DEV Community: Kanishk

Shopify B2B vs. Shopify Plus: Which Plan Is Right for You?

Kanishk — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:49:48 +0000

If you are comparing Shopify B2B vs. Shopify Plus, the first thing to know is that this is no longer a simple “standard plan vs. wholesale plan” decision.

Shopify now offers native B2B features on multiple plans, not just Plus. That means more merchants can start selling wholesale on Shopify without jumping straight into enterprise pricing. But that does not mean every wholesale setup will work equally well on every plan.

The real question is not whether Shopify supports B2B. It does. The real question is whether the plan you choose can support the way your wholesale business actually operates once pricing, buyers, and workflows become more complex.

Why this comparison matters now

For a long time, many merchants assumed Shopify Plus was the only serious option for wholesale. That has changed.

Today, merchants on lower Shopify plans can access core B2B functionality and get a wholesale program off the ground much earlier than before. That is a meaningful shift, especially for brands that want to validate wholesale demand, onboard trade customers, and test B2B without committing to a much higher monthly platform cost.

At the same time, Shopify Plus still matters. Once a B2B operation becomes more layered, the differences between standard native plans and Plus become much more important.

That is why this comparison deserves a closer look.

What Shopify B2B gives you on standard plans

For many merchants, Shopify’s standard B2B setup now covers the basics well.

A merchant can create company accounts, build catalogs, offer net payment terms, support purchase orders, set quantity rules and price breaks, and create a more structured ordering experience for wholesale buyers. For simple wholesale models, that can be enough to launch and run a working B2B channel.

This is especially useful for merchants who are:

just starting wholesale
adding a small dealer or distributor channel
running a simple B2B program alongside retail
trying to avoid a large platform commitment too early

In other words, standard Shopify B2B is now a real option, not just a placeholder until Plus.

Where Shopify Plus becomes different

The gap starts to show when a wholesale business needs more control, more flexibility, or more room to grow.

Shopify Plus is not just a more expensive version of the same thing. It is the plan where Shopify gives merchants more operational depth for B2B.

That matters most in four areas: catalogs, company-level pricing control, payment workflows, and scale.

1. Catalog flexibility

This is one of the clearest differences.

On non-Plus plans, merchants can work with a limited number of active catalog assignments across B2B markets. That may be enough for a small wholesale setup, but it can become restrictive once a business starts splitting pricing by buyer type, region, or account tier.
Shopify Plus is a better fit when a merchant needs more flexibility in how catalogs are structured and assigned.

2. Direct company-level control

Many wholesale businesses do not just need broad pricing groups. They need more precise control.

That might include customer-specific pricing, negotiated pricing for key accounts, or different structures for companies operating in different regions or under different terms. This is where Plus becomes more attractive because the business is no longer just managing wholesale at a general level. It is managing it account by account.

3. Advanced payment workflows

A simple B2B setup may be fine with standard net terms and straightforward ordering.

But more advanced wholesale businesses often need things like deposits, partial payments, or more flexible payment handling tied to how orders are fulfilled. These are the kinds of operational requirements that push merchants toward Shopify Plus.

4. Enterprise headroom

Some merchants do not need Plus because they want more features. They need Plus because they want fewer structural limits.

Once wholesale becomes a meaningful part of the business, the question shifts from “Can we start B2B on Shopify?” to “Can we run this cleanly without workarounds?” That is where Plus starts to make more sense.

When Native Shopify B2B is the right choice

Native Shopify B2B is often the better fit when the business has a relatively simple wholesale model.

That usually means:

a small number of buyer groups
limited pricing complexity
straightforward ordering needs
no strong need for customer-specific exceptions
a goal of launching wholesale without a major platform upgrade

For merchants in that stage, starting on a standard Shopify plan can be the smarter move. It keeps costs lower, reduces commitment, and still gives the business a real way to test and build wholesale operations.

This is particularly true for brands that are still learning what their B2B channel needs.

When Shopify Plus is the right choice

Shopify Plus becomes the stronger option when wholesale is already important enough that the business needs more than a basic setup.

That usually looks like:

multiple buyer tiers with different pricing logic
regional or account-level complexity
advanced payment requirements
broader customization needs
a wholesale channel that is already growing fast or operationally demanding

At that point, the decision is less about getting access to B2B and more about making sure the business can keep scaling without hitting avoidable limitations.

For those merchants, Shopify Plus is often the right long-term plan.

There is also a middle ground

This is the part many merchants miss.

The real choice is not always just “stay on a standard plan” or “upgrade to Plus.”

