Shopify B2B: The Ultimate Guide to Launching and Scaling Your B2B Business on Shopify

The B2B e-commerce market is anticipated to skyrocket to a whopping $20.9 trillion by 2027 according to Statista. As a result of the hype around digital transformations as the competitive line of demarcation, many businesses that once operated by manual selling processes have obsolete ERP systems, and those that have unconnected customer service find that they are falling behind. It’s no longer about whether one should digitize business operations; it’s all about how – and how fast it will be done. 

Enter Shopify B2B, and even more so, Shopify Plus B2B. Their key features, seamless scalability, and powerful integrations have made these platforms redefine the wholesale ecommerce space, supporting both B2B and B2C under the same roof. This is a comprehensive guide on how to launch and turn your B2B Shopify store into a bigger enterprise through Shopify while empowering your business to serve wholesale customers much better from now on.

Why Choose Shopify for B2B?

Shopify is a global ecommerce solution, according to expert reviews, with more than 4.4 million stores working on its platform as of 2024. But apart from DTC brands, Shopify is now extending further into wholesale and B2B business with enhanced functions to suit complex pricing schemes and volume discounting, ERP/CRM integrations, and sales automation. 

What Is Shopify B2B?

Shopify B2B provides a set of features to merchants to help them build dedicated wholesale experiences within their Shopify stores. Regardless of whether yours is a pure B2B firm or a hybrid B2B+B2C model, Shopify B2B wholesale allows you to cluster customers, offer them custom prices, and streamline order management from one central dashboard. 

It is essential to differentiate between Shopify’s standard B2B capabilities, possible with apps and workarounds, and Shopify Plus B2B, a stronger offering designed for higher-volume, higher-growth wholesale brands.

Shopify vs Shopify Plus B2B: What’s the Difference?

While regular Shopify plans can handle basic wholesale needs through third-party B2B apps like Wholesale Club or Bold Custom Pricing, Shopify Plus B2B is built with large-scale operations in mind. It offers advanced features such as:

• Company profiles and buyer roles
• Custom price lists per company
• Automated quantity rules and order minimums
• Self-serve B2B portals for reordering
• Flexible payment terms (net 30, net 60, etc.)
• Native ERP and CRM integrations

Shopify vs. Shopify Plus B2B: Feature Comparison

Key Features of Shopify B2B Commerce

With Shopify Plus B2B, you’re not just layering wholesale capabilities onto a retail store. You’re building a dedicated B2B experience. Here are some core functionalities:

• Custom B2B Catalogs & Pricing: Assign personalized product lists and pricing to specific clients or companies.
  Wholesale Checkout: A simplified B2B checkout with built-in automation for taxes, shipping, and payment terms.
• Roles for Buyers: Multiple users from one company can place orders, approve quotes, or manage billing and shipping. 
• FAIR Integrations: Connect easily with most familiar tools like NetSuite, SAP, or Microsoft Dynamics to synchronize data.
• Automated Workflows: Streamline customer onboarding, approval flows, and reordering processes using Shopify Flow and B2B apps.

For a detailed breakdown of native B2B features in Shopify Plus, Shopify’s official documentation offers in-depth support.

Who Should Use Shopify Plus B2B?

Enterprise-Level Wholesalers

Businesses managing multiple clients with complex purchasing processes and large average order volumes benefit most from Shopify Plus B2B’s automation and integration features.

Hybrid B2B and B2C Sellers

If your business serves both individual consumers and corporate buyers, Shopify Plus allows you to manage both channels from a single backend while delivering tailored experiences to each customer segment.

Fast-Growing DTC Brands Expanding into Wholesale

Emerging brands often start as DTC operations and scale into wholesale. Shopify Plus provides the tools to support hybrid growth strategies without migrating platforms.

Financial Considerations: Pricing and Investments

Shopify Plus Pricing Structure

Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month. The price can vary depending on sales volume and additional services required. It includes priority support, unlimited staff accounts, and access to exclusive apps and features.

Development and Maintenance

Budgeting for development depends on your customization and integration needs. Costs may include:

• Custom theme development
• ERP and CRM integration
• App subscriptions
• Ongoing maintenance and updates

B2B Apps for Non-Plus Merchants

Shopify Plus is out of your budget? Then use Wholesale Club, Bold Custom Pricing, or B2B Verify Customers to emulate the features of B2B on any of the regular Shopify plans. However, performance, reliability, or scalability limits offer most of them.

