Choosing a store type for your B2B business on Shopify

Before you set up B2B on Shopify, you need to decide on what type of B2B store you want to build, a blended store or a dedicated store. A blended store lets you manage both your D2C (direct-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) businesses in one Shopify store and admin. A dedicated store lets you manage your B2B business in a separate Shopify store and admin.

Both store types have their benefits and drawbacks. The right choice depends on how you want to run your business on Shopify, your business needs, and your internal processes. Review the following article to help determine which option works best for your business.

Blended store for a B2B business

A blended store is a single Shopify store that's used for both B2B and D2C customers. In a blended store, you manage all your operations from a single Shopify admin. A blended store has the following key features:

One Shopify admin
One storefront for all customers
The same theme and branding for all customers
Shared inventory

You can customize many parts of a blended store for B2B and D2C customers, but this might take additional time and resources. You can customize the following elements:

Products and pricing
Payment methods
Shipping methods
Discounts
Store content

A blended store might be a good fit for your business when you:

Sell similar products to both B2B and D2C customers.
Share inventory between your B2B and D2C operations.
Have the same staff managing both B2B and D2C sales.

Dedicated store for a B2B business

A dedicated store is a separate Shopify store that's used only for B2B customers. All settings and features automatically apply only to B2B customers. A dedicated store has the following key features:

Separate Shopify admin
Separate storefront for B2B customers
Distinct B2B theme and branding
Separate inventory

A dedicated B2B store requires you to create a net-new Shopify store or adapt an existing expansion store. You also need to reconfigure your existing integrations and manage store settings separately from your other stores.

A dedicated store might be a good fit for your business when you:

Want a separate B2B experience.
Need distinct inventory for B2B and D2C operations.
Want to restrict access to B2B customers only (gated store).
Have different staff managing your B2B and D2C operations.

Overview of B2B blended and dedicated stores

Review the following table to learn more about the key differences of blended and dedicated stores.

Overview of key differences of blended and dedicated B2B store
Feature	Blended store	Dedicated store
Admin management	Manage your B2B and D2C customers, orders, and products from a single Shopify admin. All your data is shared across B2B and D2C activities, and you don't need to duplicate any workflows across multiple stores.	Manage your B2B customers, orders, and products in a separate Shopify admin that's dedicated only to B2B operations. You need to create a separate Shopify store for your B2B operations.
Analytics	Use reports and analytics for both D2C and B2B customers. You can tailor your reports to a B2B context using the new Shopify Analytics.	All reports and analytics are specific to your B2B operations.
Checkout	The same payment and delivery options are displayed to your B2B and D2C customers during checkout. You can use various apps, such as Checkout Blocks to customize and segment the content displayed to B2B and D2C customers at checkout.	All payment and delivery options are used for B2B customers.
Customer login and accounts	B2B and D2C customers use the same login page to log in to their customer accounts. You can customize the customer accounts experience.	B2B customers use a dedicated login page to log in to their customer accounts. You can customize the customer accounts experience.
Discounts	Discount codes apply to both B2B and D2C customers. You need to use segmentation to customize discount codes availability. Contact a Merchant Success Specialist to activate discounts in your store.	Discount codes apply to B2B customers. Contact a Merchant Success Specialist to activate discounts in your store.
Gift cards	Gift cards apply to both B2B and D2C customers. Contact a Merchant Success Specialist to activate gift cards in your store.	Gift cards apply to B2B customers. Contact a Merchant Success Specialist to activate gift cards in your store.
Inventory	The same inventory settings are used for both B2B and D2C orders. Your inventory can't be allocated based on customer type.	All inventory settings are used for your B2B customers.
Notifications	Both B2B and D2C customers receive the same types of notifications and abandoned cart emails. You can't send different types of notifications to B2B and D2C customers. However, you can customize the content of notifications based on the customer's context using liquid code.	All notifications and abandoned cart emails are used for B2B customers. You don't need to customize notifications by customer type.
Products	Segment product availability and pricing by customer type using catalogs. You can include or exclude specific products from B2B or D2C customers.	All products are available only to B2B customers. You can set up specific products and pricing for specific B2B customers using catalogs.
Shipping settings and rates	The same shipping settings and rates are used for both D2C and B2B customers, but you can customize shipping settings using third-party apps.	All shipping settings and rates are used for B2B customers.
Storefront branding	The same branding is used for both B2B and D2C customers, including store theme and brand assets, such as colors and logos. To customize the storefront experience for your B2B customers, you can use the `customer.b2b` liquid variable in the theme editor or edit your theme’s code.	All store branding is used for your B2B customers. You can customize your store's theme, menus, and branding specifically for B2B customers.
Shopify Scripts	B2B customers aren't affected by Shopify Scripts that affect line item discounts by default. Activating Shopify Scripts affects both B2B and D2C customers in a blended store.	Shopify Scripts that affect line item discounts are used for B2B customers.
Tax settings	The same tax settings are used for both D2C and B2B customers.	All tax settings are used for B2B customers.