Uncertain tariff policies continue to disrupt the manufacturing industry, as companies try to manage constantly shifting material prices and customer behavior. Nine in 10 manufacturers report increased costs, and 78% of surveyed consumers say tariffs have changed how they shop.
As manufacturers adjust their pricing strategies to account for this volatility, an operational challenge has emerged: Keeping prices accurate and synchronized across core business and customer platforms, including ERPs and B2B e-commerce solutions.
Legacy e-commerce systems were designed for quarterly or monthly price updates, but current market dynamics require more frequent and granular modifications. Manufacturers relying on manual updates encounter operational bottlenecks that result in quoting delays, inconsistent pricing across channels, lost sales and customer frustration.
While tariffs are making headlines right now, the manufacturing industry’s sprawling value chains mean disruption is a part of doing business. The inability to react quickly to change cuts into margins, which are already stretched thin. Manufacturers must build agile internal systems to sustain operations, which include e-commerce tools.
Connectivity Supports Real-Time Price Updates
In response to tariffs, B2B buyers are altering order patterns, renegotiating contracts, and even pushing back on pricing terms. Blanket price hikes won’t work in this environment. Many manufacturers are adopting targeted surcharge models, allowing for more precise, transparent pricing tied to cost fluctuations.
Manufacturers now go into their systems weekly — or even daily — to adjust pricing and inventory. Most legacy e-commerce systems weren’t built for this frequency, and customer-specific pricing only adds to the challenge.
Modern, integrated systems streamline updates. Each change is universally communicated across every touch point, ensuring all systems — both internal and customer-facing — reflect the new information immediately. Customers will see the same pricing and inventory levels whether they use a web portal or call a salesperson. Meanwhile, internal teams can focus on their primary responsibilities, not data entry.
Modern Systems Improve Customer Experience
Customer retention is critical to help manufacturers weather the tariffs. About three-quarters of B2B buyers said they would switch vendors if a competitor offered a better experience, meaning manufacturers must optimize their customer experience.
Legacy e-commerce systems limit this ability. Most infrastructures were designed for static catalogs that rely on periodic manual updates and require conversations with a salesperson. Modern buyers don’t shop this way; they want personalized, self-service ordering. And today’s constantly changing prices mean product listings quickly become outdated.
Connecting internal systems with an e-commerce tool enables manufacturers to present a dynamic catalog. With access to customer data, such as contracts and past purchases, e-commerce platforms can show buyers customized product listings. Finding the right items becomes quick and easy, accelerating purchases and increasing customer satisfaction.
The dynamic catalog also reflects real-time pricing and shows buyers their actual costs. With legacy systems, finding customer-specific information usually requires a phone call. Modern platforms can handle complex logic, allowing digital catalogs to display customized pricing that adjusts based on the buyers’ contract terms, cart contents and latest price changes.
The automated calculations support the surcharge strategy without requiring additional work from the customer or internal teams. However, accuracy is only possible with connected platforms.
How to Modernize Internal Pricing Systems
With the right systems in place, manufacturers can move from reactive to ready. Here’s how to begin building a modern e-commerce system.
Start with ERP integration. Any e-commerce system must be tightly integrated with your ERP. Without real-time sync between pricing, inventory and order data, your team will lose time and visibility.
Clean up your product data. Good data is the foundation of good execution. If product information, pricing rules or inventory levels are outdated, even the best e-commerce platform will fall short. Panorama Consulting found that bad data is the number-one cause of ERP project delays. Make sure your SKUs, descriptions and pricing rules are centralized and current.
Automate high-friction workflows first. Prioritize the processes that slow your team down the most. For example, inventory synchronization or pricing updates.
Choose tools built for B2B. Generic e-commerce platforms often miss key features like customer-specific pricing, approval workflows or bulk order tools. Look for providers that understand manufacturing complexity.
Build for the future. The platform and configuration you choose should grow and change with you and the market. Your setup should be able to integrate emerging capabilities, like AI-driven forecasting, so you can adapt without starting over.
Eventually, tariffs will stabilize, only to be replaced by another disruption. Modernizing your e-commerce platform will continue to deliver ROI by giving you the power to adjust prices instantly and accurately in response to any change. Customers will also benefit from the personalized, omnichannel shopping experience made possible by these tools.
Michael Netto is executive vice-president, e-commerce at k-ecommerce.