Selling B2B and DTC from One Shopify Plus Store

Shopify's native B2B features, significantly expanded from 2022 onwards.

For manufacturers, importers and wholesalers who also sell direct to consumers, the infrastructure question has historically been uncomfortable: do you run two separate platforms and accept the operational overhead, or do you run one platform and accept the compromises?

Shopify has the answer.

What Shopify B2B Actually Delivers

Shopify B2B is a Shopify Plus exclusive and runs natively within your existing Shopify Plus store.

Your DTC customers see your standard retail experience.

Your B2B customers log in and see their negotiated pricing, payment terms, and ordering tools — within the same storefront, sharing the same product catalogue and inventory.

Company accounts allow you to create B2B customer entities with multiple buyers under each account, each with their own login and permission levels.

Custom price lists are where the commercial value concentrates: percentage discounts off retail, fixed trade prices, volume-based tiering.

Payment terms — Net 30, Net 60, Net 90 — are assignable per company account, with Shopify tracking outstanding balances and due dates.

The Operational Advantage

The most significant advantage is eliminating the data synchronisation problem.

When you run two separate platforms, inventory needs to be synchronised between them. Product descriptions need to be maintained in two places. Customer data exists in two databases. Reporting is fragmented.

On unified Shopify B2B: one product catalogue, one inventory pool, one set of business reporting. You know your true stock position and your combined customer value at all times.

What Shopify B2B Doesn't Do Yet

Complex quoting workflows are not natively supported — if your B2B process requires buyers to request quotes and negotiate pricing before ordering, Shopify's flow doesn't accommodate this natively.

Multi-level approval chains for corporate purchasing are limited.

For most UK wholesalers and manufacturers selling to trade accounts, these limitations are manageable.

For businesses with complex procurement requirements, we'll evaluate the fit honestly before recommending the platform.

Delivering B2B with Shopify Apps (not Shopify Plus)

There are various Shopify Apps that provide basic B2B functionality so there are ways to achieve trade accounts and pricing if you are not on Shopify Plus. However, there are some lilmitations.

If you're running B2B and DTC operations separately and want to understand whether Shopify Plus B2B could unify them, the first step is a proper assessment of your specific requirements.

→ Read about our Shopify B2B and wholesale service

→ See how John Packer runs trade and retail from Shopify Plus