The global B2B ecommerce market hit $32.1 trillion in gross merchandise value in 2025, growing faster than B2C. If you're only selling retail on Shopify, you're leaving a significant channel on the table.
But wholesale on Shopify is a different game from retail. Your wholesale customers expect bulk pricing, minimum order quantities, and often net payment terms. They don't want to see the same product page as your retail customers — they want trade pricing that reflects the volume they're buying.
Shopify can handle B2B whether you're on a regular plan or Shopify Plus. The setup just looks different depending on what you're working with.
How B2B Pricing Differs from B2C
Before getting into tools and setup, understand what wholesale customers expect — it's fundamentally different from retail:
Volume-based pricing. Wholesale buyers purchase in bulk and expect per-unit cost to drop with quantity. A retailer pays $24 for one candle. A wholesale buyer ordering 100 expects $10-12 each.
Customer-specific pricing. Different accounts get different rates. A boutique ordering 50 units per quarter gets a different deal than a chain ordering 500 per month. This isn't one-size-fits-all.
Minimum order quantities (MOQs). You can't ship single units at wholesale margins. Most operations require minimums — per-SKU (12+ units of each product) or per-order ($250 minimum total).
Net payment terms. Retail customers pay immediately. Wholesale buyers often expect Net 30 or Net 60 — they receive product and pay the invoice within 30 or 60 days. This is standard B2B practice but creates cash flow considerations.
Tax exemptions. Wholesale buyers purchasing for resale often have tax-exempt status. Your store needs to handle this cleanly — charging sales tax to customers with valid resale certificates is a compliance issue.
Shopify Plus vs. Standard Plans for B2B
Shopify launched B2B on Shopify in 2022 and has expanded it significantly since. By 2025, the features are fairly robust for brands running dual DTC + wholesale from one storefront.
Shopify Plus Native B2B Features
If you're on Shopify Plus (starting at $2,300/month), you get dedicated B2B functionality:
Company profiles: Create accounts for wholesale customers with multiple buyers per company, each with their own login and permissions. Buyers can view order history, reorder previous purchases, and manage their own sub-accounts.
Custom catalogs and price lists: Show completely different pricing to different companies. Company A sees one set of prices; Company B sees another. You can have as many price lists as you need.
Net payment terms: Offer Net 30, Net 60, or custom terms directly through checkout. Shopify handles the invoicing and payment tracking.
Quantity rules: Set minimum, maximum, and increment quantities per product per company. Want Company A to order in cases of 12? Set the increment to 12.
B2B checkout: A dedicated checkout experience for wholesale customers — separate from retail, with purchase orders, invoicing options, and company-specific settings.
Upcoming features: Shopify's B2B roadmap includes AI-powered demand forecasting, personalized pricing optimization, and enhanced customer segmentation with business validation and buying behavior attributes.
This is the cleanest setup if your wholesale volume justifies the Plus cost.
Standard Plans: The App-Based Approach
On Basic, Shopify, or Advanced plans, you won't have native B2B features. But you can build a solid wholesale pricing system using apps and Shopify's customer management.
Step 1: Create customer tags for wholesale tiers.
When you approve a wholesale customer, manually tag their account:
wholesale-standard— standard wholesale pricing (40% off retail)wholesale-premium— larger accounts (50% off retail)wholesale-vip— your biggest accounts (best pricing + custom terms)
Step 2: Apply pricing based on tags using a discount app.
Use Buno or a similar app to create volume discount rules that trigger based on customer tags:
wholesale-standardcustomers get automatic 40% off everythingwholesale-premiumcustomers get 50% off, plus additional breaks at 50+ and 100+ unitswholesale-vipcustomers get custom tiered pricing
The app handles price display and discount calculation at checkout. Wholesale customers see their pricing automatically when logged in — no manual intervention needed.
Step 3: Set minimum order quantities.
Configure minimums through your app settings — per-product (minimum 12 units per SKU) or per-order ($250 minimum total). Display these on product pages so wholesale buyers see requirements before building an order.
Which Approach Do You Need?
| Feature | Standard Plan + App | Shopify Plus Native |
|---|---|---|
| Tiered volume pricing | Yes (via app) | Yes (built-in) |
| Customer-specific pricing | Yes (via tags + app) | Yes (per-company price lists) |
| Minimum order quantities | Yes (via app) | Yes (per-company quantity rules) |
| Net payment terms | No (manual invoicing) | Yes (Net 30/60 at checkout) |
| Company accounts with sub-users | No | Yes |
| Dedicated B2B checkout | No | Yes |
| Cost | $39-399/mo plan + app ($15-50/mo) | $2,300+/mo |
For most small to mid-size wholesale operations, the app-based approach on a standard plan works fine. You need Plus when you have enough wholesale customers that manual tag management becomes unwieldy, or when net payment terms and company accounts are non-negotiable requirements.