Some merchants do not need the full weight of Shopify Plus, but they do need more flexibility than Shopify’s native B2B setup gives them comfortably on a standard plan. In those cases, a wholesale app like Wholesale Pricing Discount B2B can be the more practical solution, which is built for merchants that need more control over wholesale pricing, discount structures, customer-specific setups, quantity breaks, and one-store wholesale workflows.

That can be a strong fit for merchants who are asking for more wholesale flexibility, but are not yet at the stage where a full move to Shopify Plus makes business sense.

Shopify B2B vs. Shopify Plus: a practical way to decide

A simple way to think about it is this:

Choose native Shopify B2B (any plan) if your wholesale model is still relatively clean and you want to launch or validate B2B without taking on enterprise costs.

Choose Shopify Plus if your business already needs deeper catalog control, more advanced payment workflows, or more operational room for a complex wholesale setup.

Consider an app like Wholesale Pricing Discount B2B if your main challenge is wholesale pricing flexibility and workflow control, but Shopify Plus feels too expensive or too heavy for what you actually need today.

That framing tends to lead to a better decision than treating Plus as the automatic answer.

Final thoughts

The comparison between Shopify B2B and Shopify Plus is much more practical now than it used to be.

More merchants can start wholesale on Shopify without Plus, and that is a real improvement. But Shopify Plus still matters for businesses that need more control, more flexibility, and more room to scale without workarounds.

For many merchants, the best path is not to rush into the highest plan. It is to choose the setup that fits the current stage of the business.

Sometimes that means starting with native Shopify B2B on a standard plan.

Sometimes that means moving to Shopify Plus.

And sometimes it means staying on a standard plan while adding a more flexible wholesale layer through an app like Wholesale Pricing Discount B2B.

The right answer depends less on what Shopify now offers in theory and more on what your wholesale business actually needs in practice.

14-point Detailed Checklist On Testing For Shopify Stores

Kanishk — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 05:07:00 +0000

If you run an online store on Shopify, then you know how important it is to test every aspect of your store. Testing can help make sure that customers have the best possible experience when visiting and shopping from your store. To aid in this Shopify testing process, we’ve created a 14-point checklist for testing your Shopify store. This guide will walk you through each item on the checklist so that you can ensure your store is running smoothly before making it live. So let's get started!

14-point checklist for Shopify testing

Following our 14-point checklist will help ensure that all your store's functions are operational and working smoothly for your customers.

Here are the tests:

1. Frontend and Backend

Test the front-end and back-end of the store. Check that everything is working as expected, including all images, buttons, text entry fields, etc. Additionally, test to make sure that your store's performance is up to standards for both desktop and mobile devices.

2. Shopping Cart

Make sure that customers can add items to their shopping carts, remove them from their carts, and update the quantities of items in their carts without any difficulty. Also, check that customers are taken to the appropriate payment page after adding an item to their cart and clicking the ‘Checkout’ or ‘Continue Shopping’ button correctly works both ways. If you don’t have the expertise to manually test your shopping cart then look for a Shopify testing app in the app store, this will help you with automating the testing for the checkout cart.

3. Payment Options

Test the payment options available in your store. Check that all payment gateways (if any) are working properly and have been set up correctly. Additionally, validate that customers can successfully complete the checkout process using their preferred payment method without any issues.

4. Coupon Codes & Discounts

Test out different coupon codes, discounts and promotional offers to ensure they work as expected. Also, verify whether or not customers receive the correct discount when using special coupons or promotional codes.

5. Shipping Options

Test each shipping option in your store one by one to ensure that these are working properly and take customers to the right pages for checkout, etc. Verify both domestic and international shipping options if applicable to your business model.

6. Checkout Process

Verify the entire checkout process from adding items to the cart all the way through to receiving a confirmation email after order completion. Confirm that customers are taken to the correct page or have access to the necessary information throughout each step of the checkout process.

7. Emails & Order Notifications

Test out both emails and order notifications sent out for each action performed in your store. Make sure that these are being received as expected and contain all relevant data without any issues. Additionally, verify whether or not transactions can be tracked easily using emails/order notifications sent out by your store.

8. Security Measures

Ensure that all security measures have been implemented correctly on your store and that customers' data is being handled and stored securely. Confirm that all data, including payment information, customer details, orders and shipping addresses are encrypted properly for a secure connection.

9. Load & Performance Testing

Check the loading speed of your store both on desktop and mobile devices to ensure it meets industry standards. Additionally, monitor the performance of your store under heavy load conditions to make sure there aren't any issues with server stability or page responsiveness while under stress. This will help identify any potential areas of concern before they become an issue in the future.

10. 404 Errors

Check for any potential 404 errors in your store, especially when customers are navigating through different pages or attempting to access certain products or categories. This can be done by manually accessing each page in the store and comparing it against a screenshot of what it should look like in order to identify any issues.

