Running retail and wholesale on the same Shopify store used to require awkward workarounds: hidden product pages, discount codes shared in emails, and separate Shopify accounts that doubled your admin overhead. Shopify Plus now has a dedicated B2B channel that handles this properly, and even non-Plus merchants have viable options. Here is how to approach it depending on your plan level.

What Is the Difference Between Shopify B2B and Shopify Wholesale?

Shopify's B2B channel (available on Shopify Plus) is a native feature that lets you create a separate, password-protected buying experience for trade customers, with custom price lists, payment terms (net 30/60/90), company accounts, and draft orders, all from within your existing store.

Wholesale, as most merchants use the term, refers to selling to trade buyers at discounted prices. Before Shopify Plus introduced B2B, merchants achieved this through third-party apps or by creating a separate Shopify store.

If you are on Shopify Plus, the B2B channel is the right approach. If you are on a standard Shopify plan, a combination of customer tags and a wholesale app is the most practical solution.

How Do You Set Up Shopify B2B on Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus merchants can activate the B2B channel from their admin under Sales Channels.

Step 1: Create Company Profiles

B2B in Shopify Plus is organised around "companies" rather than individual customers. Each wholesale account is a company with one or more contacts (buyers) and one or more locations (shipping addresses).

Create a company for each of your trade accounts. Within each company, you assign:

One or more contacts (with buyer permissions or admin permissions)
A payment method preference (credit card on account, or net payment terms)
A price list

Step 2: Build Price Lists

Price lists define what your trade customers pay. You can create multiple price lists and assign different ones to different companies. Price list options include:

A fixed percentage discount off retail price (e.g. 30% off)
Fixed prices per variant
Volume pricing tiers (buy 10, get X% off; buy 50, get Y% off)

You can have as many price lists as you need. A large distributor might get different terms to a small independent retailer.

Step 3: Set Payment Terms

Shopify Plus B2B supports net payment terms: net 7, net 15, net 30, net 60, and net 90. When a trade buyer places an order, Shopify creates the order with payment due at the specified future date. You manage outstanding payments from within the Shopify admin.

If you prefer trade buyers to pay by card at time of order, set the payment method to credit card rather than net terms.

Step 4: The B2B Storefront

Trade buyers access a dedicated storefront at a subdomain of your choice (e.g. wholesale.yourdomain.com). The storefront is password-protected and only accessible after login. The buying experience is separate from your retail store, so retail customers never see trade pricing.

How Do You Handle Wholesale on Standard Shopify Plans?

Without Shopify Plus, the most reliable approach combines customer tags with a wholesale app.

Using Customer Tags

Tag your wholesale customers with a specific tag (e.g. "wholesale") when you approve their trade account. You can then use Shopify's automatic discounts to apply a blanket percentage discount for customers with that tag.

The limitation: Shopify's native automatic discounts are not tag-conditional in a way that is straightforward to configure without code. Most merchants use an app to bridge this.

Wholesale Apps Worth Considering

Wholesale Gorilla (from £34/month): Creates a password-protected wholesale section of your store. Assigns custom prices to tagged customers. Supports net payment terms, minimum order quantities, and quantity breaks. One of the most widely used wholesale solutions for non-Plus merchants.
Wholesale Club by Orbit (from £49/month): Similar feature set. Custom pricing by customer group, volume discounts, and a clean wholesale portal experience.
B2B Wholesale Solution by BSS (from £25/month): More budget-friendly entry point with core features including custom pricing and net terms.

For most merchants doing under £500k in wholesale annually, Wholesale Gorilla or Wholesale Club is the right level. Above that, Shopify Plus B2B is worth the upgrade.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes With Shopify Wholesale?

Not verifying trade accounts. Offering wholesale pricing publicly or with minimal friction means retail customers access your trade pricing. Build a manual approval step into your wholesale registration process.

Mixing retail and wholesale inventory without tracking. If you fulfil both from the same stock, ensure your reporting can distinguish wholesale and retail sales. Shopify's built-in reports do not automatically separate these without proper tagging.

Setting minimum order quantities you cannot enforce. If your price lists only make commercial sense at certain order volumes, set minimum order quantities in your wholesale app. Do not rely on trade buyers ordering the right amount voluntarily.

Forgetting VAT on B2B orders. UK trade buyers who are VAT-registered may need invoices with VAT clearly shown. Ensure your order confirmation and invoice templates meet HMRC requirements for B2B transactions.

When Should You Upgrade to Shopify Plus for B2B?

The upgrade makes commercial sense when:

Your wholesale revenue exceeds £500k annually and the Plus subscription cost (currently around £2,000/month) is offset by the operational efficiency gained
You need net payment terms natively, without a third-party app managing the credit exposure
You are managing more than 20 to 30 active trade accounts and the manual overhead of a tag-based system is slowing your team down
You need multiple storefronts (retail, trade, international) and want them managed from a single Shopify admin

If you are not yet at that scale, a well-configured wholesale app on a standard Shopify plan delivers most of what you need.

A well-structured wholesale setup increases your average order volume and builds trading relationships that are harder to switch away from than retail customers. Getting the foundation right is worth investing in early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Shopify Plus to sell wholesale on Shopify?

No. Merchants on standard Shopify plans can run a wholesale channel using customer tags combined with an app such as Wholesale Gorilla (from £34/month) or Wholesale Club (from £49/month). These tools handle custom pricing, minimum order quantities, and access control without requiring a Plus subscription. Shopify Plus becomes worthwhile once your wholesale revenue exceeds roughly £500k annually.

How do I set up different prices for trade customers on Shopify?

On Shopify Plus, you create price lists within the B2B channel and assign them to company profiles. Each price list can apply a fixed percentage discount off retail, set fixed variant prices, or apply volume pricing tiers. On standard plans, wholesale apps read a customer tag and apply the corresponding price rules at checkout, achieving a similar result without native B2B functionality.

What net payment terms can I offer B2B customers on Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus B2B supports net 7, net 15, net 30, net 60, and net 90 payment terms. When a trade buyer places an order, Shopify generates the order with payment due at the agreed future date. Outstanding payments are managed from within the Shopify admin. If you prefer trade buyers to pay by card at the point of order, that option is also available within the B2B channel settings.

How do I prevent retail customers from seeing my wholesale prices on Shopify?

On Shopify Plus, the B2B storefront is a separate, password-protected buying environment at its own subdomain, so retail customers never encounter trade pricing. On standard plans, wholesale apps restrict trade pricing to customers who have been tagged as wholesale, requiring an approval step before that tag is assigned. Neither approach requires a second Shopify store.

SuttonCommerce builds and configures Shopify wholesale and B2B setups for UK merchants. If you want to open a trade channel without the complexity of a second store, get in touch and we will advise on the right approach for your plan level.

Shopify B2B and Wholesale Setup Guide