Shopify wasn't originally built for wholesale. The platform started as a D2C tool and B2B was an afterthought. That's changed significantly — Shopify Plus now has native B2B features that are genuinely competitive — but your options look very different depending on which plan you're on.
What you're trying to solve
Most brands selling B2B through Shopify need some combination of:
- Different prices for wholesale customers vs retail customers
- Minimum order quantities
- Net payment terms (pay in 30/60 days) rather than payment at checkout
- A separate ordering portal that retail customers don't see
- Account-level discounts that persist across orders
- Purchase orders and invoices instead of standard checkout receipts
How you implement these depends on your plan.
B2B on standard Shopify plans (Basic, Shopify, Advanced)
On a standard Shopify plan, native B2B features are limited. You can use customer tags and discount codes for simple price differentiation, but anything more sophisticated requires apps.
The app approach: Wholesale Club, Wholesale Helper, or BSS B2B. These apps add wholesale functionality on top of a standard Shopify store — tiered pricing by customer tag, minimum order quantities, net terms, and a separate wholesale login. They cost $30–$100/month depending on features.
This works well for simple wholesale programmes: a handful of wholesale customers, straightforward price lists, no complex account management. The limitations show when you need multiple price tiers, large wholesale account rosters, or integration with an ERP or accounting system.
A separate Shopify store for wholesale. Some brands run a completely separate Shopify store for wholesale — different domain, wholesale-only products at wholesale prices, password protected. This gives you full control and no app fees, but doubles your maintenance overhead. Every product change needs to happen on both stores.
B2B on Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus added native B2B in 2022, and it's genuinely good. Here's what it includes:
Company accounts. Each B2B customer is set up as a "company" in Shopify admin with one or more contacts. The company has its own settings — payment terms, price list, shipping options — that apply to every order placed by any contact at that company.
Price lists. You create price lists and assign them to companies. A price list can be a percentage discount off retail, a fixed price per variant, or a combination. One company might get 30% off retail; another might have a completely custom price list with negotiated prices per SKU.
Net payment terms. Companies can be assigned net 15, net 30, net 60, or net 90 terms. They place orders and receive an invoice; payment is due after the agreed period. The checkout handles this natively — no manual invoicing.
Quantity rules. Minimum order quantities, case packs, and quantity increments set per product or per price list. A wholesale customer ordering a product that comes in cases of 12 will only be able to order in multiples of 12.
B2B portal. A separate, branded ordering portal where wholesale customers log in and see their company-specific prices. This lives on a subdomain of your store (wholesale.yourstore.com) and is separate from your retail storefront.
Purchase orders. Customers can upload a purchase order number at checkout, which appears on the invoice. Standard expectation for trade buyers.
When to use apps vs Plus native B2B
The decision comes down to complexity and volume:
Use apps (standard plan) when:
- You have fewer than 50 wholesale accounts
- Your price structure is simple (one or two tiers)
- You don't need net payment terms or formal purchase orders
- Wholesale is a secondary channel, not a primary revenue driver
Upgrade to Plus for native B2B when:
- You have many wholesale accounts with different negotiated prices
- Net payment terms are a standard expectation in your industry
- You need a professional B2B ordering portal that's visually separate from retail
- Your wholesale volume justifies the Plus fee ($2,300/month) on its own or with other Plus features
What a B2B Shopify setup actually involves
Setting up B2B properly — whether via apps or Plus native — involves more than flipping a switch. You'll need to:
- Define your wholesale price structure (percentage tiers vs custom prices per SKU)
- Create company accounts for each wholesale customer and assign price lists
- Set up payment terms and train your accounts receivable team on how net terms work in Shopify
- Configure minimum order quantities and case packs where relevant
- Set up the ordering portal or wholesale access method
- Connect to your accounting system (Xero, QuickBooks) so wholesale invoices flow correctly
- Test the full flow with a real wholesale order before opening it to customers
The configuration is manageable; the accounting integration is where most B2B setups get complicated. Make sure whoever sets this up has thought through how wholesale orders, invoices, and payments will flow into your bookkeeping before you go live.
