B2B Online Store: How It Works and What a Wholesale Store Must Do
A customer sends you the same list of goods by email every week. A sales rep checks the price list, an accountant checks payment terms and a warehouse worker checks availability. A B2B online store lets a business customer order directly online under their own commercial terms. The benefit isn't just a bigger cart: what matters is that the right price, company and order reach the connected systems without being retyped again and again.
We explain what a wholesale online store must be able to do, when a separate B2B portal makes sense and how to tell native Shopify features, apps and custom development apart. Using a model wholesaler, we show two types of buyers and a test order. Shopify's options were verified on 23 October 2026.
What a B2B online store is and how it differs from B2C
B2B means business-to-business, i.e. selling between companies. A B2C store sells to end consumers; a wholesaler sells, for example, to retail shops, distributors or business operations. You can sell the same product to both groups. The difference usually lies in price, packaging, quantity, permissions and payment method.
A B2B portal often refers to a broader environment for buyers: besides orders, it includes documents, purchase history or other business functions. The name, however, doesn't guarantee specific features. Before choosing a solution, clarify whether you primarily want an ordering store or a customer area connected to multiple processes.
Business purchasing isn't just a consumer cart with a company ID field. One buyer can have several branches and employees. Each of them needs the right access to prices, addresses and orders. So you must assign the commercial agreement to the right company and location, not just to any logged-in email.
What a wholesale online store must be able to do
Company accounts and access rights
Decide who can create a company, approve a new buyer and purchase on its behalf. An employee of one branch shouldn't automatically see all orders of the entire group. And a staff change must not mean losing the company's history or sharing one personal login across the whole team.
On Shopify, native B2B is based on companies, their locations and assigned contacts. It uses customer accounts, not the old legacy accounts. When designing, verify the specific contact permissions and test what a regular orderer sees compared with a location admin.
Price lists, quantities and packaging
Write down your pricing rules: the base price list, group terms, individual exceptions, currency and volume tiers. Also decide whether goods are ordered by the piece, by the carton or in multiples of them. A minimum of six pieces is not the same as ordering only in sixes.
The rules should be visible before adding to the cart and must also work at checkout. For variants, decide whether quantity is assessed separately for each color or size. In native Shopify B2B, quantity rules apply to variants; six blue and six white pieces therefore don't automatically satisfy a minimum of twelve for one variant.
Payment terms, approvals and quotes
Prepayment, an invoice with payment terms and an order submitted for approval are different processes. Decide who can buy on credit, who may change an exception and what happens with an unpaid balance. Displaying a due date alone doesn't ensure credit limit checks or debt collection.
Native Shopify lets you set payment terms and submit B2B orders as drafts for review. But that doesn't automatically replace multi-step approval within the customer's company. If a purchase has to be approved by a branch manager and then by a central buyer, describe both roles and the required steps separately.
Quick reorders and documents
A regular buyer usually doesn't need to browse the whole catalog again. Search by SKU, quick quantity entry, an overview of previous orders or reordering all help. But verify whether a reorder picks up the current price and availability and flags a product you no longer sell.
The customer should be able to find the order status, the shipment and the necessary documents. Decide which system actually issues the invoice and where it's made available. An order confirmation in the online store and an accounting document are not the same thing. The connection is covered in our guide to accounting on Shopify.
A shared B2B/B2C store or a separate portal?
Shared store: common product range and management
A mixed store makes sense if you sell similar products to businesses and consumers and want shared administration and inventory. After logging in, a business customer gets the corresponding commercial terms. The advantage can be fewer integration points, but you must strictly separate prices and correctly target discounts, payments and shipping.
Also check the entire purchase as a non-logged-in visitor and a consumer. The wholesale price list must not accidentally be shown to everyone, and a change for business accounts must not block regular purchases. Equally important is checking after logging out and when switching companies or locations.
Separate portal: a different purchasing process
Consider a separate B2B store if you need a significantly different product range, team, content or ordering process. On Shopify, this means another store with its own administration and settings. Inventory and integrations won't sync between stores on their own; a shared ERP would have to handle the data transfer.
Don't base the decision to separate only on the login screen. Factor in the cost of a second environment, content management and integrations. The benefit should be simpler operations or a necessary separation of customer experiences, not just moving the same problems to another domain.
Connecting a B2B store to an ERP: who decides about the data
The integration must define a source of truth for every important piece of data. If a price is edited both by a sales rep in the ERP and by an admin in the online store without precedence rules, the next sync can overwrite the correct change. A brief that just says "connect the ERP" isn't enough; you need a list of fields, the direction of transfer and error handling.
Example of data ownership:
| Data | Possible master source |
|---|---|
| Business prices | ERP or central price list |
| Availability | ERP or warehouse system |
| Descriptions and images | PIM or Shopify |
| Payment terms | Approved terms in the ERP |
| Order status | The downstream order process |
This is a suggestion for a brief, not a universal setup. For each row, add an owner and the moment of update. Matching company and location, SKUs and variants and a unique order number are also important. A repeated transfer after an error must not create a second order or reserve stock twice.
Alongside the ERP, there may also be a CRM for sales communication. Keep the history of opportunities and sales activity separate from the ordering process. The difference is explained in our article What Is a CRM System and How It's Used in E-commerce.
