Creating and managing B2B companies

Shopify Plus

The B2B feature is only available to stores on the Shopify Plus plan. For information about Shopify Plus plan pricing, contact us.

A company in Shopify represents a company that you sell to with B2B. Companies can have multiple locations, each with separate catalogs, payment terms, checkout options, and shipping addresses. When a B2B customer logs in to your store, they choose the location that they're purchasing for and are offered the prices, payment terms, and checkout that you assigned to that company location.

To store custom information about your B2B customer, you can add metafields to a company or a location. Metafields let you customize the functionality and appearance of your Shopify store by letting you save specialized information that isn't usually captured in the Shopify admin. Learn more about metafields.

Create a company

Only a company name is required when you first create a company. Additional information can be added later.

Steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Click Add company.
3. Enter a company name. This name is displayed to customers when they log in.
4. Enter a company ID. You can use an existing external ID, or create a unique ID.
5. Select a main contact. You can select a customer from the profiles that already exist in your store, or create a new customer profile. Customer profiles must have an email address to be used as a main contact.
6. Enter a shipping address and a billing address.
7. Add a location ID. You can add an existing external ID, or create a unique ID.
8. In the Catalogs section, select the catalogs to apply to the company.
9. In the Orders and payments section, select whether the customer must submit their order as a draft order.
10. In the Orders and payments section, select the payment terms for the company from the following:
    • No payment terms - Orders must be paid for immediately upon checkout.
    • Net (period) - Orders can be paid immediately or at any time during the specified time period.
11. Optional: In the Taxes section, enter the company's tax ID and tax exemptions.
12. Optional: In the Metafields section, add information for any metafields that you've added.
13. Click Save.

Add a location to an existing company

Note

Currently, companies can have a maximum of 500 locations. Each location can have a maximum of 25 catalogs assigned to it.

Steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Select the company to add a new location to.
3. In the Locations section, click Create new location.
4. Select one of the following:
   • To copy the billing address, location contacts, catalogs, and payment terms from an existing location, select Copy an existing location.
   • To enter location information manually, select New company location.
5. Enter a shipping address and a billing address.
6. Add a location name and a location ID.
7. Select a main contact. You can select a customer from the profiles that already exist in your store, or create a new customer profile. Customer profiles must have an email address to be used as a main contact.
8. Select permissions for the main contact from the following:
   • Ordering only - The customer can make purchases for the company location and review the list of orders that they have placed.
   • Location admin - The customer can make purchases for the company location and review the list of orders that all customers have placed for that location.
9. In the Catalogs section, select the catalogs to apply to the company.
10. In the Checkout section, select the payment terms for the company from the following:
    • None - Orders must be paid for immediately upon checkout.
    • Net (period) - Orders can be paid immediately or at any time during the specified time period.
11. Optional: In the Taxes section, enter the company's tax ID and tax exemptions.
12. Optional: In the Metafields section, add information for any metafields that you've added.
13. Click Save.

Edit a company's details

You can add or update company information after a company is created. Changes made from the company page apply to all company locations in bulk, but some information, such as tax IDs and excemptions, is location-specific and must be updated from the location page.

If you need to update company information in bulk, such as the company name, then consider using bulk editor third-party apps.

Steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Click the company you want to update.
3. In the section with the company's name, click ⋮ to make any of the following updates:
   • Click Edit company details to update the company name or ID.
   • Click Edit payment terms to update the payment terms that will apply to all company locations.
   • Click Edit checkout settings to update flexible shipping addresses and order submission rules.
   • Click Add catalogs to add catalogs to all company locations.
   • Click Remove catalogs to remove catalogs from all company locations.
4. Click Save.
5. Optional: In the Notes section, click the pencil icon to add a note about the company, and then click Save.

Edit a company location's details

You can add or update location information after a company location is created. Changes made from the company page apply to all company locations in bulk, but some information, such as tax IDs and excemptions, is location-specific and must be updated from the location page.

Steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Click the company with the location you want to update.
3. In the Locations section, click the location you want to update.
4. In the section with the location's name, click ⋮ to make any of the following updates:
   • Click Edit location details to update the location name or ID.
   • Click Edit shipping address to update the location shipping address.
   • Click Edit billing address to update the location billing address.
5. In the Customizations section, click ⋮ to make any of the following updates:
   • Click Manage catalogs to add or remove catalogs for this location.
   • Click Edit payment terms to update the payment terms for this location.
   • Click Edit checkout settings to update flexible shipping addresses and order submission rules for this location.
   • Click Edit tax ID to update the tax ID for this location.
   • Click Manage tax exemptions to add or remove tax exemption rules to this location.
6. Click Save.
7. Optional: In the Notes section, click the pencil icon to add a note about the company, and then click Save.

Delete a company

When you delete a company, all locations for that company are deleted. All customers are removed from the company, but remain in your customers list unless you delete them. Companies can’t be deleted if there are any orders for that company.

Steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Click the company to delete.
3. Click Delete company.
4. Review the deletion information and then click Delete company.

Delete a location from a company

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Click the company to delete a location from.
3. In the Locations section, click the location's name.
4. Click Delete location.

Allow B2B customers to enter a flexible shipping address at checkout

You can decide for each company location whether customers placing orders are able to enter a new one-time address at checkout. This setting is deactivated by default. When you create a new company or company location, you can activate the option at the same time.

You can deactivate this for a company or company location at any time by returning to the checkout settings and deselecting the option.

The shipping address that a B2B customer provides at checkout is applied only to the specific order that it was added to. It's not stored for future use. The B2B customer can't edit the shipping address for the order after you accept it.

Allow flexible shipping addresses for an existing location

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Select the Company, and then select the Company Location where you want to allow B2B customers to enter a shipping address at checkout when buying from that location.
3. In the Location Profile under Checkout, click Edit.
4. In the checkout settings, select Allow customers to ship to any address.
5. Click Save.

Allow flexible shipping address for all existing locations associated with a company

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. In the Company section, click ...
3. Click Edit checkout settings
4. Select Allow customers to ship to any address in the Edit Checkout settings.
5. Click Save.

Create a new company with flexible shipping addresses allowed

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Click Add Company.
3. Enter the relevant information on the New Company and select Allow customers to ship to any address in the Checkout setting.
4. Click Save.

Create a new company location with flexible shipping addresses allowed

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Customers > Companies.
2. Select the Company for which you want to create a new Company Location.
3. Click Add Location.
4. Enter the relevant information on the New Company Location and select Allow customers to ship to any address in the Checkout setting.
5. Click Save.