B2B

B2B on Shopify is a suite of features that allow you to sell business-to-business (B2B) through the online store, without requiring the use of third-party apps or workarounds. You can set customer-specific catalogs, payment terms, and currencies and connect multiple customers and locations in a single company profile. You and your customers can add a purchase order (PO) number to B2B orders and draft orders.

You can use features available to stores on Shopify, including the following features:

You can build a blended store to serve both business customers and and direct-to-consumer customers, or a dedicated expansion store that only serves business customers.

After you set up catalogs and companies, custom pricing is offered to B2B customers when they log in to their customer profile on your online store without needing to sign in to a separate storefront.

If you're new to using B2B on Shopify, then refer to the getting started checklist.

Considerations for using B2B

Before you use B2B, review the following considerations:

Orders have a maximum of 500 line items. If a customer places an order for more than 500 different products or variants, then the order will fail.
Subscriptions aren't compatible with B2B.
Because B2B is a new feature, some third-party apps might not be updated to function with B2B yet.
B2B customers must use new customer accounts to log in.
Company locations can have a maximum of 25 catalogs that can be assigned to them.

The following features aren't included by default for B2B orders. If you need these features, then contact Shopify Plus Support to activate them:

The following features aren't currently available for B2B orders:

changing the customer on a B2B order
offering tipping options
buy online, pickup in store
offering non-physical products, such as services or digital products
local delivery
accelerated checkouts, including payment wallets
customizations to the checkout made by editing the checkout.liquid file

Blended and dedicated stores

Before you start setting up B2B, consider whether you want to open a blended or a dedicated store. Some features can't differentiate between B2B and DTC order, resulting in customer notifications, changes to orders, and reports that are applied indiscriminately.

Blended stores

A blended store is a store that accepts both B2B (business to business) and DTC (direct to customer) orders. In a blended store, B2B customers log in to their account to access wholesale catalogs and payment terms.

The following applies to blended stores:

By default, B2B customers can't use discount codes. If you activate discount codes, then both B2B and DTC customers can use the same discount codes.
By default, B2B customers can't use gift cards. If you activate gift cards, then both B2B and DTC customers can use gift cards.
By default, B2B customers can't be affected by Shopify Scripts that affect line item discounts. If you activate Shopify Scripts, then both B2B and DTC customers are affected.
By default, B2B and DTC customers have the same online store experience. If you want to change the online store experience for only B2B customers, then you can use the theme editor or edit your theme’s code to use the customer.b2b liquid variable. Learn more about adapting your theme for B2B.
B2B and DTC customers can both log in with new customer accounts, using the same login page.
Most analytics combine results from both B2B and DTC customers. Only sales reports differentiate between B2B and DTC customers.
Notifications and abandoned cart emails are the same for both B2B and DTC customers.
Inventory systems and selling when out of stock settings are the same for both B2B and DTC customers.
Shipping settings and rates are the same for both B2B and DTC customers.

Using a blended store lets you keep all your business data collected in one place and manage your store settings when you don't need to differentiate between B2B and DTC customers. If you need different settings for your customers, then consider opening a dedicated store.

Dedicated stores

A dedicated store is an expansion store that is only used by B2B customers. In a dedicated store, you can create settings that are specific to B2B customers without using code.

Because only B2B customers use dedicated stores, you can configure settings that apply only to your B2B customers, including the following changes:

activate discount codes
activate gift cards
activate Shopify Scripts that affect line item discounts
change your store's theme and navigation settings
obtain analytics reports that only include B2B customer information
customize Notifications and abandoned cart emails for B2B customers
use different inventory systems or selling when out of stock settings
use different shipping settings and rates
use new customer accounts

Using a dedicated store helps you to segment inventory and business data between your B2B and DTC stores. In addition, you can use scripts and discount codes without concern, because only B2B customers use the store. However, opening a dedicated store for B2B requires you to create a new store, set up any integrations that you might already have with your existing stores, and manage your dedicated store settings separately. If you don't need to differentiate between your B2B and DTC customers, then consider opening a blended store.

Companies

Companies represent B2B customers with a company profile that includes assigned contact permissions, payment terms, catalogs, and tax exemptions. Multiple contacts and locations can be assigned to a company profile.

Catalogs

Set customer-specific catalogs or percentage-off prices for all products and variants, and assign catalogs to a company profile.

Payment terms

Automate the manual process of assigning payment terms to orders or to draft orders in the admin. Assign payment terms on the company profile and track, sort, and collect payment for orders as they become due.

B2B checkout

Customers can view their assigned payment terms, payment methods, and wholesale discounts at the time of purchase. Customers can also add a purchase order number at checkout.

B2B customer accounts

To access wholesale information and catalogs, B2B customers must log in with new customer accounts by using a one-time code that's sent to their email. After they authenticate, customers can manage their account, select the company location they're buying on behalf of, edit customer information, and view and filter their order history.

Purchase order number

You can add, edit, or view purchase order numbers on the order details page for B2B orders.

B2B

On this page