Everything you need to know about B2B on Shopify

Shopify has offered wholesale functionality for some time now. Shopify Plus includes a wholesale channel, however this creates a completely separate storefront (requiring different log-in credentials etc).

B2B on Shopify is a blended DTC & B2B store, both of which share the same front-end. Inside the store customers authenticate themselves via email address and subsequently see specific product information, pricing and payment terms, depending whether they’re a DTC or B2B customer.

Whether you’re just starting out in B2B and want to test the waters, or if you have years of experience combining DTC & B2B services, B2B on Shopify is flexible enough to match your needs.

Merchants have the choice to build one online store that caters to both DTC & B2B, with the customer authentication described above, or a dedicated B2B Shopify store. The former option is as straightforward as any other native Shopify solution, and doesn’t require any complex workaround or coding expertise.

The latter option keeps both retail and wholesale operations separate, however all store data is centralised in the unified Shopify admin. Regardless which path you choose, your buyers will see DTC/B2B-specific pricing options, payment terms, tax exemptions and so on, and your entire operation will remain in sync via Shopify’s backend system.

If you’re using an enterprise resource planning system (ERP), you can integrate it inside B2B on Shopify to easily sync essential business data and begin selling wholesale as quickly as possible.

With your retail store set up to support wholesale customers, you can use price lists to reduce retail prices by either percentages or fixed amounts. Your wholesale customers can also receive different payment terms and tax exemptions, and these can be made specific to different company profiles.

If you have any further questions about how to set up a B2B platform on Shopify, feel free to get in touch with our team for a free consultation.

There are numerous core features available in B2B on Shopify that make it possible to build an integrated wholesale store.

Company profiles

You can create separate wholesale profiles containing multiple locations and their own associated buyers.

Product publishing and pricing

Create personalised buying experiences with B2B-specific product selections and pricings. If you’re running a single store that caters to both B2B and DTC customers, this means you can display different products to each set of customers, and give all products different prices.

Flexible payment options

B2B businesses require a different set of payment options to DTC. With B2B on Shopify you can create automated net payment terms, draft orders,  vaulted credit cards and invoicing to streamline the order process.

B2B checkout

With the B2B checkout there are numerous ways you can offer an accelerated checkout process based on company profiles.

Customer accounts

Authenticate buyers before they can access wholesale products and pricing, and view and manage account information and order history.

Since Shopify’s Winter Editions ‘23, there have been some new features attached to their B2B technology. Here are some of our favourites:

Quantity rules

Merchants can now create product-specific rules including minimum and maximum orders, case packs & increments. These rules are also possible for product variants.

Easy reordering

Customer retention is an important factor in B2B selling, and it’s been made easier with the new recurring sales feature in B2B on Shopify.

Vaulted credit cards

Customers can store their credit cards on file at the checkout or in their customer account, in the all new safe and secure credit card vault. This reduces checkout friction, speeds up payment processes and will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.

With these new features, it’s clear that Shopify see their B2B branch as an important focus for the platform moving forward. Expect to see more new features in the not-so-distant future, as Shopify aim to provide a more rounded and complex wholesale experience.