{"id":62268,"date":"2026-05-28T12:55:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/?p=62268"},"modified":"2026-06-22T13:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:06:13","slug":"de-eu-ai-act-in-b2b-e-commerce-wat-verandert-er-voor-de-groothandel-fabrikant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/de-eu-ai-act-in-b2b-e-commerce-wat-verandert-er-voor-de-groothandel-fabrikant\/","title":{"rendered":"The EU AI Act in B2B e-commerce: what's changing for wholesalers & manufacturers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The EU AI Act came into effect on 1 August 2024 and has been applied in phases since then. The ban on AI applications with unacceptable risk has been in effect since February 2025, and the rules for general AI models and oversight since August 2025. The strictest requirements, for high-risk AI systems, will only come later: these have been postponed to late 2027 and 2028 by the Digital Omnibus agreement.<\/strong><\/p>

The law has one objective: a European framework in which AI is deployed safely, transparently and verifiably, without affecting citizens' fundamental rights. The approach is risk-based. The greater the risk of an application, the stricter the requirements.<\/span><\/p>

In this blog, we explain what the AI Act means for wholesalers, importers, and manufacturers, and how you can use AI without unnecessary risks.<\/span><\/p>

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Why AI is relevant for wholesale<\/b><\/h2>

In 2026, B2B buyers expect the same rapid experience they are accustomed to as consumers. They want immediate answers to questions about stock levels, customer-specific pricing, and delivery times. Simultaneously, many wholesalers are operating with tight staffing levels in their internal sales departments and with thousands of unique SKUs in their PIM or webshop systems.<\/span><\/p>

AI kan een deel van het repetitieve werk overnemen. Hierdoor houdt de binnendienst tijd over voor complex klantcontact en advies. We zien dat dit twee effecten heeft: lagere operationele kosten en een betere klantervaring.<\/span><\/p>


The main AI applications and how they fall under the law<\/b><\/h2>

The EU AI Act categorises AI systems based on risk. The greater the risk to the safety or fundamental rights of citizens, the stricter the rules. For e-commerce, this is beneficial: almost all relevant software falls into the lowest risk categories. We highlight the three most common applications.<\/span><\/p>


Chatbots and automated customer service<\/b><\/h2>

Many wholesalers are deploying AI chatbots to handle the first line of customer inquiries, for example, the status of a shipment or looking up a manual.<\/span><\/p>

The rules: <\/span><\/i>This falls under the transparency obligation (Article 50 of the AI Act). A customer has the right to know they are communicating with a machine. This obligation will apply from 2 December 2026.<\/span><\/p>

What you need to do:<\/span><\/i> Ensure there is a clear notification in the chat window, such as \u201cYou are now speaking with our digital AI assistant\u201d. This is mandatory and also transparent for your customer.<\/span><\/p>


Content generation for PIM and product data<\/b><\/h2>

Populating a webshop with unique product descriptions and SEO data is time-consuming, especially with large product ranges. AI tools linked to your PIM system or webshop generate product descriptions based on raw factory specifications.<\/span><\/p>

The rules:<\/span><\/i> This falls under minimal risk. The AI Act does not impose heavy restrictions on this.<\/span><\/p>

What you need to do:<\/span><\/i> Even though the law permits it, a human-in-the-loop remains important. AI can make mistakes (hallucinate). As a wholesaler, you are responsible to your customer for the accuracy of the technical product specifications.<\/span><\/p>


Order processing and stock forecasting<\/b><\/h2>

AI can scan incoming PDF orders, match them with the correct articles in the ERP and prepare them as draft orders. Furthermore, it can analyse historical sales data for purchasing advice.
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<\/span>The rules:<\/span><\/i> This also falls under minimal risk. It optimises internal business processes without impacting the privacy or rights of individuals.<\/span><\/p>

What you need to do:<\/span><\/i> This can be put into practice immediately. The risk of compliance issues is minimal in practice. However, be mindful as soon as customer data is read: in this case, use an AI model that you host yourself, or at least a model that does not use your data for training purposes.<\/span><\/p>


What risk do you run as a wholesaler?<\/b><\/h2>

A common misconception is that wholesalers themselves must comply with the strictest requirements of the AI Act, including heavy compliance audits. However, the law distinguishes between the provider (the party developing the AI technology) and the user (the party using the tool).<\/span><\/p>

As a wholesaler, you will almost always purchase software from external suppliers. Therefore, you are the user. The significant obligations and requirements regarding technical documentation lie primarily with the software suppliers and e-commerce partners who build the systems.<\/span><\/p>


When should you pay extra attention?<\/b><\/h2>

There are two situations in which you, as a wholesaler, will face stricter supervision.<\/span>

<\/span>Regulated products with embedded AI<\/b> Do you import or distribute products that fall under specific European product safety requirements (such as medical devices, toys, or certain industrial machinery) and do they incorporate AI? If so, those systems are often classified as high-risk. As a distributor, you must then check that the manufacturer has the correct CE marking and AI compliance in order.<\/span><\/p>

Internal HR tools:<\/b> Do you use an AI tool that automatically scans and ranks CVs submitted for job vacancies? The EU classifies recruitment tools as high-risk due to the risk of unconscious bias.<\/span><\/p>


How do you go about this? A three-step plan<\/b><\/h2>

Do you want to use AI in your online shop whilst ensuring you remain compliant? If so, the following three steps will help.<\/span><\/p>

  1. Conduct an AI inventory. Map out which tools within your organisation are already using AI. Is ChatGPT being used for marketing copy? Is there a product recommendation module on the webshop? For each tool, note its purpose and the supplier.<\/span><\/li>
  2. Check with your e-commerce partner and software suppliers. Are you implementing an extension to your tech stack, such as a smart search bar or an order processing tool? Ask your IT partner or supplier explicitly about their compliance status with regard to the EU AI Act. A professional provider will be able to demonstrate how they handle data security and legislation.<\/span><\/li>
  3. Develop in-house AI skills. The AI Act requires organisations that use AI to provide their staff with a basic understanding of AI. Your team needs to understand how the tools work, what their limitations are, and how to critically review the output. A short in-house workshop or guide is often sufficient.<\/span><\/li><\/ol>


    <\/b>So: <\/b>DThe EU AI Act is intended to create a level playing field, not to stifle innovation. Furthermore, the Act will be implemented in phases: the strictest requirements for high-risk systems will only apply later. For the average Dutch wholesaler or manufacturer, the administrative burden will remain limited, as long as you choose reliable software partners, are transparent about your AI use, and maintain human oversight of the output.<\/span>
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    AI offers the space to organise your e-commerce operations more efficiently. If you work with customer data, choose a model that you host yourself or that does not use your data for training.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

    Would you like to know which AI applications are suitable for your situation and how to set this up compliantly? Get in touch with us.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    De EU AI Act is op 1 augustus 2024 in werking getreden en wordt sindsdien in fases van toepassing. Het verbod op AI toepassingen met een onaanvaardbaar risico geldt sinds februari 2025, en de regels voor algemene AI-modellen en het toezicht sinds augustus 2025. De zwaarste eisen, voor AI-systemen met een hoog risico, gaan pas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nieuws"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62268"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62281,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62268\/revisions\/62281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecomwise.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}