Frequently Asked Questions

We already use spreadsheets to communicate stock. Why consider this?

Spreadsheets work for internal tracking, but they fail B2B customers when it matters most—especially on mobile devices, where over 60% of web traffic happens today.

Trade customers don't read stock emails for fun—they only open them when they need to check a specific product for a live quote. By the time they actually open that attached file a few days later, the data is already out of date.

Worse still, when a merchant is out on site or sitting with a client speccing a project, trying to open, pinch-zoom, and trawl through rows of a messy spreadsheet on a smartphone screen is simply not viable. StockPortal.io gives your buyers an instantly available, fast, clean, visual dashboard designed to answer the single question that actually matters: Is it in stock?

If you want to utilise your spread sheets, you can choose our CSV mode, where you can upload your latest stock sheets once and show all your customers live , exact quantities across all SKUs, without emailing each everyone of them.

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How does the portal benefit our business when all products are fully in stock?

It works exceptionally well for two main reasons, it acts as an automated, 24/7 visual proof engine that actively helps your trade buyers close deals.

The smoother your internal supply chain runs, the less management your portal requires. Even when you have zero out-of-stock items, StockPortal.io works continuously for your brand:

• Instant Visual Confirmation: Whether it's 8:00 AM at a busy trade desk or 8:00 PM on a site visit, merchants and end-clients get instant visual proof and confirmation that your full range is ready to dispatch.

• Accelerates On-the-Spot Sales: When a retailer is sitting with a client speccing your products, pulling up a clean, live dashboard confirming "In Stock" gives both parties total confidence to commit to the order immediately

• Zero Effort Confidence: Your portal delivers total customer transparency around the clock with zero ongoing admin effort required from your staff.

Does the portal show exact numerical stock quantities?

Yes it can, but you decide how your data displays—StockPortal.io supports both simple binary availability and exact numerical stock counts.

While you have the option to display exact figures across every SKU using our CSV Mode many suppliers choose our Manual Mode (In Stock / Out of Stock) for distinct strategic reasons:

• Standard Orders vs. Large Orders: For regular day-to-day purchasing, buyers don't need raw inventory counts—they just need immediate visual confirmation that stock is available to proceed with confidence.

• Protecting High-Value Sales Conversations: When a buyer needs a major, high-volume order outside their usual routine, binary availability encourages them to contact your team directly to discuss lead times, delivery schedules, and bulk pricing.

• Uncovering New Pipeline: That phone call opens the door for your sales reps to ask key commercial questions: "Is this a one-off order, or part of a larger ongoing project?" and "What else do you have coming up in the pipeline?"

• Freeing Up Your Team: StockPortal.io automates routine stock checking 24/7, while keeping high-volume inquiries routed to your sales desk where your team can win bigger business.

Whether you prefer straightforward In Stock / Out of Stock visibility or Exact Figures, you retain complete control over how your catalogue is presented.

Is StockPortal suitable for sole traders and SMEs?

Yes, StockPortal.io is built specifically to accommodate B2B sole traders, small businesses, and growing SMEs. You do not need a large IT team, complex enterprise software, or a massive budget to use it. It gives individual tradespeople and small merchants an instant, professional stock availability checker without the overhead of heavy enterprise tools.

How does StockPortal.io protect our commercial data, pricing, and account privacy?

StockPortal.io is engineered with a strict Privacy-First Architecture designed to safeguard your business and keep software lean:

• Margin & Commercial Protection: We deliberately exclude trade pricing, custom discount matrices, credit limits, and account terms. Your trade buyers already know their agreed contract terms. Leaving pricing off the portal eliminates unnecessary software bloat while keeping your confidential trade margins 100% private.

• Zero Personal Data Footprint: StockPortal.io never requests, stores, or processes personal buyer contacts, individual email addresses, or phone numbers. This zero-footprint design ensures your customer lists are completely isolated from external data risks while keeping the portal free from invasive tracking scripts, cookie popups, and compliance friction.

• Low-Exposure Account System: Access is managed via simple, supplier-controlled account logins. Even if a trade login credential is ever misplaced or shared, exposure is strictly limited to general product availability—never your trade pricing, margins, or buyer database.

Why is 24/7 instant confirmation so critical for trade customers?

Because buying decisions, quotes, and job specs don't just happen between 9am and 5pm—and the value of instant reassurance cannot be underestimated.

Your customers work long hours and need answers on their schedule, long after your office or trade counter has closed:

• On the Sofa at 10:00 PM: A contractor pricing up a job late at night needs to know if materials are available before committing to a client's tender.

• On a Site Visit at 8:00 PM: A merchant walking a job site with an end-client can pull up the portal on their phone to verify product availability on the spot.

• Early Morning Specs at 6:00 AM: An estimator speccing projects before trades hit the road can check live status instantly.

Whatever the device and whatever the hour, giving your buyers instant visual confirmation that a product is in stock gives them total confidence to lock in specs and commit to orders immediately.

Are there long-term contracts or hidden fees?

