In this blog post
We examine the key aspects of Shopify B2B functionality, what is available on every plan since April 2026 and what stays exclusive to Shopify Plus. We focus on technical and business challenges such as partner onboarding, catalogue management, and ERP integrations. This content is tailored for e-commerce directors and operations managers considering launching or migrating a wholesale channel to Shopify.
Key Takeaways in 30 Seconds (TL;DR)
- Not Plus-only any more: Since 2 April 2026, Shopify's native B2B (companies, payment terms, volume pricing, up to 3 B2B catalogs) is also available on the Basic, Grow and Advanced plans. Shopify Plus keeps unlimited catalogs, price lists assigned directly to companies, deposits and partial payments.
- Storefront Flexibility: Shopify B2B allows wholesale operations within a single blended store or on a completely separate instance.
- Advanced Onboarding: You can fully automate wholesale registration or implement manual verification and scoring for business clients.
- Offer Personalisation: Price lists and catalogues can be assigned to B2B markets on every plan, and directly to specific companies or their local branches on Shopify Plus.
- Integration Challenges: The hardest part of migration is not the Shopify setup itself, but connecting the platform to legacy ERP and WMS systems.
This guide is based on our podcast episode Shopify Plus B2B: common client questions before implementation, in which Tomek Runowicz and Maciek Czerniak answer the questions that came up most often in our B2B projects. The episode page has the full edited transcript in English. Watch the full conversation on our YouTube channel:
Do You Still Need Shopify Plus for B2B? (Update 2026)
When we first published this guide, native B2B on Shopify was a Shopify Plus feature. On lower plans, wholesale had to be built with apps. In the episode, recorded in March 2026, Tomek described it like this (23:06): "We used SparkLayer, which gives the same or very similar features to the native ones on Plus. Of course, you need to know that such an integration is no longer a simple install and basic configuration; it requires some custom work."
Nine days after the episode came out, that changed. On 2 April 2026 Shopify made key B2B features available on non-Plus plans at no extra cost. According to Shopify's B2B features by plan, this is how it looks today:
- Every plan (Basic, Grow, Advanced, Plus): companies and company locations with location-level permissions, quantity rules and quantity price breaks, net payment terms and payment reminders, vaulted credit cards, draft orders turned into invoices, easy reorders, PO numbers, sales staff permissions, the Trade theme, quick order lists and Shopify Flow with B2B objects.
- Advanced and Plus: contextual checkout and contextual storefront, so B2B buyers can see different content and checkout settings through Shopify Markets.
- Shopify Plus only: unlimited B2B catalogs (lower plans have up to 3 active catalogs across all B2B markets), catalogs assigned directly to companies or company locations, deposit requirements, partial payments and payment requests per fulfillment.
In practice, the question is no longer "Plus or apps?". It's whether your price logic fits into 3 catalogs. If every distributor has a negotiated price list, you need catalogs assigned per company, and that means Shopify Plus. Plus costs from €2,100 per month on a 3-year term or €2,250 per month on a 1-year term, and businesses with more complex structures move to a variable platform fee based on revenue (Shopify Plus pricing). If you have a few customer groups (for example, wholesalers, retailers and distributors), a lower plan can be enough. Apps like SparkLayer are still an option for cases the native features don't cover.
Architecture and Onboarding for Wholesale
Shopify B2B offers two primary deployment models. The first is the blended model, where B2C and B2B customers use the same domain, with the offer personalising only after login. The second is a separate storefront under a unique domain, allowing for total isolation of wholesale processes.
We have built both. For Bernstein, a German bathroom furnishings brand, we added wholesale to the existing store, so retail and business customers shop in one place with different prices and terms. For Siech Cycles, a Swiss bicycle brand, the B2B store is a closed platform for verified business customers, with product data synced from the B2C store.
The onboarding process usually starts with a registration form. Upon submission, an administrator manually approves the company and assigns it to the relevant catalog or market. As Maciek put it in the episode (7:24), this "stops everyone from getting access to the lower prices". Some brands automate approval instead, and a middle way is to enrich the company's data with AI, score it and decide on that basis.
The system supports multi-level structures: multiple locations (branches) can be added under one "company umbrella" with different addresses, local VAT numbers, and distinct commercial terms. The scale can be large: for Naturopathica on Shopify Plus, we migrated more than 2,000 companies and 8,000 locations, with price catalogues per company and location and roles from view-only access to multi-location ordering.
