Shopify Plus has transformed from being the go-to platform for B2C mid-market eCommerce into a powerful contender for B2B merchants seeking a robust and scalable SaaS eCommerce solution.
With its ongoing innovations, particularly the introduction of B2B in mid-2022, Shopify Plus now offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to optimise wholesale operations and elevate customer experiences. Shopify Plus deserves serious consideration for B2B businesses aiming for scalable, efficient solutions.
This article explores the key features of Shopify Plus’s B2B capabilities, how they enable businesses to thrive, and practical use cases to empower growth.
B2B sales models often require dynamic pricing structures based on customer segments, order volumes, or negotiated contracts. Shopify Plus provides native tools and apps to implement customer-specific pricing, volume discounts, and promotional offers. This includes features such as:
Price lists: Assign custom price lists to specific B2B customers, ensuring they see only their negotiated rates.
Volume discounts: Apply automatic discounts based on quantity thresholds or order value.
Contract pricing: Display individualised pricing at the customer account level, ensuring consistent pricing agreements.
Customer-specific promotions: Offer exclusive discounts, free shipping, or special deals only visible to B2B buyers.
For B2B merchants handling custom or negotiated orders, Shopify Plus offers Draft Orders, which act as a built-in quoting tool. This allows merchants to create manual orders, apply custom pricing, and send quotes directly to customers.
Draft orders can be used for:
Manual order creation: Create custom orders with unique pricing, discounts, or line items. Useful for account management teams, creating orders on a customer's behalf.
Send quotes: Email quotes with a checkout link, allowing B2B customers to complete the purchase online.
Invoice management: Streamline invoice generation and reconciliation.
Many B2B businesses sell across multiple geographic regions or operate different brands or business units. Shopify Plus allows merchants to create multiple stores under a single Shopify Plus plan, making it easier to localise operations or run separate B2B and B2C channels.
Shopify Plus B2B users benefit from:
Up to 10 stores: Shopify Plus merchants can create up to 10 stores to manage different regions, product lines, or customer segments.
Multi-currency and multi-language: Localise stores with region-specific pricing, tax rules, and content.
Separate B2B and B2C stores: Option to operate a dedicated B2B store alongside a B2C store, each with unique catalogues and functionality.
B2B buyers often require customised checkout experiences, such as bulk ordering options, flexible payment terms, and tax-exempt status. The lack of checkout customisation options used to be cited as a limitation of Shopify Plus. However, the platform now allows you to customise the checkout process with Checkout Extensibility and apps that support B2B payments.
Shopify Checkout B2B features include:
Checkout customisation: Modify the checkout with scripts to handle complex tax rules, discounts, or bulk pricing logic.
Payment on account: Allow wholesale customers to purchase on account with invoicing instead of immediate payment.
Flexible payment methods: Integrate with B2B-friendly gateways and offer payment terms such as bank transfers or purchase orders.
Tax exemption: Automatically apply tax-exempt status for verified wholesale buyers.
B2B eCommerce often involves repetitive, manual processes. Shopify Flow, available to Shopify Plus merchants, automates key workflows such as customer approvals, order routing, and tagging.
This can help to significantly speed up some of the common admin tasks which come with running a B2B eCommerce operation, such as:
Customer segmentation: Automatically tag new B2B customers based on specific criteria (e.g. location, order value).
Order management: Automate order approvals, fulfilment notifications, and custom workflows.
Inventory and pricing updates: Automatically adjust pricing or stock levels for specific customer groups.
For B2B merchants, Shopify Plus now provides a compelling all-in-one solution with scalable B2B tools, automation, and customisation capabilities. Where Shopify was once seen as a B2C commerce platform with too many restrictions for B2B merchants, this perception is now shifting at pace, with Shopify releasing B2B focussed innovations at a fast pace. With significant updates landing every 6 months. These updates and the flexibility they have introduced enables merchants to:
Streamline B2B operations with customer-specific pricing, payment terms, and bulk ordering.
Automate workflows to reduce manual processes and improve efficiency.
Expand globally with multi-store capabilities.
Enhance customer experiences with tailored checkout processes and custom catalogues.
As a result, Shopify Plus now offers B2B merchants the flexibility to scale, streamline operations, and deliver a modern B2B experience that rivals traditional eCommerce platforms. For B2B businesses looking to enhance their digital presence, Shopify Plus offers the functionality and flexibility to meet complex wholesale needs.
Shopify also recently launched a Trade Theme, which is a purpose-built theme designed specifically for B2B merchants. It offers a professional storefront which can be used as a starting point for B2B merchants to customise, with many of the features above already visualised for users, such as bulk-buying from the product page. The theme reinforces Shopify's commitment to making Shopify the eCommerce platform of choice for B2B merchants. A journey that feels like it is still just getting started.
If you’re considering Shopify Plus for your next B2B build, contact us for a no-obligation consultation with our dedicated Commerce team.