None.

We keep subscription terms completely transparent and flexible. There are no onboarding fees, developer costs, or rigid multi-year corporate contracts, and you can adjust or cancel your account at any time.

See our T&Cs for full details

What if our customers still prefer to call our office?

That's actually a good thing. Phone calls are a vital part of trade relationships—especially for larger, high-value orders.

Having spent 30 years in trade sales, I know firsthand that habits are hard to change. Our portal isn't built to cut off human contact; it gives you the visibility to make those phone conversations even better.

• Track Portal Usage: Your dashboard shows you exactly who is using the portal and who isn't.

• Prompt the Conversation: When a client rings up out of habit, it gives your Sales Rep or office a natural opening: "By the way, did you know you can check our live stock 24/7 on your phone?"

• Build Confidence: Reinforcing your fantastic stock levels over the phone while highlighting 24/7 access gives buyers total confidence in you, your products, and your reliability.

I've seen portals that are built for online sellers. How is StockPortal.io different?

Many smaller inventory portals out there are designed for e-commerce sellers who need automated APIs to keep online retail shopping carts in sync across platforms like Amazon, Etsy, Shopify, and WooCommerce.

StockPortal.io was built for a completely different market: B2B,SME trade suppliers who sell directly to physical merchants, stockists, and showrooms.

Trade buyers don't buy through consumer web carts—they order on trade account credit, via email, or over the phone. They don't need complex e-commerce checkout APIs; they simply need a fast, gated search engine to verify live stock availability before placing an order. StockPortal.io fills that exact gap without the unnecessary online retail bloat.

What industries can use StockPortal.io?

StockPortal.io is built for any B2B business that sells products or materials to trade buyers. Whether you are in construction, plumbing, electrical, timber, automotive, stationery, or industrial manufacturing, StockPortal.io provides a fast stock availability checker for your account customers. If you manage SKUs and sell via trade accounts, StockPortal.io fits your business model.

How do customers know the stock information is up to date?

The portal dashboard features a prominent, live timestamp showing the exact date and time the portal was last updated.Every time an SKU is edited, the 'last updated' timestamp updates automatically—giving your buyers complete reassurance

• Zero Guesswork: Whether a customer logs in at 6:00 AM before hitting a site or 10:00 PM while pricing a job, they instantly see when the data was refreshed (e.g., "Last updated: Today at 08:30").

• Instant Reassurance: Seeing a clear, recent timestamp gives trade buyers complete confidence that the status on screen is current, accurate, and ready to rely on without needing to phone in just to double-check.

How difficult is the initial setup? Do we need IT support?

Zero IT support is required. We handle the entire account setup for you. All we need to get started is a simple 3-column spreadsheet containing your Range, SKU, and Description.

How does Stockportal.io handle prices and customer trade terms?

Stockportal.io only displays RRPs and explicitly does not display discount tiers, or account terms. Your buyers already have their price books, brochures, and sales reps for pricing. Keeping sensitive commercial data off the platform protects your pricing integrity and ensures zero risk of price leaks to competitors.

What is StockPortal.io?

StockPortal.io is a gated, 24/7 stock portal web app built specifically for B2B trade suppliers—including manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers. Because it is a responsive web application, your approved trade buyers can access it instantly from any device, anywhere: on a showroom tablet while designing a room with an end-client, on a desktop PC at a trade counter desk, or on a smartphone out on a building site. It gives your trade account holders a fast, visual dashboard to verify live product availability before quoting jobs, speccing projects, or placing orders on account.

Will using Stockportal.io stop my trade customers from calling us?

It will help reduce the low-value admin calls, not the relationship-building ones. When a buyer needs a massive order or a custom quote, they will still call to check stock and negotiate bulk pricing—and those are the exact revenue-generating conversations you want your phone lines open for.

How does instant search help buyers who only purchase a few specific items?

Trade buyers don't want to scroll through hundreds of irrelevant products. They log into the portal, search their specific SKUs, and get instant availability status in under three seconds. Even if they don't have the exact SKU number, they can search by product range name. If the range card shows no warnings, all items in that range are in stock; if an item is backordered, a quick tap reveals the exact out-of-stock items and ETAs.

Does this need to connect directly into our internal ERP or accounting software?

No. StockPortal.io is a lightweight standalone web portal built specifically for B2B trade suppliers. It operates completely independently alongside your business without requiring complex ERP, accounting, or database integrations. It is strictly not an e-commerce shop or online store—it handles no checkout payments or retail traffic. It exists purely so your trade account buyers can check product availability 24/7 before placing orders on account or quoting their clients.

Can StockPortal.io help notify customers during holiday closures or inventory audits?

Portal admins can post a global notification banner across the top of the portal in seconds (e.g., "Warehouse closed for Easter break—orders resume Monday"). Every buyer logging in gets the message immediately on their mobile device.

Premium portal subscription only

Do trade buyers need to see exact stock quantities?

It depends, So StockPortal.io gives you the option to choose.

