Selling wholesale on Shopify has become significantly easier with native B2B features and dedicated apps. Whether you want to offer volume discounts to a handful of wholesale customers or run a full B2B operation alongside your DTC store, Shopify has options for every scale. This guide covers all the approaches, from native Shopify tools to purpose-built wholesale apps.
Shopify Native B2B Features
Shopify Plus includes built-in B2B functionality that lets you manage wholesale and retail from a single store. These features are exclusive to Shopify Plus ($2,000+/month) and include:
- Company profiles: Create company accounts with multiple buyers, locations, and payment terms
- B2B catalogs: Assign specific product catalogs with custom pricing to each company
- Quantity rules: Set minimum order quantities, maximum quantities, and case pack increments
- Payment terms: Offer Net 15, Net 30, Net 60 payment terms with automatic invoice tracking
- Volume pricing: Create price break tables within catalogs (buy 10+ get 15% off, buy 50+ get 25% off)
- Draft orders: Sales reps can create orders on behalf of B2B customers
The advantage of native B2B is deep integration with Shopify checkout, inventory, and order management. The disadvantage is the price: Shopify Plus starts at $2,000/month, which is prohibitive for stores just starting their wholesale channel.
B2B Wholesale on Standard Shopify Plans
If you are on Shopify Basic, Shopify, or Advanced (not Plus), you need a different approach. Here are the most effective methods:
Method 1: Customer Tags + Discount Codes
The simplest approach requires no apps:
- Tag wholesale customers with a tag like "wholesale" in your Shopify admin
- Create automatic discounts that apply only to customers with the "wholesale" tag
- Optionally create a separate wholesale discount code for each customer tier
This works for a small number of wholesale accounts but becomes difficult to manage at scale. You also cannot show wholesale prices on product pages since discounts only appear at checkout.
Method 2: Wholesale Apps
Dedicated wholesale apps are the most popular solution for non-Plus stores. They provide features like customizable B2B registration forms where potential wholesale customers can apply, admin dashboards to review and approve wholesale applications, flexible pricing rules based on customer tags, product types, collections, or specific products, tiered volume discounts (buy more, pay less), and wholesale-only product visibility.
Our DX Wholesale B2B Kit is purpose-built for this. It provides customizable registration forms, an approval workflow, and flexible pricing rules without requiring Shopify Plus. You can set pricing by individual customer, customer tag, product, collection, or any combination.
Method 3: Separate Wholesale Store
Some merchants create a second Shopify store exclusively for wholesale orders. This gives complete separation between retail and wholesale (different themes, different checkout flows, different inventory pools) but doubles your Shopify subscription cost and creates inventory sync challenges. This approach is generally only worth considering for large operations where the wholesale business has fundamentally different requirements from retail.
Setting Up Volume Discounts
Volume discounts (also called quantity breaks or tiered pricing) encourage larger orders by reducing the per-unit price as quantity increases. A typical structure:
- 1-9 units: full retail price
- 10-24 units: 15% off
- 25-49 units: 25% off
- 50+ units: 35% off
On Shopify Plus, volume pricing is built into B2B catalogs. On standard plans, wholesale apps like DX Wholesale B2B Kit let you configure tiered pricing rules that apply automatically based on cart quantity.
Wholesale Registration and Approval
Most B2B operations require an application process. You do not want just anyone accessing wholesale prices. A proper wholesale workflow includes a registration form where potential wholesale buyers submit their business details (company name, tax ID, resale certificate, website, expected monthly volume), an admin review step where your team evaluates applications, and an approval action that grants the customer wholesale pricing access.
The DX Wholesale B2B Kit includes a fully customizable registration form that you can embed on any page, plus an admin dashboard for reviewing and approving applications. Approved customers are automatically tagged so pricing rules apply immediately.
Wholesale Pricing Strategies
Percentage Off Retail
The simplest approach: give all wholesale customers a flat percentage discount (commonly 40-50% off retail). Easy to manage but inflexible across different product categories with varying margins.
Customer-Specific Pricing
Assign different price lists to different wholesale customers based on their volume, relationship, or market. A long-standing partner who orders monthly might get 50% off while a new wholesale account starts at 35% off.
Collection-Based Pricing
Set different wholesale discounts per collection. High-margin collections might offer 50% wholesale discount while lower-margin collections offer only 30%. This protects your margins across different product categories.
Volume-Based Tiers
Combine wholesale pricing with volume breaks. A wholesale customer already gets reduced pricing, but ordering larger quantities unlocks additional discounts. This incentivizes larger orders and better demand forecasting.
Tax and Compliance
Wholesale orders often have different tax treatment than retail. In the United States, resellers typically provide a resale certificate that exempts them from sales tax on products they intend to resell. On Shopify, you can manage this by collecting resale certificates during the wholesale registration process, creating a tax-exempt customer tag, and using Shopify tax settings to exempt tagged customers from sales tax. Keep resale certificates on file for audit purposes. Tax rules vary by state and country, so consult with an accountant familiar with your jurisdiction.
Minimum Order Requirements
Most wholesale operations require minimum orders to make the reduced pricing worthwhile. Common approaches include minimum order value (e.g., $500 minimum per order), minimum quantity per product (e.g., minimum 12 units per SKU), and minimum case packs (products must be ordered in multiples of 6 or 12). On Shopify Plus, quantity rules handle this natively. On standard plans, wholesale apps can enforce minimums through cart validation rules.
Choosing the Right Approach
- Just starting wholesale (under 10 accounts): Customer tags + discount codes. Free, simple, and sufficient for small-scale wholesale
- Growing wholesale (10-100+ accounts): A dedicated wholesale app like DX Wholesale B2B Kit. Provides registration forms, approval workflows, and flexible pricing without the Shopify Plus price tag
- Enterprise wholesale (hundreds of accounts, complex requirements): Shopify Plus native B2B features. The investment is justified when wholesale is a significant revenue channel
Need help setting up wholesale pricing on your Shopify store? DigiXoft builds B2B solutions for Shopify merchants at every scale. Contact us for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell wholesale on Shopify without Shopify Plus?
Yes. While Shopify Plus includes native B2B features, you can set up wholesale on any Shopify plan using customer tags with discount codes, or a dedicated wholesale app that provides registration forms, approval workflows, and flexible pricing rules.
How much does Shopify Plus B2B cost?
Shopify Plus starts at $2,000/month. The B2B features are included in the Plus subscription at no additional cost. For stores where wholesale is a smaller channel, a wholesale app on a standard Shopify plan is significantly more cost-effective.
What is the best wholesale app for Shopify?
The best app depends on your needs. For customizable registration forms and flexible pricing rules, DX Wholesale B2B Kit provides a complete solution starting at $9.99/month. It includes customer-specific pricing, volume discounts, and an approval workflow.