In this guide 6 sections
A marketplace brings new buyers but keeps the customer record, flattens contract pricing and limits product fields. A branded store gives you the account, employee size lists and batch and expiry display. Most PPE sellers use the marketplace to be found and the store for repeat accounts.
Who owns the customer record?
On a marketplace, the buyer belongs to the platform. You see an order and a delivery address. You may never see the safety officer’s email, the plant’s other sites or what the same buyer purchases from your competitors on the same platform.
In your own store, the account is yours. Purchase history, approved contacts and every delivery site sit in your records. You can compare a glove order from the northern plant with the southern plant’s, and see which site is overspending.
A recall notice then reaches the right people. Ask the marketplace what buyer data you may export, and in what format, before you list a single product.
Contract rates and approved buyers
Marketplace prices are public, and rivals can see exactly what you charge a large plant. A plant that buys thousands of pairs of gloves a year expects a negotiated rate, and posting it for every rival to read is a problem.
Each login can see its own price list. It can apply a spend limit per department and route an order to the safety officer for approval before anything ships.
Check what the marketplace offers for quotes. Some allow a request for quotation, though the reply often happens in a chat window with no link to your price list.
- Price lists per account or per group
- Spend limits by department
- Approval by a named safety officer
- Quotation requests tied to stock
Employee-wise size lists
Factories do not order PPE by the carton. They order by person, because each worker has a boot size, a glove size, a jacket size and a helmet fitting, and the store keeper issues against a roster.
A marketplace cart cannot hold a roster. It has one delivery address and one basket, while a plant may need three hundred jackets split across four stores and six shifts. Buyers fall back on email and spreadsheets. Someone in your office keys the order in by hand.
A branded store can accept the roster as a CSV file, check each size against stock and record what was issued to whom. Only the changed line is reordered.
- Roster upload with employee code and department
- Size check against stock before the order is placed
- Issue record by employee and date
- Reorder only for changed sizes
Where batch and expiry can be shown
PPE carries dates and marks. Respirator cartridges have a shelf life. Harnesses need inspection records. Batch numbers matter for recalls, and a harness with no inspection record cannot be issued to a worker at all. Many items carry a CE marking and a test report that an auditor may ask to see on the day.
Marketplace listing fields are fixed, so these details usually end up in a free-text box that few buyers read. In your own store they sit on the product page, the delivery note and the invoice, so the storekeeper can check the lot against the box in hand.
Buyers see the lot before accepting.
A sensible split between the two
Use the marketplace for discovery and for one-off orders from buyers you would never meet otherwise, and treat every first order as a lead worth a follow-up call. Then put a card in the carton that invites repeat buyers to order from you directly.
The store is for accounts that reorder. Those accounts often need rosters and contract rates. Keep the stock in one system, so a sale on either channel reduces the same count and nothing is sold twice.
Start today with one list. Write down your twenty largest repeat buyers and mark which of them first found you on a marketplace.
Channel choice worksheet for a PPE seller
A worksheet with two columns, marketplace and own store, and one row for each question in this article. Rows cover customer record, contract rate, roster order, batch and expiry display, returns and stock sync. Each row has a score box. A last block lists your top buyers and the channel each one first used.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can I sell on both without double-selling stock?
Yes, if both channels read one stock count. A pallet sold twice becomes a refund. Ask how often each channel refreshes its stock figure.
Do I need to publish prices in my own store?
No. Many B2B stores show list prices only after login and keep contract rates private, so a competitor cannot read them. Public pricing is a choice, not a requirement.
What should I plan for with returns on a marketplace?
Plan for returns on sizes, which are common with boots and gloves. Read the platform’s return window and who pays freight on a wrong size. Compare that with an exchange handled against a roster order in your own store.
How do I move marketplace buyers to my own store?
Ask politely and give a reason. Offer a contract rate or roster ordering. Read the platform’s rules first.