B) Key Features of Shopify B2B
Shopify’s B2B offering is built around flexibility and personalisation. Key capabilities include:
Company profiles and locations for managing multiple buyers under one organisation
Custom catalogues and pricing per customer or segment
Self-serve customer portals for reordering and account management
Flexible checkout with payment terms and draft orders
Automation via Shopify Flow for workflows and approvals
Multi-location support lets customers place orders across different locations, with separate delivery addresses and order histories stored under one account
These features allow merchants to deliver a consumer-grade buying experience for wholesale customers, which is increasingly expected in modern B2B ecommerce.
When Shopify launched B2B on Plus, they started with merchants whose scale and complexity pushed the product to its limits. Their feedback shaped what it became, and Shopify now has dozens of features made specifically for B2B.
It was built directly into the core of the platform, not as a bolt-on or separate product. That means if you already rely on DTC features like Shopify Flow, Markets, and Shopify Payments, they’ll now work for B2B too. It's one unified admin, one source of truth, for every side of a business. B2B is something merchants on the platform have been clamouring for, and now, this foundation is available on every plan.
For merchants with established B2B businesses and more complex needs, Plus continues to offer full access to all Shopify B2B features. Plus merchants still get unlimited catalogs for customer-specific pricing, direct catalog assignment to companies and locations, partial payments, and deposits. The path between plans is easy, with replatforming required.
C) Customising your B2B Storefront
A major strength of Shopify B2B is the ability to tailor the storefront experience.
Using Shopify Markets and theme customisation, you can:
Show different content to B2B vs DTC users
Hide pricing or products from non-logged-in users
Create B2B-only storefronts or blended stores
Build headless experiences using Hydrogen
Shopify also introduced ongoing AI and storefront enhancements in 2025 and 2026, including improved AI-driven content and storefront personalisation, helping merchants deliver more relevant buying journeys.
D) Managing B2B Customer Accounts
Shopify structures B2B customers as companies, with multiple users and permissions.
Key capabilities:
Assign roles and permissions (buyers vs admins)
Enable self-serve ordering and reordering
Allow customers to manage addresses and account details
Track order history and returns
Customer accounts are essential because they gate access to pricing, catalogues, and payment terms, ensuring only approved buyers can place wholesale orders.
E) Tiered Pricing
Tiered pricing is central to any B2B operation, and Shopify handles this natively through:
Volume pricing (discounts based on quantity)
Custom price lists per company or location
Catalog-based pricing segmentation
This allows merchants to move beyond blanket discounts and instead implement granular, customer-specific pricing strategies, which are critical for scaling wholesale profitably.
F) Inventory Management
Shopify’s inventory system supports both B2C and B2B workflows, including:
Multi-location inventory tracking
Inventory reservation for draft orders
Product availability by market or customer
For B2B specifically, inventory can be reserved during negotiation or draft ordering, preventing overselling during large or complex transactions.
G) Payment Options
B2B payments on Shopify are significantly more flexible than those found in standard ecommerce.
Features include:
Payment terms (Net 7, 15, 30, 60, etc.)
Deposits and partial payments
Manual payment methods (e.g. invoice, COD)
Vaulted credit cards and PayPal
This allows businesses to replicate traditional wholesale processes, while still benefiting from ecommerce automation.
H) Shipping Solutions
Shipping in Shopify B2B can be customised at multiple levels:
Customer-specific shipping rates
Delivery rules based on company or location
One-time shipping addresses for flexibility
Combined with checkout customisation APIs, merchants can tailor logistics to match complex B2B fulfilment requirements.
I) Shopify Plus B2B Limitations
While the rollout of the previously Plus-exclusive B2B features to other plans has vastly improved B2B for all Shopify merchants, there are still some limitations and use cases for third-party applications. Native B2B features in Shopify Plus cover most mid-market wholesale requirements, but there are clear gaps in certain use cases. The key is to assess these against your own needs.
For ERP (enterprise resource planning) integration with real-time sync across multiple warehouses, Shopify Plus connects via APIs and webhooks. However, achieving sub-second inventory updates across 100+ locations with complex allocation logic usually requires custom middleware or a dedicated integration layer.
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) document processing is the automated, computer-to-computer exchange of structured business documents (like POs and invoices) between partners in standardised formats. Native support is limited for EDI document processing. If your business is of a size that relies on EDI transactions, you’ll either need to use a custom solution or additional software like TrueCommerce.
Shopify’s native functionality has limits when it comes to multi-level approval workflows. If your buyers need several approval layers with role-based permissions, budget thresholds, and cross-department sign-off, standard order review rules won’t cover the full process. It’s possible to manage using checkout extensions, but be aware that it doesn’t work natively and does require some configuration and development.
Certain industries also bring additional complexity. Any regulated sectors like pharmaceuticals or government procurement likely require compliance measures, including detailed documentation, audit trails, and extended approval workflows that go beyond what a general commerce platform like Shopify can provide out of the box.
To understand if any of these limitations rule Shopify B2B out for your business, map your buyer workflows against what the platform natively supports. If it covers 80% or more of what you need, Shopify Plus is probably a strong fit, with custom development or third party software available to address the remaining gaps. If most of your operations fall within the 20% that wouldn’t be covered out of the box, it’s worth considering whether extending Shopify Plus is the most efficient path, or if a platform with deeper native support for those specific needs would be a better foundation.
Next we’ll take a look at some third party integrations and apps that may help to supplement or augment Shopify B2B.
J) Third-Party Integration and App Options
While Shopify’s native B2B capabilities have expanded, integrations remain a good option for advanced use cases.
