WordPress Wholesale Catalog Plugin. No WooCommerce Required.
Publish a searchable, trade-only product catalog on your WordPress site. Let buyers browse, filter and request quotes. No public checkout needed.
Perfect for
- ✓ Wholesale distributors
- ✓ B2B product suppliers
- ✓ Importers & exporters
- ✓ Trade-only catalog businesses
Your buyers need to browse before they order.
They need SKUs, specifications, pack sizes, minimum order quantities and availability before they pick up the phone or send an email.
If your product catalog lives in a PDF, a spreadsheet, or a printed price list, you’re creating friction for every sale.
WP Inventory Manager lets you publish a trade catalog on your WordPress site with full control over who sees what.
You may not want to publish retail prices publicly. Some products may be restricted to approved buyers. Orders may require a minimum quantity or a quote before confirmation. Buyers can browse, search, filter and submit order requests. Your team handles pricing, availability and fulfilment from there.
What you can build
How to build a wholesale catalog in WordPress
A trade catalog needs a searchable product list, custom fields such as SKU, unit and minimum order, access limited to approved buyers, and a way to send an order request. It does not need a shopping cart, a payment gateway or public retail pricing. WooCommerce is built around the second list; WP Inventory Manager is built around the first. A typical setup follows four steps.
1. Build your product catalog
Add each product under WP Inventory > Inventory Items. The default fields already suit a wholesale catalog: Number for your SKU, Name, Description for specs and materials, Manufacturer for the brand or supplier, Quantity, and Price for the trade price. Labels are yours to rename under WP Inventory > Labels, so a food service distributor can call Size “Pack Size” and a building supplier can call Serial # “Batch #”. If your catalog already lives in a spreadsheet, the Import and Export add-on loads it from a CSV in one pass; see how to import inventory from a spreadsheet.
2. Organize it the way buyers navigate
Set up categories under WP Inventory > Categories to match how buyers look for products, not how your warehouse stores them: Dairy, Dry Goods, Frozen and Packaging for a food distributor; Structural, Fasteners, Finishing and Electrical for a building supplier. Categories appear as filters on the front end, so a buyer narrows the catalog instead of scrolling through all of it.
3. Limit the catalog to approved buyers
Place the [wpinventory] shortcode on a WordPress page and restrict that page to logged-in users. Only buyers with an account see the catalog and its trade pricing; the public sees nothing, or a registration prompt if you accept new buyer applications. That is standard WordPress page visibility, no extra plugin needed. If sales reps or partners maintain their own product lines, Advanced User Control lets each user see and edit only the items they own.
4. Let buyers submit order requests
The Reserve Cart add-on turns the catalog into a request flow: buyers add items and quantities to a cart and submit once, and you receive a single email with the full list, in effect a purchase order or quote request. No payment step, no automated order. Before: a buyer emails “can you send pricing on your 10L containers and the new packaging line?”, you reply with a PDF, they reply with quantities, and three emails later you have an order. After: the buyer logs in, adds six items with quantities, hits submit, and you reply with an invoice.
Example
A regional food service distributor with 300 SKUs
Six product categories, trade pricing, and a sales team that used to answer every price enquiry by email. Buyers now log in with their account and see the full catalog with trade prices; new applicants sit on a pending role and see an “account under review” message until the sales team approves them. Orders arrive as complete item lists from the Reserve Cart, and the team replies with an invoice through the process it always used.
When WP Inventory Manager is the right fit
It is not the right fit if you need automated invoicing, real-time buyer pricing tiers or credit account integration; those needs point to a full B2B e-commerce platform. For the many distributors whose sales process is enquiry-based rather than self-serve checkout, this covers the job without the overhead. The complete guide to inventory management in WordPress without WooCommerce covers the foundations.
Key features for wholesale & distributors
The add-ons that matter most for trade catalog businesses.
Import / Export
Bulk upload your entire product catalog from a spreadsheet instead of entering every SKU manually. Export updated stock data anytime.
Flexible Item Types
Create different product types with different field sets so your hardware SKUs and your apparel lines don’t share the same data structure.
Advanced Search
Let buyers filter by SKU, category, product type or any custom field. Essential for large catalogs where buyers know exactly what they need.
Order Request Workflow
Reserve Cart lets buyers select multiple products and submit an order request in one go. No public checkout or fixed pricing required.
Locations Manager
Track stock across multiple warehouses or distribution centers. Show buyers where products are held and what’s available by location.
Advanced User Control
Restrict catalog visibility by buyer role. Show trade pricing only to logged-in accounts, or give regional reps access to their own product lines.
Recommended setup
Match your requirements to the right plan or add-on.
Add-ons require a WP Inventory Pro license.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from wholesale and distribution businesses evaluating WP Inventory Manager.
Can I create a trade catalog that’s only visible to logged-in buyers?
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Yes. With Advanced User Control, you can restrict catalog visibility to specific user roles, so only approved buyers or trade accounts can view your products and pricing.
Can buyers submit order requests without a public checkout?
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Yes. Reserve Cart lets buyers select multiple products and submit an order or quote request in one form. No checkout, no fixed pricing, no WooCommerce needed.
Can I import my existing product list from a spreadsheet?
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Yes. Import / Export lets you upload your entire catalog from a CSV file. If your product data is already in a spreadsheet, you can have it live on your site without manual data entry.
Can I track stock across multiple warehouses?
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Yes. Locations Manager lets you assign stock to specific warehouses or distribution centers, so your team always knows where inventory is held.
Can different product categories have different fields?
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Yes. With Advanced Inventory Manager, you can create separate item types with their own field sets. Useful when your product lines have different specs, units of measure, or attributes.
Is this a replacement for an ERP or order management system?
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No. WP Inventory Manager is best suited for catalog display and lightweight order request workflows directly in WordPress. It is not a full ERP, WMS or order management system.
Get your wholesale catalog online today.
Free to start. No WooCommerce required.