Shopify B2B: when the plan matters
Basic Shopify B2B is not reserved for the Plus plan only. According to current documentation, it's available on Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus, but not on Starter or Retail. It includes companies, payment terms and self-serve ordering. Specific limitations need to be compared with the wholesaler's requirements.
Basic, Grow and Advanced allow you to assign up to three active catalogs across B2B markets and require the new Shopify Markets for catalog features. That's not three catalogs for each individual buyer. Plus adds an unlimited number of B2B market catalogs and direct assignment of catalogs to specific companies and locations.
Some advanced payment features, such as deposit requirements and partial payments, also require Plus. Contextual customizations via Markets are available on Advanced and Plus. So the old general claim that "B2B automatically means Plus" isn't enough; it would be just as inaccurate to claim that every plan can handle any wholesale model.
Evaluate the platform price together with integration and operation. You'll find an overview of cost items in our article Shopify Plans and Pricing; verify specific B2B features against the current documentation linked at the end of this guide.
Native features, an app or custom development?
Native B2B: when your business model fits the platform's features
Start with the native solution if it covers your company structure, price lists, quantities and ordering. The benefit is fewer separate systems for the same rule. Before deciding, though, demonstrate a specific case, for example a customer with two locations and different terms. A list of ticked features isn't enough.
App: when a well-defined part of the process is missing
Consider an app for a specific missing step or display method. Check whether it works with native companies and catalogs, or runs its own system of tags and price lists. Two parallel pricing mechanisms can give different results on the product page, in the cart and at checkout.
Before installing, ask to see support for your plan, the ERP integration, data export and what happens after the app is disconnected. Also find out who handles an incident if the problem lies between the app, the integration and the platform.
Custom development: when you need specific rules
Custom development is suitable, for example, for non-standard approvals, complicated contract pricing or a customer portal on top of multiple systems. First define the desired outcome and data ownership. A custom app on its own won't remove plan limitations or guarantee features the platform doesn't provide in a given placement.
Also include integration maintenance, transfer monitoring and API changes in the budget. The vendor should hand over a description of the rules, an operating procedure and a verification method, not just a finished screen.
A model wholesaler with two buyer groups
Imagine a seller of consumables. The following setup is our own model to explain requirements; it's not a description of a client project or a recommendation of specific commercial terms.
Group A: smaller retail shops
Shops use a shared catalog, order in multiples of six of one variant and pay for new orders in advance. We check the correct price list after login, pack multiples and that an invalid quantity can't be bypassed by changing it in the cart.
Group B: contract distributors
Distributors have a different catalog, approved 30-day payment terms and multiple delivery locations. For some orders, a sales rep must first confirm the terms. We test the correct location, the due date, the transfer of the buyer to the ERP and a clear distinction between a draft and a confirmed order.
Two groups don't yet mean you need an individual catalog for each company. But if every distributor requires a unique contract price list, that's a different brief. The plan decision then depends on catalog assignment and actual exceptions, not just the number of business customers.
A test business order before launch
Give the vendor test scenarios before development. For each, define the expected result and where you'll check it. Testing only a successful purchase with one business account isn't enough.
- Log in as the right person. Verify the company, location and permissions. Another employee must not see unauthorized orders or addresses.
- Compare the price. The product page, cart, checkout and ERP must match the agreed catalog, currency and quantity.
- Test the limits. Enter a quantity below the minimum, a wrong multiple and a combination of variants. Also check a stock exception.
- Verify the commercial status. Distinguish prepayment, payment terms and submission for approval. With a draft, the team must not accidentally start shipping as if it were a confirmed order.
- Go through the downstream systems. Check the company, document, stock and payment status. Simulate a repeated transfer and an unavailable integration.
- Repeat the purchase on mobile. The price list and packaging must be readable and the form usable. Then also verify a regular consumer purchase if the store is shared.
What to ask for in the vendor's proposal
- A list of requirements split into native features, apps and custom development, including the plan needed.
- A description of data flows, error handling and support responsibilities.
- One-off costs and recurring fees for the platform, apps, integration and management.
- A demonstration of the test order and the acceptance conditions.
After launch, measure success, for example, by the number of orders placed without a sales rep's involvement, pricing errors and processing time. The number of business registrations alone doesn't prove that buyers use the portal. Our Shopify online store development service can help you design the right solution.
Frequently asked questions about B2B online stores
Is a regular online store with a discount enough for wholesale?
For a simple model, it may cover some needs. But if you deal with companies, locations, different permissions, packaging or payment terms, you need to verify the whole process. A discount doesn't replace managing these rules.
Does Shopify B2B always require Plus?
No. Basic B2B is also available on Basic, Grow and Advanced. You need Plus, for example, for directly assigning catalogs to specific companies and for some advanced payment features.
Do I have to create a second store for B2B?
No. A shared store can serve both businesses and consumers. Choose a separate portal based on differences in processes and management, and factor in its separate integrations and operation.
Will a B2B online store replace an ERP?
It usually handles a different part of the work: customer ordering and self-service. Inventory, accounting and other areas can still be managed by the ERP. The key is to define the data source and reliably connect the ordering process.
