Shopify B2B Features That Used to Cost $2,300 Are Now Free
Until April 2 this year, running wholesale on Shopify required upgrading to Plus. Plus starts at roughly $2,000 per month, which meant most DTC Shopify stores could not test B2B demand without committing real budget first. That gating quietly disappeared on April 2, 2026 when Shopify opened native B2B features to merchants on Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans at no extra cost.
The merchants who already had wholesale demand sitting in their inboxes (retailer requests, bulk-order asks, business-email signups they ignored) now have a path to capture it without leaving their current plan. The data argues this is worth doing. Shopify cites a 4.1x reorder frequency lift on B2B orders versus DTC, and most DTC categories report wholesale AOV at 3 to 5 times the consumer order.
This post is the practical playbook for DTC Shopify stores looking at the new B2B features and asking the right question. Should we add a wholesale channel, what does the setup actually look like, and where is the line where we still need to upgrade to Plus.
What Shopify just opened up
The features Shopify moved to Basic, Grow, and Advanced are the meaningful ones, not a stripped-down version. As of April 2, 2026, every paid Shopify plan includes:
- Company profiles for wholesale buyers (separate from DTC customer accounts)
- Up to three custom catalogs with their own pricing, products, and rules
- Volume discounts and quantity rules (minimum order quantities, maximums, increments)
- Vaulted credit cards for repeat orders without re-entry
- Payment terms (Net 15, Net 30, Net 60, or custom arrangements)
- Native integration with Shopify Payments, Flow, and Markets
- Single-admin management for DTC and B2B from the same storefront and inventory
The big wins are the unified admin and the payment terms. Until now, most DTC stores adding wholesale had to install Wholesale Pricing Discount, BSS Wholesale, or a similar app to handle catalog separation and net terms. Those apps stay viable for specific use cases, but the native version is now the default starting point.
What is still Plus-only
Plus retains four meaningful B2B advantages.
Unlimited custom catalogs. Non-Plus plans cap at three catalogs. For most DTC stores starting wholesale, three is enough. For mature B2B operations with dozens of price tiers, regional catalogs, or per-distributor pricing, the cap forces an upgrade.
Direct catalog assignment to specific company locations. If a wholesale customer has multiple physical locations and you need different pricing per location (a hotel chain with different brands, a retailer with regional warehouses), Plus is required.
Partial payments and deposits. Plus supports collecting a deposit on order placement and the balance on shipment or terms. Non-Plus plans do not.
Advanced B2B checkout customisation. Plus gives you Functions-driven checkout extensibility for custom B2B-specific logic. Non-Plus plans get standard checkout customisation.
For a DTC store testing wholesale or running a focused B2B program with a small number of buyer tiers, none of these gaps are blocking. They become real when the wholesale operation scales past 20 to 30 active accounts.
Which DTC brands actually have B2B demand
Not every DTC store should add wholesale. The clearest signals that you have demand sitting on the table are visible in your existing data.
Look at the last 90 days of orders. Are there orders with business email domains (anything @yourcompany.com rather than @gmail.com)? Repeat orders from the same address, especially in higher quantities? Bulk orders that look out of pattern with your normal AOV? Each of these is a signal.
Look at your inbox. Have retailers asked about wholesale terms? Have other businesses asked for bulk discounts, custom invoicing, or different shipping options? Have buyers from gift shops, hotels, salons, or corporate gifting departments reached out? These are the buyers Shopify B2B is built for.
Check your category fit. Categories where DTC plus wholesale tends to work: home goods, candles, beauty, supplements, food and beverage, apparel basics, pet products, kitchenware, gifts. Categories where it tends not to: heavily personalised DTC products, made-to-order goods, direct-to-end-consumer-only services. If you sell a custom-engraved necklace, wholesale is not a natural extension. If you sell a bestselling moisturiser, it almost certainly is.
The four-phase playbook
Standing up a B2B channel on a DTC Shopify store takes two to four weeks if you know what you are doing. Skip any of these phases and you will pay for it later.
Phase 1: Commercial design
Before touching Shopify, decide the rules. Which SKUs are wholesale-eligible. What margin structure (most DTC stores land at 40 to 50 percent off RRP for wholesale). What minimum order quantity per SKU and per order. What payment terms by buyer tier. What shipping terms (collect, prepay, free over threshold). What qualification gates (business registration, minimum order value, industry fit).
Write these down on one page before you build anything in Shopify. Most B2B program failures we have seen come from skipping this phase and trying to design pricing inside the catalog UI.
Phase 2: Technical setup
Enable B2B in Settings then Customer accounts. Create your three catalogs with a clear strategy. The pattern that works for most DTC stores starting out:
- Catalog 1: Standard Wholesale. 40 percent off RRP, Net 15, basic MOQs.
- Catalog 2: Volume Wholesale. 45 to 50 percent off RRP, Net 30, higher MOQs and tiered volume breaks.
- Catalog 3: Strategic Accounts. Custom-negotiated pricing for your largest buyers, key retailers, or distributors.
Configure quantity rules and volume discounts at the product level inside each catalog. Set tax rules properly (B2B is often tax-exempt with valid resale certificate). Configure B2B-specific shipping profiles if your wholesale shipping rules differ from DTC.
