What’s the biggest pain B2B sellers face in 2025? It’s not lead gen, it’s friction. Clunky order forms, outdated portals, and siloed data cost businesses thousands of hours and millions in revenue. According to a McKinsey report, 73% of B2B buyers prefer to research and purchase online, yet many B2B stores still operate as if it’s 2005.
Shopify has stepped up. While it started as a DTC platform, the new Shopify B2B setup – especially on Shopify Plus – offers a powerful, streamlined solution for wholesale, manufacturing, and distribution brands ready to modernize their infrastructure.
In this post, I’m breaking down exactly how to set up a B2B store on Shopify, which native and custom features actually matter, and the real-world customizations I recommend if you want to unlock revenue—not just replicate a print catalog online.
Why Shopify Is Finally B2B-Ready
Shopify’s B2B rollout wasn’t a pivot, it was an evolution. The platform recognized the growing demand for frictionless B2B transactions and built native tools to support them:
- Company profiles with multiple user roles
- Customer-specific pricing lists
- Net payment terms
- Purchase orders at checkout
- Exclusive product visibility per customer
These features, previously the domain of expensive ERP systems or Magento Enterprise builds, are now accessible inside your Shopify admin. The Shopify B2B setup gives you the tools to streamline operations, offer flexibility, and serve modern B2B buyers – without hacking your store with third-party apps.
Getting the Shopify B2B Setup Right
Let’s talk strategy. Before apps or theme tweaks, you need to get your foundation in place. The Shopify B2B setup has to be tailored to your business model – wholesalers, manufacturers, and multi-brand distributors will each have different priorities.
Here’s the minimum viable setup I recommend:
- Start with Shopify Plus. Native B2B functionality is exclusive to Plus – don’t attempt this with Basic or Advanced plans.
- Enable B2B in the Admin. Once on Plus, go to the Organizations tab and configure Companies. Each Company can have multiple users, roles, and assigned pricing.
- Build Your Price Lists. Use Shopify’s native Price Lists to show different prices to different customers, without needing multiple stores or duplicating products.
- Assign Net Payment Terms. Shopify B2B supports Net 15, Net 30, and more. You can also allow purchase orders directly in checkout.
- Decide on Storefront Strategy. You can run a hybrid B2C+B2B site or create a dedicated B2B subdomain. There’s no single answer, it depends on your catalog and customers.
Pro tip: Don’t overcomplicate your initial launch. Focus on getting your structure clean and your customer segmentation accurate. You can layer custom features after the foundation is stable.
Hybrid vs. Dedicated Storefront: What Works Best?
You’ve got two paths:
Hybrid: One storefront, both retail and B2B audiences.
Dedicated: Separate storefront for B2B (e.g.,
b2b.yourdomain.com).
Hybrid is ideal if:
- Your catalog overlaps heavily between B2C and B2B
- You want a faster launch
- You want unified analytics and content
Dedicated is better if:
- You sell large equipment, components, or products with long sales cycles
- You want a unique brand experience for B2B buyers
- You operate internationally with unique tax, language, or pricing requirements
For most merchants I work with, we start hybrid – then spin off a dedicated B2B storefront once revenue justifies the split. Shopify Markets makes this transition seamless.
Must-Have Customizations That Actually Drive Sales
Here’s where I get opinionated. Shopify’s native B2B features are good but not complete. To create a polished, enterprise-grade B2B experience, you’ll need these customizations.