Common integrations include:
ERP systems (NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics)
CRM platforms
Inventory and warehouse management systems
Custom middleware
Shopify’s ecosystem and APIs make it possible to build highly customised B2B stacks, especially for enterprise merchants. In the Shopify app store, there are also options for third party tech to help merchants run their B2B operations.
SparkLayer: Ideal for growing brands, it provides a Sales Rep Portal, quoting engine, and AI-enabled quick ordering. We’ll go into more detail about SparkLayer below.
BSS B2B & Wholesale Solution: Offers a comprehensive toolkit for managing wholesale customers, including volume discounts and net pricing.
Wholesale Gorilla: Focuses on creating a dedicated, user-friendly B2B ordering experience that integrates smoothly with the storefront.
Duos B2B Management: Excellent for handling complex customer accounts and customized order workflows.
B2B Verify Customer by Singleton Software: Best for automating the B2B registration process, offering custom forms and automated approval workflows.
SparkLayer
Shopify’s move makes basic wholesale much easier, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for tools like SparkLayer for merchants running serious or complex B2B operations.
The real distinction now isn’t “Shopify vs SparkLayer”; it’s “simple B2B vs advanced B2B.”
Where SparkLayer still adds value
Tools like SparkLayer exist because real-world B2B gets messy fast. Shopify’s native features still stop short in a few important areas:
1) Pricing complexity
Shopify (non-Plus especially):
limited catalogues (e.g. ~3 on lower plans)
no true per-customer dynamic pricing at scale
SparkLayer:
unlimited price lists
customer-specific + rule-based pricing
advanced discount logic (order-level, promos, etc.)
If your pricing is negotiated, contract-based, or layered, then Shopify alone struggles.
2) Actual B2B buying experience
Shopify gives you the data model, but not always the UX B2B buyers expect.
SparkLayer adds:
quick order grids (bulk add to cart)
CSV / bulk order uploads
saved shopping lists
fast reordering flows
These are standard in wholesale, but still not native in Shopify.
3) Sales rep / assisted selling workflows
Shopify:
staff create draft orders manually
SparkLayer:
dedicated sales agent portal
reps switch between accounts and order for customers
This is critical for brands with reps or field sales teams.
4) Quoting and invoicing workflows
Shopify:
basic draft order and invoice flow
SparkLayer:
full quote-to-order system
downloadable invoices
configurable approval flows
Important for industries where orders aren’t instant checkout.
5) Self-serve onboarding and account management
Shopify:
basic company accounts
SparkLayer:
trade account registration flows
approvals, custom fields, automation
This is needed when onboarding lots of wholesale accounts.
The strategic reality
Shopify’s update is not trying to replace apps like SparkLayer, it’s:
lowering the barrier to entry
covering the “80% simple use case”
pushing advanced merchants toward apps or Plus
Even SparkLayer’s own positioning reflects this shift:
Shopify now handles the foundations, while apps like SparkLayer handle complexity and UX.
SparkLayer: Bottom line
Merchants would still use SparkLayer if they need:
more flexible pricing than catalogs allow
faster, more efficient ordering UX
sales team workflows
quote/invoice-heavy processes
scalable wholesale operations
If you’re just enabling wholesale for the first time → Shopify alone might be enough.
If B2B is a core revenue channel → you’ll likely hit Shopify’s limits pretty quickly.
K) Analytics and Reporting
Shopify provides analytics tools that can be adapted for B2B, including:
Sales by company or customer segment
Order value and volume trends
Customer lifetime value
With the rise of AI in Shopify’s ecosystem, merchants can now also gain deeper insights into customer behaviour and demand patterns, improving forecasting and decision-making.
L) What Happened to Shopify Handshake?
Shopify previously launched Handshake, a wholesale marketplace connecting brands and retailers, but it has since been discontinued.
For more context, see Radiant’s breakdown of Shopify Handshake.
The removal of Handshake reflects Shopify’s broader strategy: Instead of marketplace aggregation, Shopify is investing in native B2B functionality directly within merchant stores.
M) Architecture Options
There are 3 approaches that you can take if you decide that B2B Shopify will work for your business.
Native
This is the quickest way to get up and running, using the built-in B2B storefront. There’s no additional development or customisation required for things like company accounts, pricing, payment terms etc.
Headless
This route means you have an ecommerce architecture that decouples the front-end presentation layer (what the customers see) from back-end commerce operations. It takes longer to build but gives you more flexibility and customisation options.
Fully Composable
A fully composable Shopify B2B setup is a modern ecommerce architecture where the B2B wholesale functionality, traditionally tightly integrated, is broken down into modular, independent components (Packaged Business Capabilities) that are stitched together via APIs rather than relying on a monolithic, all-in-one system.
Within the Shopify ecosystem, this means using a "composable-by-default" approach, where Shopify Plus acts as a robust, API-first commerce core (handling checkout, payment, inventory) while allowing merchants to replace, add, or customise other components (storefront, search, ERP, CMS) to create a tailored, high-performance experience.
How Radiant Supports Shopify B2B
If you’re looking to implement or scale Shopify B2B, working with an experienced partner can accelerate results.
Radiant specialises in:
B2B store architecture (blended vs dedicated)
Custom pricing and catalog strategy
UX for wholesale buyers
Integration with ERP and backend systems
Learn more about how Radiant supports businesses with Shopify B2B set up and optimisation.
Final Thoughts
Shopify’s April 2026 updates signal a clear direction: B2B is becoming a core part of the Shopify ecosystem, not an add-on.
With expanded access beyond Plus, improved native features, and deeper customisation capabilities, Shopify is now a serious contender for businesses looking to unify DTC and wholesale under one platform.
For brands willing to invest in the right setup, Shopify B2B offers a scalable, flexible foundation for long-term growth.
If you’d like to discuss your options with our team, drop us a line and we can schedule a call.
