Quick Summary
When your primary business is B2B eCommerce and the order volume is growing, managing everything through a separate portal or manually issuing invoices can be tedious. But Shopify’s wholesale channel offers a direct solution.
The wholesale channel is a native feature within the existing Shopify admin. Merchants can now seamlessly sell retail and wholesale products from a single dashboard. You can create a password-protected storefront, offer custom pricing and catalogs, and efficiently process high-volume orders.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the Shopify wholesale channel, analyzing how it works, along with the benefits, trends, statistics, and types of wholesale models. Let’s begin.
Shopify wholesale channel is a native feature within the platform. With it, established merchants can operate a dedicated, password-protected storefront for the wholesale customers. That is, alongside their existing retail business.
You can easily transform a standard-purpose Shopify store into a dual-purpose operation from a single admin panel. A few of the key features of this channel include the ability to create exclusive product catalogs. You can also set custom wholesale prices (by % or fixed amount) and establish specific payment terms, such as net 30.
The wholesale channel is a way to streamline Shopify B2B wholesale eCommerce. Businesses can manage high-volume orders and build formal wholesale relationships without ever leaving the Shopify ecosystem.
With Shopify, you can manage both retail and wholesale operations from a single admin panel. So you don’t need separate platforms, which drastically reduces complexity and saves time. Additionally, you gain a comprehensive view of the entire business.
Wholesale buyers receive a self-service, password-protected storefront. It mirrors the familiar retail experience. So they can place orders directly at any time, reducing the need for back-and-forth emails and manual order processing for your team.
Selling wholesale on Shopify lets you offer custom net payment terms (like net-30, net-60). You can also create unique price lists or percentage-focused discounts for specific customers or classes.
You can also hide particular products from the retail listings to create an exclusive wholesale catalog.
The primary aim of setting up Shopify B2B is to handle high-volume orders efficiently. It formalizes the entire process to remove operational bottlenecks. This creates the foundation for sustainable and scalable B2B revenue growth without a corresponding increase in administrative workload.
Better-branded wholesale apps built on Shopify enhance the buying experience for stockists and retailers. That strengthens the professional relationships. They gain a reliable and efficient purchasing portal, positioning your brand as a modern, professional partner.
The Shopify B2B is excellent for those using the Shopify Plus plan. But anyone can adapt it for wholesale eCommerce in their normal plans via third-party apps.
With Shopify wholesale apps, you create a secure, parallel storefront within your existing Shopify ecosystem. Here’s how the operation can be broken down.
Shopify wholesale apps bring simplicity, security, and automation to the B2B eCommerce experience, especially for Shopify Plus.
While both wholesales and retail eCommerce are about selling goods online, they are fundamentally different in terms of target customers, operational strategies, and more.
| Factor | Retail eCommerce | Wholesale eCommerce |
| Target Customer | End Customers (B2C) | Businesses (B2B) – retailers, distributors |
| Order Volume | Low; single units or small bundles | High; large quantities, bulk cases, pallets |
| Pricing Model | Standard retail price (SRP) | Custom, negotiated tiered pricing; volume discounts |
| Sales Process | Simple, instant checkout | Complex; often involves quotes, contracts, and credit terms (e.g., net-30) |
| Storefront Access | Publicly accessible | Typically private, password-protected, and requires approval |
| Customer Relationship | Transactional, broad marketing | Relationship-driven, dedicated account management |
| Primary Goal | Direct-to-consumer sales & brand building | Supplying partners for resale or business use |
Shopify is one of the best wholesale eCommerce platforms and supports various models. Brands can therefore choose the strategy that best aligns with their business goals and target audience.
As a maker or brand, you use the wholesale apps to sell your products directly to retail stores, thereby cutting the middlemen. That maximizes your profit margins and strengthens your brand story by connecting directly with stockists.
It also gives you complete control over pricing, MOQ, which retailers you partner with.
Distributors act as a vital link in the supply chain, aggregating products from multiple manufacturers. So retailers have a centralized purchasing source. Your Shopify wholesale store becomes a curated catalog of complementary brands.
The value proposition of this model is efficiency. Retailers can stock diverse inventory from various sources through a single, streamlined order and relationship management system. It simplifies their buying process.
You operate a virtual inventory, curating products from various suppliers without holding stock. When a wholesale order is placed on your Shopify store, you forward it to your supplier, who ships directly to the end retailer.
This model minimizes overhead and risk. So you can offer a wide product range and focus on marketing and building B2B customer relationships.
This model specializes in facilitating the movement of goods across borders. You source unique products from international manufacturers and sell them to domestic retailers, or vice-versa.
Your Shopify wholesale store serves as a digital showroom for a globally-sourced catalog. It manages the complexities of international MOQs, logistics, tariffs, and cultural trends for your B2B clients.
Don’t matter which model fits your eCommerce business, get our Shopify Plus development services.
Choosing the right features for Shopify B2B eCommerce depends on a range of factors. That includes business model, target customers, and operational scale. Prioritize features that support streamlined B2B workflows, customer segmentation, and efficient order management. Here are a few features to include:
Try to tailor the pricing strategies by creating exclusive price lists for different buyer segments, offering them discounts based on percentages or fixed amounts. Simultaneously, enforce minimum order values (MOV) or minimum order quantities (MOQ) to protect your margins and ensure order profitability.