-
Quick Order Tools
B2B buyers know what they want. They’re not browsing. You need a form that lets them input SKUs and quantities directly, or upload CSVs to bulk add items to cart. -
Reorder Workflows
Offer “Reorder Previous Order” buttons, custom bundles, or smart reorder recommendations based on purchase history. Shopify Flow is your best friend here. -
Sales Rep Impersonation (Order on Behalf)
Your sales team needs to place orders on behalf of clients, especially at trade shows or during calls. We use custom dashboards where reps can log in, choose a Company, and process an order without switching tabs. -
Custom Catalogs Per Company
Go beyond pricing. Show (or hide) products based on customer type. For example, distributors might see kits, while resellers only get individual SKUs. -
Net Terms & Credit Limits
Use Shopify’s built-in net terms, but integrate with accounting platforms (like QuickBooks or Xero) to manage credit limits and automate reminders. -
Account Dashboard with Company Insights
A branded account section where customers can view invoices, shipping status, credit availability, and reorder stats adds massive value—and cuts down on support requests. -
ERP + CRM Integration
You can’t scale if your Shopify data lives in a silo. Build or use middleware to sync customers, orders, inventory, and pricing with your ERP and CRM tools. We’ve built custom Laravel middleware for this—worth the investment.
Real Example: Scaling a B2B Tile Manufacturer on Shopify
One of our Shopify Plus clients, a European tile manufacturer, came to us with a bloated Magento store and manual order processes. Every distributor needed custom pricing, inventory visibility, and reorder access. The previous platform was slow, expensive to maintain, and unsupported.
Here’s how we rebuilt their B2B on Shopify:
- Migrated the catalog of 4,000+ SKUs to Shopify with metafields for technical specs
- Built a B2B storefront with login gating and company-specific catalogs
- Integrated with their Microsoft Dynamics ERP to sync pricing and stock
- Added quote requests, sample orders, and downloadable spec sheets
- Built a dashboard for their 40+ sales reps to place orders on behalf of clients
Results after 3 months:
Order errors down 62%
Sales rep efficiency up 40%
Checkout completion rate increased 26% for B2B customers
The takeaway? B2B customers expect speed and precision. Shopify can deliver that, if you give it the right data and tools.
Targeting B2B Buyers Without Growing Traffic
You don’t need more traffic – you need the right traffic. Here’s how I help clients attract high-quality B2B leads without bloating their ad budgets.
- Content + SEO for Decision-Makers: Publish industry-specific landing pages with high-intent keywords like “eco-friendly tile distributors UK” or “private label skincare manufacturer USA.”
- LinkedIn + Email Outreach: Build targeted lists of purchasing managers and distributors. Send them directly to gated Shopify B2B landing pages.
- Custom Lead Forms: Instead of a generic contact form, use structured intake forms that qualify leads by company size, location, and volume.
- Locked Pricing Pages: Require account creation to view pricing—this filters out retail browsers and adds urgency for qualified buyers.
- Account-Based Campaigns: Use IP tracking or CRM data to personalize landing pages by industry, size, or location.
The beauty of Shopify is that once someone lands, your infrastructure can do the heavy lifting.
What’s Next for Shopify B2B?
Here’s what I’m watching closely:
- AI-assisted B2B personalization: Expect Shopify to expand into personalized product bundles and reorder predictions for buyers.
- Deeper ERP connectivity: More native integrations will make B2B less dependent on custom middleware.
- Advanced permissions: Role-based access per user and product will become a default, not a customization.
- Headless B2B experiences: For complex catalogs and B2B UX needs, headless builds using Hydrogen or custom stacks will dominate.
And with Shopify Markets continuing to expand, multi-region B2B selling is going to become simpler and faster to launch.
Final Takeaways
If you’re building B2B on Shopify, you’ve already chosen a platform with growth in its DNA. But it’s not plug-and-play. You need the right Shopify B2B setup, customizations that actually improve conversions, and integrations that streamline your operations.
Start simple. Focus on structure, customer segmentation, and pricing logic. Then customize intelligently, only where it solves real business problems.
If you’re still unsure how to set up a B2B store on Shopify or want help scaling your wholesale experience without slowing down your team, let’s talk.
Ready to launch or optimize your Shopify B2B store? Frontlevels helps B2B brands build and scale Shopify stores that convert. From native features to full ERP integrations, we’ll make your B2B experience seamless, fast, and scalable. Let’s get started!