Setting Up Tiered Wholesale Pricing
Tiered pricing is the foundation of wholesale. Here's a concrete example:
You sell handmade soap that retails for $12 per bar. Your production cost is $3 per bar.
| Tier | Quantity | Price Per Unit | Discount Off Retail | Your Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 1+ | $12.00 | — | $9.00 (75%) |
| Wholesale Standard | 24+ | $6.00 | 50% | $3.00 (50%) |
| Wholesale Volume | 100+ | $5.00 | 58% | $2.00 (40%) |
| Wholesale Large | 500+ | $4.50 | 63% | $1.50 (33%) |
Key principles for wholesale pricing:
Your wholesale price should be 40-60% of retail. This gives the buyer enough margin to resell (typically they'll mark up 2-2.5x your wholesale price to set their retail) while leaving you enough to cover costs and make a profit. If the math doesn't work for both sides, you need to raise retail prices or reduce production costs — don't squeeze wholesale margins below your floor.
Keep tiers manageable. Three to four tiers is usually enough. More creates complexity without meaningful price differences between levels.
Make the gap between tiers motivating. If tier 1 is $6.00 and tier 2 is $5.80, nobody's ordering more to save $0.20. The price difference at each level needs to justify the volume commitment. A $0.50-1.00 jump between tiers motivates; a $0.10 jump doesn't.
Calculate your floor price. What's the absolute minimum you can sell at and still cover production, overhead, and a reasonable profit? Write this down. No tier should go below your floor, no matter how large the order.
Managing Wholesale and Retail From One Store
Running one Shopify store for both channels is the right call for almost every merchant. Don't password-protect wholesale access or create separate product pages.
Let wholesale customers browse your regular store and see retail pricing. Apply their wholesale discounts automatically when they log in with a tagged account. This has several advantages:
- One product catalog, one inventory count
- Wholesale buyers see your retail positioning (which helps them price for their customers)
- Product updates happen once, not twice
- Inventory syncs automatically across channels
Create a wholesale application process. Add a page to your site where potential buyers apply. Collect:
- Business name and website
- Tax ID or resale certificate
- Estimated order volume and frequency
- Brief business description (what type of store, where they sell)
Review applications manually before tagging accounts. You don't want random retail customers accessing wholesale pricing. Approval typically takes 1-2 business days — set that expectation on the application page.
Payment Terms and Cash Flow
On Shopify Plus: Offer Net 30 or Net 60 terms directly through checkout. Shopify tracks invoices and payment status.
On standard plans: Your options are more limited:
- Draft orders as invoices — manual but functional. Create a draft order, send it as an invoice, and the customer pays when ready.
- Third-party invoicing through QuickBooks, Xero, or a Shopify invoicing app
- Prepayment at checkout — the simplest approach, identical to retail
Be realistic about cash flow. Net 30 means shipping product and waiting a month (often longer) to get paid. For a small brand, that can create real strain. It's perfectly acceptable to require prepayment or Net 15 when starting out. As wholesale relationships mature and trust builds, you can extend terms to Net 30.
Pro tip: Offer a small discount (2-3%) for prepayment or payment within 10 days. In B2B, this is called "2/10 Net 30" — the buyer saves 2% by paying within 10 days, otherwise the full amount is due in 30. It incentivizes faster payment without being aggressive.
Tax and Invoicing
Tax exemptions. Mark wholesale customer profiles as tax-exempt in Shopify (there's a checkbox on each customer profile). Keep resale certificates on file — you'll need documentation if audited. Shopify Plus has more granular tax settings per company profile.
Invoicing. B2B customers need proper invoices with:
- Business name and address
- PO number (if provided)
- Itemized pricing at the wholesale rate
- Tax notation (exempt or charged)
- Payment terms and due date
Shopify's order confirmation emails work as basic invoices. For professional invoicing, use your accounting software or a dedicated invoicing app.
Sales tax nexus. If shipping wholesale to multiple states where you have nexus, you may still need to collect tax even from wholesale buyers — unless they provide valid exemption documentation. This gets complicated. Consult an accountant if you're shipping wholesale across state lines.
Getting Started: The Practical Checklist
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Decide your pricing structure. What percentage off retail for standard wholesale? What volume tiers? What minimums? Work this out on a spreadsheet before touching any tools.
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Set up customer tags. Create a tagging convention (
wholesale-tier-1,wholesale-tier-2) and define the criteria for each tier. -
Configure your pricing tool. On Shopify Plus, set up B2B features natively. On standard plans, install Buno or a similar app for tiered pricing based on customer tags and order quantities.
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Create a wholesale application page. Simple form: business name, tax ID, expected volume, business description.
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Build a wholesale linesheet. Even a PDF works — product images, wholesale pricing by tier, MOQs, ordering instructions, payment terms. Your wholesale customers will want a reference document they can share internally.
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Set up invoicing. Decide prepayment vs. net terms. Configure draft orders, integrate accounting software, or set up an invoicing workflow.
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Test everything. Create a test customer, tag it as wholesale, go through the complete flow. Verify correct prices appear, minimums are enforced, tax exemption works, and checkout functions as expected.
Wholesale isn't complicated, but it requires deliberate setup. Get the pricing math right, make the buying process frictionless for your B2B customers, and you'll have a channel that complements your retail business without doubling your workload.