

When you are two people, there is no back-office staff to move paper from one box to another.

What is the recommendation to other companies considering the same?

The recommendation from Freddie O. H. Gaardbye is:

start with the customer segment, and figure out what B2B sales require of your webshop, instead of taking functionality for granted
get your product data in order, and do the work before go-live
appoint one product owner who has both the responsibility and the time

If you sell goods to businesses and don’t yet have a webshop, his advice is short: you need to get started now.

Frequently asked questions

Can a company with only two employees use Business Central?

Yes. Business Central and Navision are typically associated with larger companies, but after researching the market, Freddie O. H. Gaardbye and his wife concluded that Business Central can indeed be the right solution for a small company. It just requires some work.

Do you need to send an EAN invoice to public-sector customers on a B2B webshop?

Yes. Public-sector customers typically have to pay via EAN invoice, which is one of the requirements a B2B webshop must support, unlike a B2C webshop where sending an invoice is not standard.

Why did Gaardbye Supply choose a single vendor for both the ERP and the webshop?

Because it’s often in connection with APIs and integrations between two vendors that projects go wrong. When two vendors have to meet over an integration, doubt quickly arises about who is in the lead and who has the ball.

How do Business Central and the webshop keep product data synchronized?

Product data resides in Business Central, which also functions as the PIM system, so the same information is available both in the webshop and to the employees who create manual orders for customers outside the B2B portal.

What needs to be in place before you go live with a B2B webshop?

Product data, images, attributes and product information, must be gathered and enriched before go-live, typically in large Excel sheets, so the data can be poured in once the solution is ready.