Segment your wholesale accounts into logical groups (like by business type, region, or tier) efficiently. It lets you automate specific pricing, discounts, and catalogs to entire customer categories, streamlining management.
Process high-volume wholesale orders from the same Shopify admin as your retail sales. Maintain similar workflows for fulfillment, tracking, and customer communication. By doing this, there is no longer an option to deal with two systems.
Ensure standard B2B practices are considered by allowing payment on invoice with net terms (e.g., Net 30). Customize shipping rates for large and bulky orders that do not apply to your usual retail carrier costs.
Reflect the actual stock availability to all sales channels in real-time from one single pool of inventory. This allows for no overselling and guarantees that both retail customers and wholesale partners can check product availability info.
Keep a private, professional storefront with wholesale accounts that have approved access only. A simple, password-protected login keeps a public retail site separate from B2B processes.
The wholesale experience should reflect a full brand imprint on the corporate identity. Customize a login portal or storefront so it functions as another entirely seamless and professional arm for the B2B.
Allow wholesale buyers around-the-clock access to their account dashboards. There, they can view order history and track shipments, and put frequent cart items in their carts. This creates a higher level of efficiency, reducing repetitive administrative inquiries.
The perfect combination for these wholesale features depends on your business size, complexity, and what B2B model or strategy you are on.
Shopify B2B integrates strategic, operational, and customer-focused practices aiming to maximize B2B sales and build strong B2B relationships. Here are the key practices.
The one-size-fits-all approach may not be suitable. Wholesale buyers ought to be grouped by order volume, business type, or loyalty tier. This kind of grouping enables pricing promotions and catalog access to be targeted, thereby optimizing the value of each relationship.
Minimum order quantities or values must be defined and enforced to guarantee order profitability. Your payment terms, such as Net 30, shipping policies, and return policies, should be made clear from the beginning. It helps avoid any disputes and helps ponder over streamlined operations.
Apply automated workflows for tagging groups of customers and applying custom price lists for them, and inventory sync across channels. Less chance of errors that come with the manual procedure, saving administrative time. It also means a consistent buyer experience.
Think of selling wholesale through the portal you use for retail, which is mobile optimized, branded, and easy to navigate. Smooth self-service will cause less friction, and the buyers will be motivated to place bigger orders more often.
Have your customer lists, inventory counts, and product-related information regularly updated. Do audits from time to time to prevent overselling and keep prices from being incorrectly set. Maintain a professional stance for your B2B sales channel.
To ensure the best results with these practices, hire dedicated Shopify developers with us.
As with any approach, there are some challenges associated with wholesale eCommerce in Shopify. We’ll discuss those along with the solutions.
Manually managing unique prices for dozens of buyers is inefficient and prone to error.
Solution
Utilize **automated price lists** within Shopify. Tag customers into groups (e.g., “Tier-1,” “Boutique”) and assign a specific price list to each group. This applies custom pricing instantly at login.
A buyer who places an order that is too small to be profitable acts against the wholesale model.
Solution
Use any dedicated MOQ app from the Shopify App Store. Such apps will enforce minimums by item, cart total, or weight at checkout. They bar the order from being placed in case requirements are not met.
Selling the same inventory for retail and wholesale may, if not properly managed, lead to overselling on the other channel.
Solution
Rely on Shopify’s built-in inventory management system. This will sync stock levels in real-time by default across all channels. For more control, consider using an inventory management application that affords multi-channel fulfillment.
Most store-type “pay now” settings won’t work for buyers that require net-30, net-60, or other invoice payment terms.
Solution
Activate the B2B features in Shopify or install a 3rd party invoicing app for trust. This way, you can extend pre-approved credit terms to certain customers who then check out and get an invoice for payment later.
A wholesale store that looks just like the retail site confuses buyers and does not address their particular needs.
Solution
Wholesale themes or customization apps are tools that can help you customize the login portal’s layout, navigation, and product merchandising toward bulk buyers. It focuses on bulk pricing and products.
Setting up a Shopify B2B will formalize the channel and allow scaling of the B2B operations. Getting both retail and wholesale under one umbrella will help eliminate any operational friction and set in stage for sustainable growth.
Unifying the B2B channels just transforms a complex, manual order management process into a refined and professional one. It helps create a more diversified and truly profitable business. That’ll be excellent for any brand trying to expand its reach through wholesale partnerships.
So, want help with building the best Shopify wholesale app? Then consult with us today!
Yes. You can create custom price lists and assign them to specific customers or even entire customer groups. In that way, pricing can be done in different tiers, based on volume, or on negotiated prices automatically.
Yes. The native B2B features on Shopify Plus let you set payment terms of net-30, net-60, or due-on-receipt. On any other plan, it’s usually a third-party app that will do the trick.
You invite them directly from your Shopify admin. They receive an email to create a login for a password-protected, unique URL, ensuring a private and professional buying experience.
Yes. You have full control over product visibility. You can choose to show your entire catalog or curate a specific selection of products exclusively for your wholesale buyers.
John Niles, a dedicated Technical Consultant at BrainSpate since 2023, specializes in eCommerce. With a global perspective, he crafts insightful content on cutting-edge web development technologies, enriching the digital commerce landscape.