How to Launch Your B2B Store on Shopify

Step 1: Define Your B2B Strategy

Outline your buyer personas, pricing structures, order minimums, and terms. Decide on catalog segmentation and geographic targeting.

Step 2: Choose Your Plan

Evaluate whether Shopify or Shopify Plus is the right fit based on volume, complexity, and long-term goals.

Step 3: Set Up Your Store

• Create company accounts
• Upload custom price lists
• Set minimum order quantities and tiered pricing

Step 4: Customize Checkout

Use Shopify Functions to:

• Add PO fields
• Apply volume discounts
• Offer deferred payments

Step 5: Automate Fulfillment

Integrate with shipping platforms like Easyship or ShipStation. Configure automated order notifications and tracking workflows.

Step 6: Test and Launch

Test every aspect of the B2B experience — from registration and login to pricing, taxes, and checkout. Pilot the experience with a few trusted customers before full-scale rollout.

Best Shopify B2B Apps and Integrations

Popular Tools

• Wholesale Club – Tiered pricing without coding
• LockSmith – Access control to products and pages
• B2B Verify Customers – Customer vetting and gated access
• Shopify Flow – Workflow automation for approvals, discounts, and segmentation

ERP and CRM Integrations

Shopify Plus supports integrations with major enterprise platforms, including:

• SAP
• NetSuite
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Salesforce

Optimizing Your B2B Store

Email and CRM

Integrate with tools like Klaviyo to automate B2B drip campaigns, reorder reminders, and promotional messages based on segmentation.

SEO and Content Marketing

Develop landing pages and blog content optimized for keywords such as:

• shopify b2b
• shopify plus b2b
• b2b shopify
• shopify b2b app
• shopify b2b commerce

Content should focus on educating prospects, highlighting industry pain points, and demonstrating your solution.

Analytics and Automation

Use Shopify Analytics, Google Analytics 4, and your CRM to monitor:

• Customer lifetime value
• Reorder frequency
• Cart abandonment rates

Leverage these insights to improve UX, pricing strategies, and customer retention.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Over-relying on Apps: Too many apps can bloat performance and create integration issues.
• Ignoring Automation: Manual order processing reduces efficiency at scale.
• Not Customizing Checkout: B2B buyers expect specific flows and information fields.
• Lack of ERP Integration: Without proper data sync, fulfillment and finance processes suffer.

When to Hire a Professional

While Shopify Plus has some strong B2B functionalities out of the box, scaling a wholesale ecommerce operation often requires a level of design, technical expertise, and strategic foresight beyond what Shopify can offer on its own. This is where a qualified Shopify Plus partner can make a world of difference.

Working with an expert becomes paramount for:

• Custom development of special B2B workflows, storefronts, or checkout logic. 
• Integration with third-party systems for seamless processing such as ERP, CRM, or Accounting platforms like NetSuite, SAP, or Salesforce. 
• Optimization of performance for high traffic and high transaction acceptance of your store. 
• Formulating a strategy for international expansion, omnichannel commerce, or legacy phasing.

An experienced Shopify Plus Partner agency is best suited for implementing solutions with speed, anticipating possible roadblocks, rolling out ongoing support, and future-proofing your store architecture.

Elogic is a certified Shopify Plus Partner, a trusted partner in empowering B2B companies to design, build, and maintain scalable, secure, and conversion-oriented ecommerce systems. Whether you are opening a wholesale channel for the first time or migrating away from an antiquated system, Elogic provides the technical depth and the industry expertise to nurture your growth every step of the way.

Conclusion: Build for Scale and Long-Term Success

Shopify and Shopify Plus B2B offer agile and responsive solutions for businesses looking at growth or optimization of their wholesale operations. With native support for complex pricing, company accounts, payment terms, and integrations, the platform makes it easier than ever to efficiently serve B2B clientele. 

Establish a solid foundation; choose the plan that fits your needs, and kickstart your B2B Builder path by leveraging Shopify’s strong tools and apps towards delivering that complete customer-centric B2B experience. 

Interested in growing your wholesale business on Shopify Plus? Let the Elogic team of experts help you design a scalable B2B solution that would work for you. Connect with us now to get a free consultation ahead of effective e-commerce!