The IPS e-commerce platform is a web and app-based system that gives you 24/7 access to the full IPS product range, your agreed pricing, and real-time stock in one place. It’s designed for B2B buyers and site teams who need faster, more accurate ordering without losing the personal support they rely on.
If you manage procurement for mechanical, fire protection, water, or industrial projects, you know the pain of juggling product catalogues, email quotes, and spreadsheet price lists. Every manual step adds risk: incorrect part numbers, outdated pricing, and delays while you wait for office hours or call-backs. The IPS platform was built specifically to remove those friction points while keeping your existing IPS commercial terms fully intact.
Instead of searching old emails for a quote, you log in and see the entire IPS pipes, valves, and fittings portfolio with technical data and live availability. Your account pricing is baked into every search result and basket, so what you see is what you pay. For busy teams, this shift from manual to digital can save hours every week and materially reduce ordering errors, a benefit echoed by B2B buyers adopting similar platforms in other industries, such as those highlighted by Procurify.
The result is not “self-service instead of service”. It’s a single, always-on ordering channel that enhances the technical advice, contract review, and project support IPS has always provided.
The core strength of the IPS platform is that everything you need to place a correct order is in one place. The full IPS range is searchable by product name, part number, or keyword, with filters for size, material, pressure rating, and more. If your team simply types “valve” or “pipe”, they can quickly narrow down to the exact product that matches your specification.
Real-time stock visibility means you see what’s available before you raise a purchase order. That reduces the back-and-forth often seen in traditional ordering, where availability issues only surface after you’ve sent a PO. Combined with over 15,000+ products on the platform, you get both breadth and certainty when planning work.
Your agreed pricing is applied automatically. Every product you view shows the correct rate for your account, and that same price flows consistently through to your basket, order confirmation, and order history. For buyers managing tight project margins, this transparency helps avoid unpleasant surprises and aligns with best practices in digital procurement identified by platforms like IPS’s own website upgrade, where navigation and clarity are prioritised.
Crucially, ordering is available 24/7. Nightshift teams can place orders when they identify a requirement; remote sites can reorder essentials without waiting for office-based colleagues. The headline numbers—over 500 credit account customers, 15K+ products, and round-the-clock access—reflect a platform that has been tested and trusted by real IPS customers in live environments.
You don’t need a complex IT project to start using the IPS e-commerce platform. If you’re an existing IPS credit account customer, setup is intentionally light-touch so you can be ordering within minutes rather than weeks. This is especially important for SMEs and project-focused contractors who rarely have spare internal IT capacity.
The first step is completing the PO Approver form. This ensures the right person in your organisation is set up as the approval contact, so orders follow your internal governance from day one. Once this is submitted, IPS creates or confirms your account profile and applies your existing commercial terms.
Next, you receive your login details by email. From there, accessing the platform is as simple as opening the mobile app or web browser, entering your registered email and password, and starting to browse. If login details go missing, you can request a reset directly via the login page or under the My Setup tab, reducing reliance on phone calls or manual admin.
The designated PO approver can then invite colleagues and manage access. This is where you align the platform with how your organisation really works—by site, function, or project. Because the structure is configurable, it scales from a single-site contractor with a few buyers to multi-site operators with distributed engineering teams.
Once set up, most value comes from day-to-day use. Site teams and buyers quickly move from trial use to embedding the platform in their standard operating procedures because it shortens the time between identifying a need and securing the materials. For busy maintenance or project environments, that time saving converts directly into reduced downtime.
The search bar is the starting point. Users can type everyday terms like “pipe”, “valve”, or a known part number, then use filters for size, material, or pressure class. Where a paper catalogue might have taken minutes to navigate, the platform returns accurate options in seconds.
On the mobile app, barcode scanning accelerates reordering even further. A warehouse operative can point their phone at an IPS product label and instantly pull up the exact SKU, with price and availability. This is particularly valuable for van stock checks, plant rooms, and stores that carry a wide variety of fittings.
For recurring demand, teams use Favourites and shopping lists. A project engineer might build a list for a specific site or phase of work; a maintenance planner might create lists for scheduled shutdowns or service visits. Entire lists can be added to the basket in one click, which is far more efficient than building each order from scratch and aligns with digital best practices seen across modern B2B platforms.
Order history provides a searchable record of past purchases, allowing users to repeat complex orders or verify what was delivered to a particular site and when.
Control is often the biggest concern when organisations consider moving more ordering online. The IPS e-commerce platform addresses this with a clear separation between PO Requesters and PO Approvers and configurable spend limits, so you can digitise ordering without losing financial discipline.
PO Requesters can build baskets and submit orders, but these require approval before processing. PO Approvers receive email notifications and can review and approve either in the app or via the web interface. Approvers see full order details, including lines, values, and delivery addresses, supporting informed decisions.
Every user is defaulted to zero spend until configured, meaning that without explicit approval, no one can place orders that bypass your controls. Best practice is to maintain zero or low thresholds for requesters and a single PO Approver per IPS customer to centralise accountability.
Approvers can also set spend thresholds by user, site, or project and adjust permissions as team members change roles. This mirrors the kind of granular control advocated by leading procurement platforms such as those discussed by Procurify, but with the advantage that it’s embedded directly into your IPS ordering channel.
For advanced users on the web version, CSV uploads using SKU numbers enable bulk ordering from existing procurement systems or spreadsheets, supporting higher-volume, more structured purchasing operations.
Digital tools only add value if people use them confidently. IPS backs the platform with the same 100% IPS support you receive through traditional channels, so you are never left to troubleshoot alone. This combination of technology and human support is essential for organisations that cannot afford ordering mistakes.
If you need help accessing your account, setting up users, or configuring PO limits, you can contact IPS via email at sales@ipsflowsystems.com, by phone in the UK on 0191 521 3111, or in Ireland on +353 1 2573741. The team can walk you through use cases, from first login to advanced features like CSV uploads.
New and existing users benefit from onboarding resources, including a dedicated video walkthrough. This allows you to train new joiners quickly and embed platform use into your standard induction process. For many customers, it’s now the default way new buyers learn how to work with IPS.
IPS continues to invest in its digital experience, as seen in its brand-new website launch, which focuses on better navigation, richer technical content, and more ways to get in touch. The e-commerce platform is a natural extension of that strategy: a single, reliable place to see products, pricing, and orders—while your Sales Engineer and customer service contacts remain just a call away.
By combining robust digital ordering with personal support, the IPS e-commerce platform gives you more control, less admin, and a smoother path from requirement to delivery on every project.