Top 10 Competitors and Alternatives to Handshake in 2022

Surya SK
January 12, 2022

Handshake is a platform for B2B customers for ordering and sales rep order entry solutions. In addition, Handshake is for organizations like brands, manufacturers & distributors who are trying to sell to retail stores and business customers. 

Handshake provides your customers a contemporary B2B eCommerce experience by giving access to easy online order placement and a mobile application for shelf-side orders.

Handshake also has a sophisticated sales rep app that gives sales reps in-depth details about the customer, product, pricing, and inventory data that they need to hold finer customer conversations. Orders can be enrolled & submitted instantly.

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Why Look for a Handshake alternative?

Now the real question. Why look for a Handshake alternative? So, now that Handshake has integrated with Shopify, it leaves thousands of wholesale and manufacturing customers who have depended on Handshake solutions in deep water. Although an integration like this would seem like an extra workforce, this linkage will only boost Shopify's business and will not uplift Handshake's complementary technology into its own product suite. 

This will abandon Handshakes' loyal customers, and people have predicted Handshake's support for tech to have vanished in the near future. With these changes and moves happening, it definitely calls for an alternative eCommerce platform to step up to trust customers and make changes to a different forum soon. 

Top 10 Handshake alternatives and Competitors to look for in 2022

Here are ten of the best eCommerce platforms of 2021 that are on par with or even excel Handshake as a competitor:

1. Growmax

Growmax is the right platform built for B2B companies with great features. In fact, Growmax as a platform provides both B2B, B2B2B, and B2B2C functionalities with headless Commerce from the business plan. In addition, it has inbuilt Quote Management, Order Management, Customer-specific Pricing Management, SEO management, Product Management, and customer support system, etc. The feature richness and ease of use have made Growmax one of the best eCommerce software available in the market today.

Pros

  • Built-in PWA Mobile app
  • 99% availability & hosted on AWS cloud
  • Provides complete quotation and order management
  • In-built support & field service
  • Includes product catalog and filter management
  • Customer-specific pricing options
  • Zero transaction fees        

Cons

  • You may have to expect constant updates as Growmax, a young platform, is trying to add more functionalities per customer preferences.

Price

The basic plan starts at $59, while the highest ideal (accelerate) is cited at $1099, and for enterprise businesses, it is cited at $1999. Growmax has a custom plan upon request too. A free version is also available.

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Supports both offline and online sales operations
  • Ability to leverage SEO-optimized pages
  • Better price to functionality ratio.
  • Possess Multi-Channel Fulfillment which makes it a perfect Handshake alternative

2. Bigcommerce

 Bigcommerce

BigCommerce is an all-in-one platform that can meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Regardless of your domain or the products you sell, BigCommerce aims to provide a feature-filled platform with reasonable pricing plans and extensive reporting choices. Some providers offer personalization without developer skills, but BigCommerce delivers on all aspects, making it the best eCommerce platform. This also makes it a prime handshake competitor

Pros 

  • The faster loading time of the site on all platforms and devices
  • Easy management of inventory
  • New Variations tools are much faster for loading data
  • Fully accessible metadata for categories, stock, pages, and posts for optimization

Cons

  • Need to be able to add tracking information to customer order

Price 

The Bigcommerce Essentials is priced at $29.95, while the Enterprise edition starts at $1500 plus transactional costs.

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Less expensive
  • Possesses Multichannel Fulfillment
  • Showcases Product reviews 
  • Works with SEO

3. Oracle NetSuite

Oracle NetSuite

NetSuite's Suite eCommerce software offers a wide range of features, and it possesses an order management system that can manage and work with orders from various mediums. NetSuite eCommerce aims to be an all-in-all eCommerce platform that doesn't require the need for integration with other platforms and mediums. It's robust and most suited for more prominent companies and would require some learning time to work with it making it a hard choice for early companies. 

Pros

  • Integration from CRM to ERP is smooth & flexible
  • User-friendly and easy to work with.
  • Easy to track budgeting and financials
  • A smooth payroll

Cons

  • A little on the expensive side
  • Extra charges for 24/7 support

Pricing

NetSuite's Pricing plan starts at $499/month.

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Has a better CRM & ERP
  • Inventory management is not on par with NetSuite. 

