Published October 12, 2026

Shopify B2B Explained: Wholesale on the Same Store, With Real Guardrails

Wholesale stops being a workaround

For years, Shopify wholesale meant a password page, a discount code named after the buyer, and prayer. B2B, on Plus and in lighter form on other plans, replaces that with actual structure: a Company record for each wholesale account, with Locations under it, buyers attached to locations with roles and permissions, and orders that know which company and location placed them. That structure sounds administrative until you have lived without it. A buyer who can only see and order against their own company locations, with their own pricing, on their own payment terms, is a wholesale channel. A shared login and a code is a rumor of one, and it leaks retail pricing and other buyers information in ways stores discover from an embarrassed phone call.

Catalogs are the pricing engine, and they reward tidiness

Pricing in B2B runs through catalogs: a catalog assigns a price list and a product selection to one or more companies, so a distributor, a small retailer, and a direct institutional buyer can each see a different wholesale reality on the same store. Percentage adjustments off retail are the quick start; fixed price lists are where serious wholesale lives, because wholesale buyers negotiate numbers, not percentages of a retail price that moves with your promotions. The discipline catalogs demand is product hygiene: variants correctly structured, retired products actually retired, because a wholesale buyer will find and order the dusty SKU your retail customers never see, at the price list price, and you will ship it and learn something about your own catalog.

Quantity rules and increments live here too, minimums and case pack multiples, set per catalog, which quietly ends the era of a wholesale order for one unit at wholesale price that cost more to pick than it earned.

Payment terms and draft orders are where B2B earns trust

Real wholesale runs on terms: net 30, net 60, due on fulfillment, deposits. B2B supports terms per company, with orders placed against them, due dates tracked, and reminders handled in the admin rather than in a spreadsheet named invoices final FINAL. Draft orders complete the picture for the rep assisted side of wholesale: a rep builds the order, the buyer approves and pays or confirms against terms, and the order enters the same fulfillment stream as everything else. The operational win is not any single feature. It is that wholesale revenue stops living in email threads and starts existing in the same reporting as the rest of the business, where it can be managed, forecast, and, when a company goes quiet, noticed.

When a separate wholesale store is still the right answer

B2B on the main store shares a catalog, a theme, and a brand face with retail. A business whose wholesale line is differently branded, priced in a structure it cannot risk retail customers glimpsing even in a screenshot, or sold through reps who need a heavily customized portal may still belong on its own store. The deciding questions are how different the two channels products and prices really are, and how much of the wholesale experience is self serve versus rep led. Self serve, shared catalog, real terms: B2B in the main store, and it is not close. A parallel universe of products with a sales team in the middle: price the second store honestly and do not force the fit.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify B2B only on Plus?

The full B2B feature set is a Plus capability, while some plans below Plus include a more limited version for wholesale, such as blended or single catalog setups. The companies, catalogs, and terms machinery described by most merchants means the Plus implementation, so verify your plan exact scope before designing around it.

Can wholesale buyers see retail prices on my store?

Buyers logged into their company context see the prices from their assigned catalog. The protection depends on correct setup: buyers attached to the right companies and locations, catalogs assigned deliberately, and no wholesale pricing implemented through public discount codes, which is the leaky pattern B2B exists to replace.

How do payment terms work in Shopify B2B?

Terms such as net 30 or due on fulfillment are set per company. Orders placed against terms carry a due date, can be tracked and reminded from the admin, and the buyer can pay through the order when due. Credit limits are managed as business process around the terms rather than as a single hard platform switch in most setups.

Can I set minimum order quantities for wholesale?

Yes. Catalogs support quantity rules including minimums and purchase increments per product or variant, which is how case pack wholesale is enforced without manual order review. Set them at catalog level per buyer group rather than store wide, since different wholesale tiers rarely share the same minimums.