Shopify B2B: Complete guide to getting started with B2B sales on Shopify
Shopify has long dominated the B2C market, and in 2022 they took a major step into B2B with new features directly in the admin panel. With a team of 3000 developers behind it, the platform is constantly being expanded and improved. Shopify offers great flexibility and control, which means you can deliver the same inspiring customer experience to your B2B customers that you know from B2C, while easily customizing the platform to suit your specific business needs.
If you're feeling that your business is particularly complex and unique, and maybe too special for Shopify, you've come to the right place. In this post, we take a closer look at everything that can be done out-of-the-box and what requires a little extra help.
What is Shopify B2B
With Shopify Plus, you get access to all of Shopify's B2B features, of which the 5 most important for most businesses will be these:
- Companies: Create B2B customers as companies with multiple locations and associated buyers/customers
- Customized product assortment and price lists: Offer a personalized shopping experience with customized product assortments and price lists. This includes currency selection, flexible purchasing rules such as percentage-based pricing structure, quantity discount, volume discount, and case, all assigned to a specific buyer/customer or location.
- Flexible payment options: Create automatic net payment terms, offer credit card, bank transfer, and invoice, create order drafts and save credit card information for quick checkout.
- B2B checkout: Display wholesale prices during accelerated checkout based on the company that is logged in and purchasing.
- Customer accounts: Approve companies/buyers before they gain access to products and B2B prices. Buyers/customers can view and manage their account information as well as reorder directly from their account page.
When Shopify talks about B2B, it generally means the Shopify Plus solution. We will delve further into the various features a little further down. But before that, you should know that there are also other options for B2B sales on Shopify besides Shopify Plus.
Shopify standard
It is up to you to decide what you want to sell and to whom, so you can certainly open a webshop on Shopify and choose to sell only B2B. It is possible to require that the customer must register and log in before a purchase can be completed. You can display prices excl. VAT and you can create automatic discounts to provide your VIP customers with better conditions. You can allow customers to pay by invoice, and customers will be able to view their previous orders and reorder from the account page. With such a solution, the most important thing is to stick to predetermined frameworks. Too many special agreements, complex pricing rules, and customizations are signs that you should look at a more advanced solution.
B2B apps from Shopify App Store
Shopify App Store offers B2B apps that quickly expand your shop with new functionality. It can be a fine start for less complex businesses, but as your business grows, you will most likely need more features and options. An app costs an amount per month, which is settled through your Shopify subscription. The advantage is that it can be used on a cheaper plan than Shopify Plus.
DTAILS B2B
At DTAILS, we have developed a third solution that can be implemented on the Shopify Advanced plan. How this solution differs from Shopify Plus B2B we will return to later.
Is Shopify a future-proof choice for B2B?
Shopify is investing heavily in the development of its platform and even though the B2B functionality is relatively new, Shopify has already taken a position as one of the leading providers within B2B commerce.
In the respected report "The Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions For B2B, Q2 2024," Shopify is named as Leader—equivalent to the best companies in the category. The report is compiled annually and is independent, aiming to help brands and businesses make informed decisions. It uses a thorough approach with a total of 24 criteria to evaluate selected providers' ability to meet the key requirements in the category. Providers are then ranked as Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, or Challengers. You can read the report here.
B2B trends: What do B2B customers want?
At DTAILS, we have identified 5 key trends that you, as a B2B merchant, should actively consider if your company is to be among the best B2B webshops. These trends focus on improving the customer journey and making it more relevant and effective:
- Shop like B2C
- Self Service
- Personalization
- Omni-channel
- GenAI
1. Shop like B2C
Buying experiences in B2B are increasingly starting to resemble those we see in the B2C world. Buyers want the same ease of use, simplicity, and efficiency as they experience in their personal online shopping. This includes a streamlined checkout process, a quick and efficient way to find the right product, and the ability to read reviews and compare products. For B2B companies, this means focusing on a better digital customer experience.
2. Self-Service
Today, many B2B customers expect to be able to handle most of their purchasing and decision-making processes on their own. Self-service portals allow customers to access necessary information, place orders, manage subscriptions, retrieve invoices, and follow up on shipments without the need to contact a seller. This saves time and increases efficiency, making it a crucial trend for B2B companies.
3. Personalization
B2B buyers are increasingly expecting a more personalized experience that matches their specific needs. By using data and analytics tools, companies can deliver
Shopify has long dominated the B2C market, and in 2022 they took a major step into B2B with new features directly in the admin panel. With a team of 3000 developers behind it, the platform is constantly being expanded and improved. Shopify offers great flexibility and control, which means you can deliver the same inspiring customer experience to your B2B customers that you know from B2C, while easily customizing the platform to suit your specific business needs.