4. Pepperi

Pepperi

Pepperi is one of the most renowned B2B eCommerce platforms and a great Handshake competitor that offers some of the most vital services, especially for big-name enterprises and consumer goods companies. Some of the promising functionalities include catalog, inventory management, multichannel sale management, SEO management, etc.

Investing in this tool helps merchants to have a singular platform to look after their eCommerce business.

Pros 

  • Ease of use
  • Great integration to ERP
  • Live features like CRM & stock updates

Cons

  • Sub-par customer service
  • On the pricey end

Price

It has a free trial period. However, the monthly plan starts at $500.

 In comparison with Handshake:

  • Most reviewers have stated that Pepperi meets their needs better
  • Ongoing product support is better
  • Much easier to set up than Handshake B2B
  • Pepperi Is uniquely categorized as Omnichannel Commerce, Retail Execution, Direct Store Delivery, and SAP Store.

5. NowCommerce

NowCommerce

Though a great alternative to Handshake, NowCommerce is designed solely for wholesalers, manufacturers, and distributors using QuickBooks desktop, including cloud-hosted QuickBooks. It provides easy and cost-efficient QuickBooks integrations with shopping carts, customers, drop-ship partners, and fulfillment software. The sophisticated dashboard of NowCommerce allows you to receive order files and automatically create sales orders, invoices, or sales receipts. In addition, you can send orders from QuickBooks directly to your in-house shipping software or even to a 3rd party warehouse system. 

Pros

  • Excellent backorder & inventory management
  • Supports marketplace integration
  • Allows integration with the logistics system

Cons

  • Limited to users using Quickbooks desktop
  • It takes time to learn and set up. 

Pricing

The rep portal starts at $100/month, the Fulfillment at $150/month, and the customer portal at $200/month. 

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Allows bulk ordering, unlike Handshake B2B.
  • NowCommerce is a web-based platform and doesn't support IOS or android.
  • NowCommerce isn't ideal for large-enterprise customers.
  • A lot pricier than Handshake

6. Sana Commerce Cloud

Sana Commerce Cloud is an ERP-integrated e-commerce platform that is designed to help organizations foster lasting relationships with their customers by integrating SAP and eCommerce as a singular entity. This integrated approach eliminates unnecessary complexities and compromises caused by e-commerce solutions. Sana commerce allows end-users to navigate conveniently and streamline web stores. 

Pros

  • Personalization for customer convenience
  • Reliability eliminates errors and delays
  • User-Friendly system to adapt to your business requirements

 Cons

  • Customizations may take some time to implement.
  • Well suited only when you have SAP or Microsoft Dynamics ERP as its dependencies are very high.

Pricing

Users would have to contact Sana to get a price plan.

 In comparison with Handshake:

  • Sana works with all sizes of businesses, like Handshake.
  • Both are web-based. However, Sana doesn't possess an IOS app. 
  • All the other features seem to be on par with Handshake which makes it a perfect Handshake competitor

7. Salesforce B2B commerce

Salesforce B2B commerce

The next Handshake alternative on our list is Salesforce Commerce Cloud. It is a cloud-based eCommerce software that is acclaimed for its flexibility and scalability. It features merchandising tools such as sorting, filtering, image zooming, and more, allowing customers to browse through products with control. Commerce Cloud also provides inventory management controls within the platform. Its flexibility is structured to accommodate a wide range of business models. It also helps collect visitor/shopper data to customize the shopping experience of individuals or groups.

Pros

  • It easily allows access to client records.
  • It integrates with other salesforce software.
  • Enhanced scalability

Cons

  • Requires a longer implementation time 
  • Inconsistencies in the user interface
  • Limited third-party integrations
  • It is not the perfect choice for small businesses
  • Pricing is comparatively steep

Pricing

Users will have to contact Salesforce Commerce to get a pricing plan. 

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Users said Salesforce meets their needs better
  • Quality of ongoing product support is better
  • Better feature updates and roadmaps. 
  • Multichannel Fulfillment
  • Has 3D party store integration and store locator

8. Orderwerks

Orderwerks

Orderwerks is a B2B Sales Order platform, Fulfillment, and Inventory Management Platform that is directed to any business that makes sales with other wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers.

