E-commerce Access Management Odoo 18

Wholesale distributor running B2B e-commerce creates pricing disaster: public website displays negotiated contract prices meant exclusively for business customers like 40 percent discount for Restaurant Chain showing 600 dollar wholesale cost versus 1000 dollar retail causing individual consumers exploiting business pricing submitting 50 orders weekly at wholesale rates losing 20K monthly revenue, competitors viewing wholesale pricing structure copying pricing strategy undermining competitive advantage, no login requirement allowing anonymous browsing revealing inventory levels product margins and supply chain details to competitors, retail customers discovering wholesale prices demanding equivalent discounts creating customer service nightmares consuming 30 hours weekly, and public cart access enabling price scrapers harvesting pricing data selling intelligence to competitors—generating revenue loss competitive disadvantage and operational chaos from unrestricted e-commerce access without customer authentication gating business-sensitive pricing and catalog information.

Odoo 18 E-commerce Access Management enables B2B privacy protection through logged-in user restriction hiding shop pages from anonymous visitors, customer-specific pricing display showing negotiated rates only to authenticated accounts, cart and wishlist access control preventing public browsing, product catalog restriction limiting visibility to authorized buyers, automatic login redirect for shop access attempts, separate pricing tiers for logged versus public users, contract-based product availability, and wholesale/retail separation—protecting confidential pricing 100 percent through authentication requirements eliminating unauthorized discount access maintaining competitive pricing advantage preventing competitor intelligence gathering and ensuring contractual pricing privacy through granular access control achieving secure B2B e-commerce operations.

Understanding E-commerce Access Control

Two fundamental access modes for B2C versus B2B scenarios:

Enabling E-commerce Access Control

Configuration Steps:

1. Go to Website → Configuration → Settings
2. Scroll to Privacy section
3. Find Ecommerce Access setting
4. Choose access mode:
   • All Users: Public access (default)
   • Logged In Users: Authentication required
5. Click Save

All Users Mode Public Access

Default B2C retail configuration:

Anonymous Visitor Experience:

B2C Use Cases:

• Consumer Retail: Selling to individual customers
• Public Catalogs: Standard pricing for all
• Conversion Priority: Minimize friction maximize sales
• Competitive Pricing: Public prices acceptable

Logged In Users Mode Restricted Access

Secure B2B wholesale configuration:

Anonymous Visitor Experience:

Authenticated Customer Experience:

Example Workflow:

B2B Privacy Protection Benefits

Customer-Specific Pricing

Different customers see different prices when logged in:

Automatic Login Redirect

Handling unauthorized shop access attempts:

Implementation Strategy

Migration from Public to Restricted:

New B2B Store Setup:

1. Enable Logged In Users from day one
2. Create customer accounts before launch
3. Configure customer-specific pricelists
4. Test login and pricing for each customer type
5. Launch with authentication-only access

Best Practices

Use Logged In Users for Any Negotiated Pricing: Negotiated customer-specific pricing visible publicly equals competitive disaster. Customer A negotiated 30 percent discount but Customer B seeing same pricing demanding equal treatment destroying margin. Logged In Users protects contractual pricing showing each customer only their negotiated rates preventing discount disputes.

Combine with Customer Groups for Tiered Access: Single logged-in restriction insufficient for multi-tier B2B. Premium customers need access to exclusive products standard customers cannot see. Create customer groups Gold Silver Bronze with product visibility rules. Logged In Users gates general access groups control product-level visibility achieving granular catalog segmentation.

Monitor Failed Shop Access Attempts: High failed access attempts indicate public users trying to browse wholesale catalog. Track login page redirects from /shop identifying potential customer acquisition opportunities. 500 monthly failed attempts equals 500 potential B2B leads. Follow up with account creation offers converting traffic to authenticated customers.

Comparison: All Users vs Logged In Users

Conclusion

Odoo 18 E-commerce Access Management enables B2B privacy protection through logged-in user restriction customer-specific pricing display cart and wishlist access control automatic login redirect and wholesale retail separation. Protect confidential pricing 100 percent through authentication requirements eliminating unauthorized discount access maintaining competitive pricing advantage preventing competitor intelligence gathering ensuring contractual pricing privacy through granular access control achieving secure profitable B2B e-commerce operations with complete business information protection.