Selling to business buyers requires a different approach to selling to consumers. Purchasing decisions involve multiple stakeholders, buying cycles are longer, order volumes are larger, and pricing is almost never the same for every customer. The experience a trade buyer expects from a supplier’s online channel reflects those differences — account access, trade pricing, minimum order quantities, and the ability to reorder efficiently without picking up the phone.
Shopify has invested substantially in its B2B commerce capabilities, with a dedicated feature set that allows wholesalers, manufacturers, and distributors to open a direct trade channel without maintaining a separate system. We help businesses set up, configure, and grow that channel — whether it operates alongside an existing B2C store or as a standalone trade portal.
Why B2B Buyers Expect More Online
The shift to digital procurement is not new, but it has accelerated significantly. Business buyers now expect to be able to research products, review pricing, check availability, and place orders online — often outside of business hours, and without waiting for a sales representative to respond. Businesses that make this easy gain a competitive advantage. Those that do not are increasingly losing accounts to suppliers who do.
The specific capabilities B2B buyers expect include:
- Account-level pricing, not a single public price list.
- The ability to place repeat orders from their order history without re-entering all the details.
- Visibility of their account status — outstanding orders, credit terms, and invoices.
- Minimum order quantities and volume pricing tiers presented clearly, not buried in a PDF.
- A buying experience that works on their timeline, not yours.
What Shopify B2B Enables — and What We Configure
Company accounts and buyer roles
We set up Shopify’s B2B company account structure — allowing each of your trade customers to have their own account, with assigned contacts, permissions, and terms. Multiple buyers within the same company can access the same account with appropriate access levels.
Customer-specific price lists
We configure price lists for individual accounts or customer segments — allowing you to offer different pricing to different trade tiers without managing a separate system. Volume discounts and minimum order requirements are built directly into the buying experience.
Net payment terms
We configure net payment terms for B2B accounts — Net 30, Net 60, or custom terms — so that trade buyers can place orders on account and pay on invoice rather than by card at checkout.
Trade-only catalogue management
We configure product and catalogue visibility so that trade-only products, pricing, or categories are accessible only to logged-in B2B accounts — with your public B2C store remaining separate and unaffected.
Reorder and account management
We configure the B2B customer portal so that buyers can view their order history, reorder from previous orders, and manage their account details — reducing the administrative burden on your sales team.
Integration with inventory and ERP systems
Where you are running inventory management or ERP software — such as Cin7, DEAR, or similar — we connect Shopify’s B2B channel to your back-end systems so that stock levels, orders, and customer data remain synchronised.
How We Work
Step 1: B2B audit and scope
We review your current wholesale or trade process — how orders are placed, how pricing is managed, and where the manual overhead sits — and define the scope of a Shopify B2B setup that replaces or supplements that process.
Step 2: Store architecture
We configure your Shopify B2B environment — company accounts, price lists, terms, and catalogue structure — building the foundation before any trade customers are onboarded.
Step 3: Integration and data migration
We connect Shopify B2B to your existing systems — accounting, inventory, CRM — and migrate any existing trade customer data and pricing structures into Shopify.
Step 4: Testing and account onboarding
We test the full B2B buying journey — account access, pricing accuracy, checkout, order management — and support you in onboarding your first trade accounts onto the new platform.
Step 5: Ongoing support and expansion
We provide ongoing support as your B2B channel grows, adding new accounts, adjusting pricing structures, and expanding integrations as your requirements evolve.
Ready to Open a Direct B2B Channel on Shopify?
Fill out the contact form and describe your current wholesale or trade setup — how many trade accounts you manage, how orders are currently placed, and what the biggest friction points are in your current process. We will design a Shopify B2B configuration that makes it easier for your trade customers to buy, and easier for your team to fulfil. You are in good hands.