For day-to-day purchasing, many buyers don't need to know if you have 4 or 400 units in warehouse storage—they just need immediate confirmation: Is it in stock? Binary mode gives account customers total confidence to place standard orders fast, without overcomplicating the decision.

However, if you handle fast-moving lines or high-volume orders, showing exact live counts gives buyers absolute certainty before they commit. With our CSV Mode, you can drop in a warehouse export to display exact, real-time stock figures across your entire catalogue in seconds.

Whether you want zero-fuss binary toggles or live numerical accuracy, you choose the exact display mode that fits your business.

What happens if an item is out of stock? Won't customers just buy from a competitor?

If an item is out of stock, you run that risk regardless—that is an inventory availability issue, not a portal issue. The real risk is leaving buyers in the dark. Because your trade buyers already prefer doing business with you, seeing an accurate backorder ETA right in the portal lets them manage their client's expectations and timescales on the spot—giving you a far less chance of losing the deal to a competitor.

Do trade buyers need to create accounts with personal details or emails to log in?

No. StockPortal.io is huge on privacy and data protection. We do not require personal customer details or emails for daily portal access, keeping the onboarding process completely friction-free and compliant with data privacy regulations.

How do trade buyers place orders through the portal?

Buyers can search items, select quantities, and compose an order request directly inside the portal. Once submitted, the composed order is sent straight to your specified sales inbox. Your sales team retains full human control to verify everything and check account credit, and apply terms before processing.

How much time does it take to keep stock levels updated?

StockPortal.io is built for speed and zero-fuss administration, giving you two effortless ways to keep your network informed:

• Manual Mode (Seconds per update): Operates on an exception basis. Everything stays "In Stock" by default, so you only update lines when they run out. Flagging an out-of-stock SKU takes seconds, and pasting in 20 out-of-stock items takes under two minutes. Restocking takes a single click.

• CSV Mode (Instant catalogue refresh): Want live numerical accuracy across thousands of lines? Simply drop in a warehouse export to update your entire product catalogue in seconds. Upload as often as you like throughout the day with zero hassle.

Spending less than two minutes updating your portal—whether through a quick manual tweak or a fast CSV drop—saves your office hours of lost time answering repetitive stock-check calls and emails every week.

What if the team member responsible for updating stock is absent?

Because Stockportal.io is so simple, updating stock is nobody's sole duty—it is everybody's capability. Anyone on your team (sales reps, warehouse staff, or management) can log in from a smartphone or browser. The moment anyone notices a SKU has run out, they can toggle it to "Out of Stock" and add an ETA in seconds and instantly update your customers. Or in CSV mode, simply upload your latest sheet and get on with the rest of your day.

Will our trade buyers actually adopt a digital portal?

Yes, absolutely—and we have first-hand proof of this from real-world trials with many of our existing trade customers who adapted to it immediately. We trialled the UI and feature set directly with everyday trade buyers to ensure it fits their workflow perfectly. Adoption is so high because it requires zero tech skills. There are no app store downloads to manage, no complex navigation menus, and no passwords to constantly reset. Buyers simply save the portal as a single-tap bookmark on their smartphone home screen, search a SKU, and get instant stock answers in seconds.

How can Stockportal.io help handle overdue or non-paying trade accounts?

Admins can toggle non-paying customer accounts to Overdue with a single click. The next time that customer logs in to check stock, a prominent banner notifies them that their account is on hold and orders will be affected. It acts as automated credit control, prompting payment without forcing your sales reps to play "bad cop."

How many SKUs do you support?

Our premium package supports up to 5,000 SKUs as standard, allowing you to upload and manage your full catalogue effortlessly via a simple 3-column spreadsheet. Need more than 5,000 SKUs? We handle custom high-volume catalogues too, get in touch to discuss.

How Orders Work on StockPortal.io

We intentionally do not send orders directly from our servers to the supplier on your behalf. Standard order systems force all communications through a central portal email. Because supplier offices operate differently—many using auto-replies and automated order confirmations sent straight back to the originating address—sending orders from our email would mean their confirmations come to us, not you.

We would then have to forward your private business communications back to you. Not only is this counter-intuitive and slow, but it also creates unnecessary data handling risks. Your purchasing activity is none of our business, and we built StockPortal.io specifically so it does not hold or process any of your private data.

How do I place an order through the portal? We make passing along your order seamless while keeping you in complete control of your data. You have two instant options:

• Pre-filled Email Client (One-Click): Fill in the order form on the portal and hit Send. This automatically opens your default email app with all your order details pre-populated. You simply hit send from your own email account—meaning the order originates from you, and all supplier confirmations return directly to your inbox.

• Copy & Paste: If your default email client isn't configured, simply click to copy your inputted data, open your preferred email provider, paste it directly into a new message, and send.

Either way, the order comes from your email, responses return directly to you, and your private operational data stays entirely in your hands.

Contact Us Today

Get in touch to to discuss your requirements, find out more about our portal and to view our demo.