Phase 3: Buyer onboarding
Manually invite the first 10 to 20 wholesale accounts with login credentials. These are usually existing customers or inbound retailer requests you already have in your inbox. Use these accounts to QA the system on real orders.
Build a Wholesale or Trade application form on your storefront capturing business name, registration, industry, expected order volume, and a short qualification question. Decide whether you auto-approve based on rules or manually review. Manual review is slower but catches the wrong-fit accounts before they enter your catalog system.
Phase 4: Measurement
Track the metrics that tell you whether the B2B channel is working. Reorder frequency (target at least 2x your DTC baseline). AOV (target 3 to 5x DTC AOV). Self-serve completion rate (the percentage of B2B orders placed without sales support). Payment terms performance (days sales outstanding on Net 30 invoices). Gross margin on wholesale net of higher fulfilment overhead.
Most DTC stores that add B2B underestimate the operational lift. Plan for 5 to 10 hours per week of account management in the first quarter, dropping as buyers self-serve.
How to use the three-catalog cap effectively
The three-catalog limit on non-Plus plans is the constraint most merchants worry about. In practice, three catalogs covers 90 percent of starter B2B programs because you do not need a separate catalog for every customer. You need separate catalogs for the meaningful pricing tiers.
The pattern above (Standard, Volume, Strategic) is the right starting structure. If you find yourself wanting a fourth catalog for a specific customer or region, ask first whether that customer fits one of the existing three with a custom price list inside it. Quantity rules and volume pricing inside a catalog give you a lot of flexibility without needing more catalogs.
Three catalogs becomes a real constraint when you cross 20 to 30 active wholesale accounts with genuinely different pricing models, or when you need region-specific catalogs for international wholesale. That is the natural Plus migration trigger.
When to upgrade to Plus
Upgrading to Plus solely for the additional B2B features is not always the right call. The signal it is time:
- You have 20 or more active wholesale accounts with different pricing structures
- You need per-location catalog assignment for multi-location buyers
- Partial payments or deposits are blocking specific customer types
- B2B revenue exceeds 25 to 30 percent of your total revenue
- You need advanced B2B checkout logic that requires Functions
Below those thresholds, the three-catalog cap and standard checkout are usually fine, and the $2,000 per month Plus uplift is better spent on inventory, paid acquisition, or sales operations.
Common setup mistakes
Three patterns we see again and again on DTC stores adding B2B.
Pricing wholesale too generously. Some DTC stores set wholesale at 30 percent off because that "feels right." Standard wholesale is 40 to 50 percent off RRP for a reason. The wholesale buyer needs margin to resell, and underpricing wholesale signals you do not understand the channel.
Missing MOQ enforcement. Without minimum order quantities, B2B orders end up looking like high-AOV DTC orders, which kills the operational efficiency that makes wholesale profitable. Set MOQs at the product and order level.
No qualification gate on signup. If anyone with a business email can self-serve onto your wholesale catalog, you will get tire-kickers, drop shippers, and small resellers who do not match your brand positioning. A short application form filters out 80 percent of the noise.
FAQs we keep getting asked
Do I need separate inventory for B2B?
No. Native Shopify B2B uses the same inventory pool as DTC. Stock is shared across both channels and updates in real time. This is one of the bigger operational advantages of native versus app-based wholesale.
Can I run B2B and DTC on the same storefront?
Yes. The B2B buyer logs in and sees their custom catalog and pricing. The DTC visitor sees standard catalog and pricing. Same storefront URL, same admin, same checkout. Buyer experience is gated by login.
What if I run out of catalog slots?
Either upgrade to Plus for unlimited catalogs, or restructure your pricing tiers so that quantity rules and volume pricing inside fewer catalogs cover what you need. Most stores can avoid the cap with smart catalog design.
Do I need to verify business buyers?
Shopify does not enforce business verification, but you should. Require a business registration number, a resale certificate where applicable, or a brief application. This protects your wholesale margin and your brand positioning.
How do payment terms (Net 15, 30, 60) actually work in Shopify?
The buyer places an order with payment terms attached. Shopify generates an invoice with the due date. Payment is collected manually (bank transfer, ACH, or paid online) when the term elapses. Shopify does not finance the receivable, so cash flow is your responsibility. Some merchants pair payment terms with a service like Resolve or Slope for B2B financing.
Can I use this for international wholesale?
Yes, paired with Shopify Markets. You can run separate B2B catalogs by market with currency, pricing, and shipping configured per region. Tax handling for international wholesale gets complex quickly, so plan accordingly.
What apps do I still need with native B2B?
For most DTC stores adding B2B, the native features replace the wholesale app stack entirely. You may still want apps for B2B financing (Resolve, Slope), advanced quoting workflows (Pop Up Quotes), or specialised retail ordering (SparkLayer for fashion). The base B2B engine is now native.
The short version
Shopify just removed the biggest barrier to DTC stores adding wholesale. The features that used to require Plus are now on Basic, Grow, and Advanced. If your inbox already has wholesale-shaped requests in it, the right move is to spend two to four weeks setting up a structured B2B channel using the three-catalog framework, validate demand with the first 10 to 20 accounts, and only consider Plus once the channel proves itself.
If you want help running the audit, structuring your catalogs, designing wholesale pricing tiers that protect your margin, or onboarding the first cohort of buyers, drop us a note. We have set up native B2B for DTC Shopify merchants and can shortcut the playbook for your store.