If you’re a merchant ready to sell wholesale online, this guide is for you.

Whether you’re running a successful D2C store or migrating from WooCommerce or OpenCart, Shopify’s B2B capabilities—especially on Shopify Plus—let you sell directly to businesses with ease. From custom pricing and catalogs to role-based logins, payment terms, and tailored storefronts, Shopify turns your store into a wholesale powerhouse.

In this ultimate guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about Shopify B2B wholesale—from how it works, to setup tips, pricing insights, and examples of real brands scaling big with it.

You’ll also get guidance on ecommerce website development, custom ecommerce design, Shopify migration, CRO optimization, and digital marketing strategies that help you grow and retain high-value wholesale customers.

Let’s dive in and build your B2B engine the smart way.

Table of Contents

• What Is B2B Wholesale in Ecommerce?
• What’s the Difference Between B2B and B2C Ecommerce?
• Essential B2B Wholesale Features on Shopify
• Next-Level Wholesale Features, Right Out of the Box
• What Are the Common Challenges in B2B Selling?
• Why You Should Consider Shopify Plus for Your B2B Business
• How Much Does Shopify B2B Cost?
• How to Get Started with Shopify Plus for B2B
• Real B2B Ecommerce Success Stories You Can Learn From
• FAQs about Shopify B2B Wholesale

What Is B2B Wholesale in Ecommerce?

B2B wholesale ecommerce is the process of selling products in bulk directly to other businesses through an online storefront. Unlike B2C, where you sell to individual consumers, B2B customers often place high-volume orders, expect custom pricing, payment terms, and personalized experiences—and they need platforms that can handle these complexities.

That’s where Shopify B2B solutions shine. Especially with Shopify Plus, merchants gain access to enterprise-grade features like:

• Customer-specific catalogs
  
• Net payment terms (Net 15, 30, 60)
  
• Custom checkouts and pricing per company
  
• Volume-based discounts and account-level settings
  

Whether you’re just starting your wholesale journey or planning an ecommerce migration from platforms like WooCommerce or OpenCart, Shopify offers the flexibility and scalability you need to grow.

Planning to switch platforms? Shopify supports seamless:

• Shopify to WooCommerce migration services
  
• OpenCart to Shopify migration services

What’s the Difference Between B2B and B2C Ecommerce?

Here’s a quick breakdown:

For B2B ecommerce, you need more than just a pretty storefront. You need custom ecommerce development to craft tailored buying experiences. This means integrating features like:

• Account-level pricing rules
  
• Customer-specific catalogs
  
• Role-based access and permissions
  
• Support for B2B payment methods like purchase orders or NET terms
  

Unlike B2C, where quick checkouts and fixed pricing dominate, B2B requires a more advanced ecommerce website development strategy.

That’s why platforms like Shopify Plus are ideal—they support complex ecommerce UI/UX design, allow catalog personalization, and streamline CRO optimization for high-volume orders.

Need help setting up a wholesale-ready site or switching from another platform like WooCommerce or OpenCart? An experienced Shopify website development team can help you with smooth ecommerce migration, ecommerce maintenance, and ongoing support to keep your B2B operations running at scale.

Essential B2B Wholesale Features on Shopify

Shopify offers a robust B2B ecommerce solution that transforms your online store into a wholesale-ready platform. Whether you’re just entering the wholesale space or scaling fast with Shopify Plus, these built-in features are designed for the complexities of B2B selling.

If you’re working with a partner agency for ecommerce website development or custom ecommerce development, these features will be the foundation for a scalable, conversion-focused setup.

Here’s what makes Shopify a powerhouse for B2B ecommerce:

How to Get Started with Shopify Plus for B2B

Launching your Shopify B2B wholesale store doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Whether you’re migrating from another platform or starting fresh, here’s a step-by-step plan to help you build a scalable, high-converting B2B experience—with the help of expert Shopify website development, custom ecommerce development, and ecommerce UI UX design.

Step 1: Upgrade to Shopify Plus

Shopify’s powerful B2B tools are exclusive to the Shopify Plus plan. If you’re currently on a standard plan, it’s time to level up.

Tip: Speak with Shopify Sales or work with a Shopify Partner Agency (like us!) to make a strategic, growth-focused decision—not just a technical one.

This is especially relevant if you’re considering ecommerce migration from platforms like WooCommerce or OpenCart. We offer both Shopify to WooCommerce Migration Service and Opencart to Shopify Migration Service, ensuring a smooth transition.

Step 2: Decide Between a Single Storefront or Dedicated B2B Store

You’ve got two solid choices:

• Single Storefront: Sell to both B2C and B2B customers using personalization.
• Dedicated B2B Store: Create a fully custom wholesale-only experience.

To decide, ask:

• Are your B2B and D2C audiences very different?
• Do your products or pricing differ significantly?
• Can your brand messaging serve both groups equally well?

The answer will shape your ecommerce design and strategy.

Step 3: Set Up Companies in Shopify Admin

In Shopify B2B, “Companies” are more than just customer accounts. They’re structured business entities with:

• Multiple shipping/billing locations
• Role-specific logins
• Payment terms
• Assigned catalogs and pricing

This granular control is essential for building tailored journeys—a key aspect of modern ecommerce website development.

Step 4: Configure B2B Price Lists

Ditch the spreadsheets.

With Shopify Plus, you can:

• Create customer- or location-specific price lists
• Offer tiered pricing (Gold, Silver, etc.)
• Adjust pricing by currency or region
• Apply volume-based discounts

This kind of custom ecommerce development lets you scale pricing logic effortlessly while improving CRO optimization.