Comparison of Shopify B2B by Plan
The table below shows which native B2B features you get on each plan (as of October 2026, based on Shopify's Help Center).
| Feature | Basic and Grow | Advanced | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Companies and locations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| B2B catalogs | Up to 3 active, assigned to B2B markets | Up to 3 active, assigned to B2B markets | Unlimited, also assigned directly to companies and locations |
| Payment terms, vaulted cards, PO numbers, draft orders | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Quantity rules and volume pricing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Contextual checkout and storefront | No | Yes | Yes |
| Deposits, partial payments, payment requests per fulfillment | No | No | Yes |
| Customer login | New customer accounts (required for B2B) | New customer accounts (required for B2B) | New customer accounts (required for B2B) |
Managing Prices, Catalogues, and Taxes
Pricing in Shopify B2B works on several levels. You can assign a percentage discount across the entire range for a specific customer or create a dedicated catalogue with selected products at unique net prices. On Basic, Grow and Advanced, catalogues are assigned to B2B markets (up to 3 active catalogues). On Shopify Plus, you can assign them directly to a company or a single location, which is how per-customer price lists work. The system also allows for manual overrides for specific, non-standard orders, mimicking traditional commercial negotiations.
Discount logic that used to live in Shopify Scripts now needs Shopify Functions. Scripts stopped running on 30 June 2026 (Shopify developer changelog). Public apps that use Functions work on any plan, but custom apps with Functions are only available on Plus.
Regarding taxes, Shopify B2B supports tax IDs and tax exemptions set at the company or location level. With Shopify Tax, the tax ID field becomes a VAT number for UK and EU addresses, and Shopify validates it (Shopify Help Center). As Tomek noted in the episode (36:57), the VAT number is defined when the company account is created, "so the risk that someone enters an incorrect VAT number at checkout or makes a mistake in it disappears".
Some projects need more. Bernstein wanted businesses to register themselves and existing retail customers to switch to a company account. We built a custom app that checks VAT numbers against the EU's VIES database in real time, and used Shopify Functions to show net prices to validated business customers in other EU countries.
What Changed Since Older B2B Guides
If you are reading older materials about wholesale on Shopify, check these points:
- Wholesale channel: the old Shopify Plus Wholesale channel (a separate, password-protected wholesale store) was retired in 2024 and replaced by native B2B (Shopify Community).
- Customer accounts: B2B doesn't work with legacy customer accounts, which Shopify now marks as deprecated (B2B considerations). New customer accounts use passwordless login with a one-time code sent by email. Maciek warned in the episode (25:39) that this migration "can turn into a mini-project", especially for stores that already have many customers on the old accounts.
- Checkout: checkout.liquid no longer works for the checkout steps since August 2024 and isn't compatible with B2B (shopify.dev). Checkout changes are now made with Checkout Extensibility. Also note that accelerated checkouts such as Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay aren't available for B2B orders.
- Shopify Scripts: replaced by Shopify Functions (see above).
B2B Technology Q&A
Can I sell B2B on Shopify without Shopify Plus?
Yes. Since April 2026, Basic, Grow and Advanced include native B2B with up to 3 active catalogs. You need Shopify Plus for unlimited catalogs, price lists assigned directly to companies, deposits and partial payments. Read more about B2B and wholesale on Shopify.
Can the wholesale offer be hidden from casual customers?
Yes. You can password-protect the entire B2B store or hide prices and "add to cart" buttons until a business customer correctly logs in.
Will Shopify handle high B2B traffic?
Without a doubt. Shopify's infrastructure is designed to withstand sudden traffic peaks without requiring a development team to monitor servers.
What is the biggest challenge during migration?
The biggest challenge is integration with external systems (ERP, PIM, WMS). These systems were often built for offline sales and require a custom approach and precise process mapping during the workshop phase. On the Shopify side, B2B data (companies, locations, catalogs) is available through the Admin API, so the integration itself is well supported.
Summary: Preparing for Implementation
- Map Commercial Processes: Before starting, you must accurately describe customer types, discount logic, and payment terms.
- Choose the Plan: Count how many price lists you really need. Up to 3 catalogs across B2B markets works on every plan; per-company price lists, deposits and partial payments need Shopify Plus.
- Choose Architecture: Decide if your B2B customers need a separate shopping experience or the convenience of a blended store.
- Plan the Move to New Customer Accounts: B2B requires them, so schedule the migration and tell your buyers about the new login.
- Focus on Integrations: Concentrate on the bridge between Shopify and your ERP, as the automation of these connections determines channel profitability.
- Leverage Native Features: Shopify regularly delivers new B2B features (e.g., tax IDs, vaulted cards), available at no extra cost.
Planning to launch wholesale on Shopify?
At wecanfly, we have completed more than a dozen B2B implementations on Shopify, integrating it with ERP and WMS systems. As a Shopify Premier Partner, we help mature brands choose the right plan, migrate safely and scale their business. See our Shopify B2B and wholesale services.
