Shopify's B2B isn't Plus-only anymore, but it has a ceiling
Until April 2026, Shopify's B2B was exclusive to Plus. Not anymore. Companies, locations, catalogues with their own price lists, minimum quantity rules and payment terms are now on Basic, Grow and Advanced. That makes entering the wholesale channel considerably cheaper, and a lot of the industry documentation hasn't caught up yet.
What hasn't changed is the ceiling: there are features Shopify doesn't offer at any price, and it's worth knowing that before building a project on a promise the platform can't keep.
What each plan gets you (and what it doesn't, out of the box)
Basic, Grow and Advanced
Companies (Shopify's own term) with their locations and permissions, up to 3 active price lists with their own rates, minimum quantity rules, payment terms (net terms) and a purchase order number at checkout.
Plus only
Unlimited price lists, assigning a price list directly to a specific company or location, required deposits, partial payments on an order, and payment requests per shipment, for orders delivered in several batches.
Large-scale wholesale accounts
With under 500 active B2B accounts, any plan holds up fine. Above that number, the 3-price-list limit and the lack of partial payments on Basic, Grow and Advanced start to bite, and Plus stops being an option and becomes a requirement.
EDI integration
Native EDI connectors (SPS Commerce, Crstl) for selling to large chains and distributors are only available on Plus. On other plans, EDI is solved with custom development or third-party apps.
Applied credit limit
Shopify doesn't block an order out of the box when a customer's outstanding balance goes over an agreed limit. We build it by combining Flow, metafields and a checkout validation function, without relying on a third-party app.
Negotiable quotes
Out of the box there are only draft orders for a simple back-and-forth, with no negotiation thread or versioning. On top of that we build a quoting workflow matched to your sales process, negotiation and approval included.
Internal order approval
Out of the box, not even on Plus, there's no approval chain with delegated authority: review rules flag orders, they don't block them by hierarchy. We solve it by combining Flow with those rules, so an order can't move forward without the sign-off your internal policy requires.
Company hierarchy
Shopify's model is company → locations, with no subsidiaries, divisions or nested groups within a single company. If your operation has a parent with several legal entities or departments with their own budget, we replicate that hierarchy with custom metafields and permissions, instead of forcing it into a model designed to stay flat.
The Spanish tax filter
Intra-EU VAT number validation isn't available in Shopify's B2B checkouts: it only works in guest checkout and in Shop Pay. The exemption can be applied, but manually, by marking it on each company's record. For a closed portfolio of clients that's manageable. If your model is capturing new companies online without a sales rep in the loop, it's a real ceiling worth knowing before you build the funnel.
What's missing can be rented through an app (B2B quoting and negotiation engines add their own monthly fee, with order limits or features depending on the plan), but then the core logic of your B2B ends up depending on a vendor you don't control, on top of a platform run by another vendor. We analyse your specific operation and tell you whether that trade-off is worth it, or whether your business fits better on a platform where credit, quotes and approvals are part of the product, like Magento's B2B.
Frequently asked questions about Shopify B2B
What kind of B2B fits well on Shopify?
One with a high volume of orders and a simple organisation: few price lists, a known customer base, payment upfront or on simple terms, and a pain point that lies in repeat ordering and order handling. There, Shopify solves it with what comes out of the box and for considerably less than a more complex platform. It stops fitting when the complexity lies in who can buy what, on what credit, with what approval and at what negotiated price. In our view, that is the question that decides the platform, more than the size of the company.
Can a customer buy as a business and as an individual with the same account?
No. In Shopify a customer account can only hold one company identity at a time. If the owner of a distributor buys for the business and also as an individual, they need two separate registrations, with the data kept apart and the orders split between them. For most wholesalers this is not a problem, but it is worth knowing if your trade customers also buy for their own use, because it affects how sign-up is designed and how the data is matched with the ERP.
How many users and permissions can each business customer have?
Each company is organised into locations, with a maximum of 10,000 locations and 10,000 contacts per company, and up to 50 contacts per location. With those figures, what usually falls short is permissions: there are only two levels. A contact can be a buyer (places orders and sees their own) or a location admin (also sees all orders for that location and changes shipping and billing addresses). If your customer needs intermediate roles, such as someone who prepares orders but does not confirm them, they have to be built with development.
Does Shopify check that my customer's EU VAT number is valid?
Only partly. There is no automatic validation in the B2B checkout: that feature only exists in guest checkout and Shop Pay. In B2B the number is entered on each company record, where Shopify validates it to apply the reverse charge on shipments to another EU country, and that validation cannot be overridden manually. It also checks that the number is valid, not that the customer is authorised to use it, and Shopify recommends checking it separately against VIES. We describe how the platform behaves; tax advice is a matter for your tax adviser.
How much does it cost to cover with an app what Shopify B2B lacks?
It depends mainly on how many B2B orders you place each month, because the leading apps charge by volume. With SparkLayer, for example, the first plan with quoting costs $299 a month and allows 150 B2B orders a month; beyond that, the Enterprise plan starts at $499 a month with custom pricing. If you also need unlimited catalogues, you have to add Shopify Plus, which starts at €2,250 a month on a one-year contract (€2,100 on a three-year one). That is why we ask about order volume in the first meeting: it is the figure that decides whether the numbers add up. Prices checked in September 2026.
Does your B2B fit on Shopify?
Tell us how many price lists you manage, whether you negotiate rates customer by customer, whether you sell on credit, and how many B2B orders you handle a month. With those four numbers we'll tell you whether Shopify works for you or what's missing.