Step 5: Customize Payment and Checkout Options

Your B2B buyers expect flexibility. Shopify Plus supports:

• Purchase orders
• Manual invoicing
• Bank transfers
• Post-delivery payment terms (Net 15/30/60)

You can configure payment methods per company, giving your clients the control they need. This aligns perfectly with Ecommerce Digital Marketing strategies built around trust and long-term retention.

Step 6: Personalize the Storefront Experience

Using Shopify’s Liquid logic, customer tags, and storefront contextualization tools, you can:

• Show/hide collections based on user profile
• Customize headers, banners, and CTAs
• Display downloadable spec sheets for wholesale buyers
• Adjust theme visuals for B2B vs. D2C

This is where strong ecommerce UI UX design pays off—by making the shopping experience feel tailor-made.

Step 7: Set Up B2B Shipping & Fulfillment Rules

Wholesale fulfillment is a different beast.

You may need:

• Custom freight options
• Split deliveries across warehouses
• Staggered order fulfillment
• ERP or 3PL integrations

Shopify Plus allows advanced shipping profiles and API integrations, supporting everything from bulk logistics to real-time inventory syncing. This ensures your ecommerce maintenance (Mumbai India) setup remains lean and automated.

Step 8: Test the Buying Experience

Before going live, log in as a test buyer and check:

• Are the right products showing?
• Is the pricing logic accurate?
• Do the payment terms appear correctly?
• Is the checkout smooth and intuitive?
• Are your email notifications branded and helpful?

Bonus Tip: Ask your ecommerce photography agency to create product visuals tailored for both B2C and B2B. Think lifestyle shots for D2C and technical specs or use-case images for wholesale clients.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or migrating, a strategic approach with expert ecommerce development, E-commerce SEO Solutions, and social media management will ensure your Shopify Plus B2B journey is built for growth.

Real B2B Ecommerce Success Stories You Can Learn From

B2B ecommerce isn’t just booming—it’s reshaping how businesses buy and sell online. With trillions in annual transactions, brands that adapt with smart technology and better user experience are pulling ahead fast.

So instead of starting from scratch, let’s take a look at how some forward-thinking companies leveraged Shopify to build powerful, scalable B2B ecommerce operations.

These examples offer more than just numbers—they show strategy, innovation, and custom ecommerce development done right.

Industry West: Blending Design-First Thinking with Wholesale Logic

Industry West knew they had a strong product, but their platform at the time just couldn’t keep up with their growth or the complexity of their B2B sales. Migrating to Shopify completely changed that.

What worked:

• A visually rich experience that worked for both individual customers and bulk furniture buyers.
• Features like customer-specific catalogs and tiered pricing that made wholesale orders smoother.
• Faster, intuitive ordering flows for trade customers.

By combining ecommerce UI UX design with practical wholesale tools, Industry West grew both their average order value and overall B2B revenue without needing two separate websites.

Lulu and Georgia: Scaling with Less Tech Headache

This luxury home décor brand was dealing with bloated tech, slow page speeds, and limited flexibility. Shopify gave them the tools to move faster, automate more, and keep the focus where it should be—on customer experience and growth.

What changed:

• A more reliable backend that could support their 40K+ product SKUs.
• A shared checkout system that simplified sales to both consumers and wholesale buyers.
• Access to Shopify’s app ecosystem to streamline operations like promotions and shipping.

Their shift proves the power of pairing Shopify website development with a strong creative vision—resulting in a polished, high-converting experience for all buyer types.

Daily Harvest: Expanding Channels with a Unified Tech Stack

Originally a DTC favorite, Daily Harvest eventually needed a platform that could handle more than just home deliveries. Enter Shopify.

The big leap:

• A move away from homegrown systems that slowed them down.
• Improved content flexibility using Shopify’s theme engine.
• Seamless integration with partners like Target and Kroger via B2B tools.

With ecommerce migration done right, they now manage DTC and retail growth from one streamlined backend—saving time, money, and developer bandwidth.

Carrier: Bringing Enterprise Agility to Global B2B

Carrier wasn’t just building an online store—they needed an ecommerce solution that could scale across dozens of countries, serve diverse B2B audiences, and reduce time-to-market.

Their transformation:

• Instead of taking a year to launch one site, they brought that timeline down to just 30 days.
• Dramatic cost savings thanks to Shopify’s reusable infrastructure and modular design.
• A self-service buying experience for business customers in multiple regions.

Their OneCommerce initiative showcases what’s possible when custom B2B development is paired with Shopify’s flexible architecture—and it’s a blueprint many global brands are now trying to replicate.

FAQs about Shopify B2B Wholesale

• Can I run B2C and B2B on the same Shopify store?

Yes, especially with Shopify Plus. You can use tagging, apps, or separate storefronts (via expansion stores) to serve both audiences.

• Do I need Shopify Plus for wholesale?

Technically no—but for advanced features like custom checkout, company profiles, and automation, Plus is ideal.

• Can I migrate from WooCommerce or OpenCart to Shopify?

Absolutely. Look for services like:

• WooCommerce to Shopify Migration

• Opencart to Shopify Migration Service

Make sure your ecommerce partner offers clean data transfer, SEO preservation, and design upgrades during migration.

Final Thoughts

B2B ecommerce is growing fast, and Shopify is ready to support every step of your wholesale journey. With the right setup, you can streamline buying experiences, personalize catalogs, and simplify backend operations—all in one place.

Whether you’re starting fresh or planning a migration to Shopify, now’s the time to invest in smart, scalable ecommerce infrastructure.

Need Help Building Your Shopify B2B Store?

At Emerge Digital, we specialize in Shopify website development, custom ecommerce development, and CRO optimization—with a dedicated focus on B2B.

We’ll help you:

• Plan your store structure
• Design a seamless B2B experience
• Optimize for conversions
• Handle Shopify migrations with zero downtime
• Scale with marketing, SEO, and maintenance

Let’s talk. Book your free consultation now.