If you're feeling that your business is particularly complex and unique, and maybe too special for Shopify, you've come to the right place. In this post, we take a closer look at everything that can be done out-of-the-box and what requires a little extra help.
What is Shopify B2B
With Shopify Plus, you get access to all of Shopify's B2B features, of which the 5 most important for most businesses will be these:
- Companies: Create B2B customers as companies with multiple locations and associated buyers/customers
- Customized product assortment and price lists: Offer a personalized shopping experience with customized product assortments and price lists. This includes currency selection, flexible purchasing rules such as percentage-based pricing structure, quantity discount, volume discount, and case, all assigned to a specific buyer/customer or location.
- Flexible payment options: Create automatic net payment terms, offer credit card, bank transfer, and invoice, create order drafts and save credit card information for quick checkout.
- B2B checkout: Display wholesale prices during accelerated checkout based on the company that is logged in and purchasing.
- Customer accounts: Approve companies/buyers before they gain access to products and B2B prices. Buyers/customers can view and manage their account information as well as reorder directly from their account page.
When Shopify talks about B2B, it generally means the Shopify Plus solution. We will delve further into the various features a little further down. But before that, you should know that there are also other options for B2B sales on Shopify besides Shopify Plus.
Shopify standard
It is up to you to decide what you want to sell and to whom, so you can certainly open a webshop on Shopify and choose to sell only B2B. It is possible to require that the customer must register and log in before a purchase can be completed. You can display prices excl. VAT and you can create automatic discounts to provide your VIP customers with better conditions. You can allow customers to pay by invoice, and customers will be able to view their previous orders and reorder from the account page. With such a solution, the most important thing is to stick to predetermined frameworks. Too many special agreements, complex pricing rules, and customizations are signs that you should look at a more advanced solution.
B2B apps from Shopify App Store
Shopify App Store offers B2B apps that quickly expand your shop with new functionality. It can be a fine start for less complex businesses, but as your business grows, you will most likely need more features and options. An app costs an amount per month, which is settled through your Shopify subscription. The advantage is that it can be used on a cheaper plan than Shopify Plus.
DTAILS B2B
At DTAILS, we have developed a third solution that can be implemented on the Shopify Advanced plan. How this solution differs from Shopify Plus B2B we will return to later.
Is Shopify a future-proof choice for B2B?
Shopify is investing heavily in the development of its platform and even though the B2B functionality is relatively new, Shopify has already taken a position as one of the leading providers within B2B commerce.
In the respected report "The Forrester Wave™: Commerce Solutions For B2B, Q2 2024," Shopify is named as Leader—equivalent to the best companies in the category. The report is compiled annually and is independent, aiming to help brands and businesses make informed decisions. It uses a thorough approach with a total of 24 criteria to evaluate selected providers' ability to meet the key requirements in the category. Providers are then ranked as Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, or Challengers. You can read the report here.
B2B trends: What do B2B customers want?
At DTAILS, we have identified 5 key trends that you, as a B2B merchant, should actively consider if your company is to be among the best B2B webshops. These trends focus on improving the customer journey and making it more relevant and effective:
- Shop like B2C
- Self Service
- Personalization
- Omni-channel
- GenAI
1. Shop like B2C
Buying experiences in B2B are increasingly starting to resemble those we see in the B2C world. Buyers want the same ease of use, simplicity, and efficiency as they experience in their personal online shopping. This includes a streamlined checkout process, a quick and efficient way to find the right product, and the ability to read reviews and compare products. For B2B companies, this means focusing on a better digital customer experience.
2. Self-Service
Today, many B2B customers expect to be able to handle most of their purchasing and decision-making processes on their own. Self-service portals allow customers to access necessary information, place orders, manage subscriptions, retrieve invoices, and follow up on shipments without the need to contact a seller. This saves time and increases efficiency, making it a crucial trend for B2B companies.
3. Personalization
B2B buyers are increasingly expecting a more personalized experience that matches their specific needs. By using data and analytics tools, companies can deliver
If you haven't chosen Shopify Plus, then with DTAILS B2B you can get some of the same options as well as a range of other features that elevate your B2B shop to the next level.
- Prices and Discounts: Ability to set discount percentages for each individual customer, as well as define products that should not be included in discount schemes.
- Product Range: Control over which products a customer can purchase. For example, if you have products you do not wish to sell in a specific country due to legislation, shipping, or other reasons, the purchase button can be removed so the product can be viewed but not purchased. Option to define parcel size and rules for breaking the parcel.