11. Mobile Compatibility

Verify that all the features and functions of your store work properly on mobile devices too. Make sure that customers can easily navigate between pages and complete their purchases without any disruptions while using their phones or tablets.

12. Search Functionality

Test out the search function available in your store to ensure that users are able to find the products they're looking for easily. Additionally, include a few commonly used keywords that customers might be searching for in order to identify any potential issues with the search feature.

13. Cross-Browser Testing

Check the compatibility of your store with different browsers by visiting it on each one and verifying that all features work correctly. Additionally, test out various browser versions if you need clarification on which ones are being used by most customers in order to gain better insight.

14. Usability & Accessibility

Ensure that your store is optimized to provide the best customer accessibility and the checkout experience. Verify that all elements on the page are clearly labeled and visible, as well as check for any errors or broken links throughout the website. Additionally, confirm whether or not customers with disabilities are able to access and use all features of your store.

Conclusion

The best way to guarantee success with your Shopify store is by taking the time to ensure it is properly tested and functioning correctly. Following this checklist for Shopify testing will help ensure that you find and fix any potential issues in your Shopify store. It's important to regularly check for any updates or changes on the platform as well, since this could potentially lead to new issues that need to be addressed.

In addition, it is also important to continually monitor the performance and security measures of your store in order to guarantee a smooth customer experience at all times. Utilizing this 14-point detailed checklist on testing for your Shopify store will ensure that no error goes unnoticed and provide an overall better shopping experience for customers. Armed with this knowledge, you can begin to make changes and improvements in order to further refine the online shopping journey for customers. Good luck!

How to Create a Wholesale Store on Shopify: Step-by-Step

Kanishk — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 12:06:00 +0000

Are you looking to create a wholesale store on Shopify for yourself or your client? Yes? You can follow these simple steps to build a wholesale store on Shopify.

Creating a wholesale store on Shopify is a great way to sell your products in bulk to your b2b customers at wholesale rates and earn more revenue with this business model. With Shopify, you get more customization options and feasibility to run a successful b2b ecommerce store. Plus, setting up a wholesale store on Shopify is quick and easy - you can be up and running in no time!

If you're ready to get started, follow the steps below to create your wholesale store on Shopify:

Step One: Create Your Account on Shopify (if you don’t have it)

To create an account on Shopify, go to https://shopify.com and click on "Start Free Trial" (after entering your email).

From there, you'll enter some basic information about your business, such as your store name and address. Once you've completed this step, you'll be able to access the Shopify admin panel.

Step Two: Choose A Theme for Your Shopify Store

After signing up for a free account, simply go to the admin section in the Shopify dashboard and click on Online Store -> Themes. Shopify has a wide range of theme selection (both free and paid).

Just install the one you want and you’re good to go. Also, if you want a theme that has a wholesale functionality or is specifically built to run wholesale store on Shopify then you can search for such themes on Google.

Step Three: Add Your Products

Now, it's time to add products to your store. To add your products and make it visible to customers on the Shopify storefront, go to the "Products" section in the left-hand sidebar of the Shopify admin panel. From there, you can add products one at a time or in bulk. Once you've added your products, be sure to fill out the product descriptions and set up shipping.

Step Four: Set A Payment Method to Accept Payments for Wholesale Orders

To accept payments on your Shopify store, it must be configured in the admin dashboard. Just click on the "Settings" icon in the Shopify admin panel and go to “Payments”. From there, you can add and configure your payment providers.

Step Five: Add A 3rd-party Shopify Wholesale App

Adding a wholesale app is optional (if you're running on Shopify Plus). It's a good option if you plan on selling to wholesale customers. There are a few different apps available, such as Wholesale Pricing Discount and Wholesale Order Form.

To add a wholesale app, go to Shopify App Store here: https://apps.shopify.com and search for “wholesale” apps in the search bar. There are many apps available in the app store with different features and pricing options, install the one you want to use.

Further, to set wholesale prices for products in your store, you can configure the added app accordingly. Look for their help center articles if you need any help in setting up.

Step Five: Launch Your Store!

Once you've completed all of the steps above, your store is ready to launch. To do this, go to "Settings" in the left-hand sidebar of the Shopify admin panel. Then, click "General." From there, you'll see a button that says "Launch Your Store." Click this button and your store will go live.

Sum Up…

By following the steps above, you can easily create a wholesale store on Shopify. Just a tip, you can also lock or hide products in the Shopify store by installing specific apps that provide you with this functionality. Just type the name of the feature you want in the search box of Shopify App Store and the relevant apps will pop up in the search results. Install them, configure them for your store as per your needs and there you go. It’s not that complicated.