Waterco launches new B2B ordering platform on BigCommerce

Waterco has launched a new business-to-business online ordering platform on BigCommerce, covering more than 45,000 products.

The move shifts the pool and water products manufacturer away from a customer ordering process that relied on phone calls and emails.

As the business expanded across manufacturing, distribution, retail and trade, the previous system became harder to manage. During peak periods, customers often needed several interactions with service teams to confirm prices, stock levels and order status.

The new storefront gives trade customers a self-service way to browse products, check inventory, place orders and manage their accounts online. It also includes self-service quoting, credit-based ordering within set limits, and automated freight calculations for products including pool chemicals.

A spare-parts finder built into the system helps customers select the correct component at the time of purchase. Waterco said the feature is intended to reduce returns for more technical items such as pumps.

The business supplies the Swimart network, which it described as Australia's first franchised chain of pool stores, with around 75 locations across Australia and New Zealand. It also owns Davey, a pump brand serving household and firefighting markets.

Operational changes

Beyond the customer-facing site, the project involved changes to Waterco's internal processes. Branches had previously handled order packing and shipping in different ways, prompting a broader effort to standardise fulfilment across the group.

Marco Contreras, Head of IT at Waterco and project lead, outlined that work.

"Bringing this to life meant rethinking how our business operates behind the scenes, not just how customers place an order," Contreras said. "Every branch did things differently, so we had to standardise how orders are packed and shipped."

According to the companies, the platform connects the storefront with Waterco's back-end systems so product, customer and order information stays aligned. Epicor ERP acts as the central system for those records, supported by a product information management layer and custom middleware.

The project used BigCommerce's Catalyst framework for the storefront and a React-based front end. Waterco selected a setup that could support both business-to-business and business-to-consumer activity on one platform.

Growth pressure

Founded in 1981, Waterco said it had grown from a PVC pipe importer into a manufacturer and distributor of swimming pool equipment, chemicals and water treatment products. As the company expanded, its older ordering methods placed more work on customer service teams, which handled orders manually.

Bryan Goh, Chief Operating Officer at Waterco, said the change was intended to bring the company's ordering systems into line with the scale of the broader business.

"Our business has grown enormously since 1981, but the way many of our customers ordered from us hadn't kept pace," Goh said. "With BigCommerce, we are giving customers a modern, self-service experience that enables them to access the information they need and place orders when it's convenient, while empowering our teams to focus on service rather than data entry."

Commerce, the parent company of BigCommerce, framed the rollout as an example of how manufacturers and distributors are updating longstanding order management processes. Waterco's operating model included enough variation across business units to make standardisation a significant part of the work.

Shannon Ingrey, Vice President & General Manager APAC at Commerce, said the project showed how complex wholesale operations can be moved online while preserving flexibility for different business requirements.

"Waterco's transformation demonstrates how manufacturers and distributors can modernise complex B2B operations without sacrificing the flexibility needed to support growth," Ingrey said. "By moving to BigCommerce, Waterco has created a more efficient buying experience for customers while simplifying operations behind the scenes. It's exactly the kind of high-volume B2B business that benefits most from a powerful commerce platform."