- Discount codes
- Payment with gift cards
- Manual payment methods
- Automatic sending of emails on abandoned checkout attempts to win the order
- Pricing and discounts: Ability to set discount percentages for each individual customer, as well as define products that should not be included in discount schemes.
- Product assortment: Management of which products a customer can purchase. For example, if you have products you do not wish to sell in a specific country due to legislation, shipping, or other reasons, the buy button can be removed so the product can be viewed but not purchased. Ability to define package size and rules for breaking packages.
- Payment and currency settings: Option to choose whether the customer should pay by credit card or invoice. Ability to define a default currency for the customer
- Orders and reorder: Practical UI for easily purchasing products in larger quantities (order grid), as well as the ability for customers to reorder previous orders via their own account.
- Accounting: View credit notes as well as status on outstanding.
- Image Bank: Customers can automatically get a link to download all digital assets on the purchased products ="color: #000000;"> Image Browser: Customers can search for products and download product images in various resolutions
- Collaboration Library: Option to integrate a Google Drive directly into the platform, allowing customers to easily search and download digital files such as price lists, forms, lookbooks, etc.
- Return and Complaint Handling: Order history with the option to create returns and complaints on specific products. Can be integrated with customer service platforms like Gorgias.
- Pre-orders and Seasonal Goods: Possibility to create collections that can be purchased with a future delivery date.
- Virtual Agents: Option to log in and create orders on behalf of your customers. Possibility to save the cart and have the customer complete the cart or vice versa. Typically used by salespeople and customer service representatives.
Limitation: It is not possible to offer subscription solutions on B2B, receive donations, or use Shopify Store Credit.
Orders
Both you and the customer can create order drafts that can be edited later. The customer will see an option in checkout to send the order for approval, and you can create an order directly in admin. It is also possible to add a PO number that follows from start to finish.
Limitation: An order can have a maximum of 500 product lines. If a customer tries to purchase more than 500 different products, the order will fail.
Delivery
Most B2B companies choose a third party to handle both warehousing and shipping for them. There are many different companies that can easily integrate with Shopify. However, it is also possible to set up shipping rules, prices, and locations from which the product should be sent directly in Shopify.
Limitation: It is not possible to use 'Pick up in store', 'Local delivery', or have pickup locations—often abbreviated as BOPIS.
Design
You can choose whether to go the standard route and use a Shopify Theme or go Headless. Headless means that you need a developer to build the frontend of your shop. Both options work with Shopify B2B. You can read more about Headless here and see Shopify's own B2B theme, Trade, here.
Although Shopify offers a theme specifically tailored for B2B sales, there are also many other good themes that can be adapted to match your needs and brand. At DTAILS, we are accustomed to adapting themes—almost anything is possible. Together, we can refine your needs and ideas.
Activating additional functionality for B2B orders
It is possible to open up additional features. This is done by contacting Shopify Plus Support. These extra features include the following:
What does Shopify Plus B2B cost?
Shopify Plus costs 0.18% of your revenue, but a minimum of 2300 USD per month. Like other Shopify subscriptions, transaction fees and currency conversion fees are added. Apps also cost extra.
If you need help calculating the Total Cost of Ownership, you can always reach out to us.
When considering whether Shopify Plus is the right choice for your business, remember to look at the other features that Shopify Plus provides access to. Find Shopify’s pricing comparison table here.
"The launch of our B2B shop was almost boring. It took 10 minutes and then it was up. Quick and seamless. A bit anticlimactic actually. But that's exactly what you want when launching a new system"
– Sophie Albo, E-commerce Manager at Rosemunde.
Alternatives to Shopify Plus B2B
Even if your business is well-established in the B2B market, it's not certain that you'll end up with a Shopify Plus solution. There can be many reasons to choose something else. Typically, you'll only be able to make that decision after a thorough review of your IT landscape and business needs.
At DTAILS, we have built many B2B shops long before Shopify launched B2B functionality in 2022, and over time these experiences have been distilled into a solution we call DTAILS B2B. Here we utilize all the standard functionality Shopify offers, as well as the possibilities the various APIs provide us.
What is DTAILS B2B?
If you have not chosen Shopify Plus, then with DTAILS B2B you can get some of the same options as well as a range of other features that elevate your B2B shop to the next level.
Dreaming of even more features? We can build it. It could be something like this:
Summary: How to Get Started
With a few clicks, you can open a Shopify shop and within a couple of weeks, you can be live with a super nice store. As long as everything is standard.
It's the preparation beforehand that ensures your success, so you won't have to rebuild later. Do yourself a favor and write down in detail what your business needs. What are must-haves and what are nice-to-haves.
If you need help, feel free to reach out to us. We love a good challenge.