Pros

  • User-friendly
  • Customizable customer segmentation and customer pricing
  • Allows ship station integration

Cons

  • Need an add-on license to import data
  • The implementation process can be tedious.

Pricing

The basic plan starts at $100/month. However, you can contact them to get a detailed plan. 

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Supports deployment in IOS devices
  • Similar inventory, order management & B2B features like Handshake B2B

9. Zoey

Zoey

Zoey is a platform that supports B2B and wholesale businesses. Zoey has the ability to take orders anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Zoey also possesses a mobile application to allow the sales team to undertake orders or create sales quotes. It also has a self-service web portal for customers to log in and see personalized product catalog and pricing options. Zoey also gives the customers the ability to place orders and track already placed orders. A virtual admin allows companies to manage their products, customers, and orders. This makes Zoey a complete package

Pros 

  • More flexible platform for B2B compared to competitors
  • It has a code-free design option
  • Provides in-built hosting & CDN

Cons

  • Slightly on the expensive side
  • It has limitations when it comes to customization.

Pricing

The pricing plan of Zoey is based on the needs of the business. You would have to contact Zoey for your custom plan. 

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Zoey works well in the small-business segment
  • Zoey has an android app too
  • The features are pretty similar to Handshake 

10. Magento Commerce

Magento Commerce

Built and made for enterprises, Magento offers complete control over your website so that your developer can create a unique web presence while prolonging server autonomy. As a product of Adobe, Magento provides several personalization solutions for big-time companies that plan to scale more. Even though you need a developer to get started with, your non-technical teams will be grateful for the intuitive interface that makes it user-friendly to update and manage your high-volume business. Magento's open-source, free eCommerce software and hosted software is the best bang for the buck for large companies looking to scale further. 

Pros

  • Nearly unlimited capabilities
  • Open-source software is free
  • Best for search engine optimization

Cons

  • Sites hosted are expensive
  • Need a developer and support from IT to get your website up and running
  • No support for open-source software

Price

Pricing based on annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and Average Order Value (AOV).

In comparison with Handshake:

  • Users stated Magento had better promotions
  • Better customization
  • Multichannel Fulfillment
  • Better payment methods
  • Has 3D party store integrations and store locator

How can Growmax enhance your B2B eCommerce experience?

Growmax commerce cloud is an efficient enterprise eCommerce solution for you and your business modules. Growmax aims to provide a powerful yet easy-to-use portal for your customers to place their orders. Here are a few of the ways in which Growmax can impact and bring a positive change to your business:

Better conversion rates

The B2B model of Growmax eCommerce boosts supply chain management processes. This will eventually help increase customer loyalty due to improved convenience and better facilitation of workflow, which translates to better sales and conversion value.

Flexible pricing

Automating processes like sales, purchasing, inventory can bring about some flexible pricing strategies, i.e., prices automatically adjusted to your volume of sales and history of the order, meaning that the cost can vary from customer to customer. Such transparent fees reduce the possibility of errors and thus prevent the business from unwanted expenditures.

Long-term partnerships

Relationships in B2B eCommerce platforms are more like partnerships whereas, in B2C, relationships are classified more like traditional "buyer-seller." So, companies in these partnerships maintain long-term relationships as it is crucial for the success of both parties. In addition, manufacturers and wholesalers of  B2B products can develop these relationships via eCommerce platforms like Growmax because of their efficiency.

More market stability

B2B model has a more predictable and stable market when compared to other business strategies, So it has fewer unforeseen issues. The consistent growth of B2B can help companies align with the constantly changing market conditions, establish their presence online, and generate more clients. Growmax’s B2B eCommerce platform eliminates the need to overburden the salespeople to be profitable. You can keep a stable flow of qualified leads with an optimized site together with your sales team.

Conclusion

While there are so many Handshake alternatives in the market, it is always recommended to do your research of the options available in the market and compare different eCommerce platforms to see what best fits your business needs and requirements. Be open to try other eCommerce platforms to get a clearer picture of each module. This can potentially help you find a venue that suits your business module and can even be way more economical for you. With that said, every business module is a kind of its own, and you would have to see what fits the best for you and your business. So, Good luck find your ideal alternative to Handshake!