Shopify Editions Summer 2023 — Part 3: B2B Selling

This article is the third of Coalition Technologies’ 6-part series tackling Shopify Editions Summer 2023 updates.

With this edition, Shopify has set its sights on a key ecommerce market that’s expected to reach $3 trillion by 2027 in the U.S. alone: B2B sales. 

Traditionally a DTC platform, Shopify has introduced a comprehensive suite of features aimed at helping B2B merchants improve online sales and grow their business. B2B sellers now have a host of options, ranging from customer-specific catalogs to differentiated payment terms, discounts, and more.

Here’s a complete breakdown of B2B on Shopify. At the moment, most of these features are only available with Shopify Plus.

B2B on Shopify: Everything You Need to Know

To market watchers, it comes as no surprise to see Shopify flexing its muscles in the B2B sector. According to McKinsey, 65% of B2B companies are now transacting online. However, only 18% of B2B revenue actually comes from ecommerce. Shopify has clearly sensed an opportunity to capitalize on an underserved market.

To be sure, the platform did offer B2B solutions even prior to this edition. Its Plus Wholesale Channel has been available to enterprise merchants for a while. However, with its current foray into B2B, Shopify massively improves your ability to customize experiences for different buyers, while simplifying operations and store management for you.

This new functionality is built directly into the platform, letting you implement it without the use of third-party apps or workarounds.

It’s also worth noting that the Plus Wholesale Channel will be discontinued on April 30, 2024. Shopify stores on that plan will have to migrate to Shopify B2B to avail of these features.

Blended and Dedicated Stores

This is one of the biggest B2B additions in Shopify’s Summer 2023 Edition. Before you start B2B sales, you’ll need to decide whether to set up a blended or dedicated store. 

The former can accept both B2B and DTC orders, whereas the latter lets you sell to B2B customers specifically. Some Shopify features apply just the same to both types of customers, so if you do want to offer differentiated experiences with a blended store, you’ll likely have to use code. 

Here are some of the shared features for DTC and B2B customers on Shopify, which you can customize using either a dedicated store or code:

• Discount codes
• Gift cards
• Shopify Scripts
• Shipping settings and rates
• Theme and navigation settings
• Analytics reports
• Out-of-stock sales settings

Company Locations

A company is an entity you can sell to using B2B. Companies can be situated in multiple locations, each location representing a different entity which you can assign differentiated catalogs, payment terms, checkout options, and more.

You can create up to 500 company locations for every B2B customer on Shopify. When your customers log into your store, they can choose which company location they’re purchasing for and access the customized purchase settings for that area.

Shopify lets you automate many of the follow-on actions that happen after a new company location is created. This includes updating location payment terms, shipping addresses, checkout options, and more.

Company Account Requests

B2B customers can also apply to create a company in your store. They can submit a form, which automatically creates a company account in your Shopify admin. You can then review the information and choose whether to approve the application.

As of this moment, this feature is still in early access and available to select stores. You can join the waitlist by contacting Shopify support.

Pricing and Payment Terms

Shopify B2B now lets you offer price discounts to customers based on purchase volume. You can define minimum order volumes and create standardized price lists for each buyer. 

You can also customize payment terms for every company location. This lets your customers know how long that company has to pay for its order. 

They also have more options on how they pay for their orders. PayPal, one of Shopify’s default payment providers, is now available for B2B orders as well. It offers you a handy multi-currency selling option for global customers.

Volume pricing is still in early access, but payment terms are available to all B2B stores with Shopify Plus.

B2B Catalogs

B2B catalogs are central to helping you customize the buying experience for various companies. They’re a key addition to Shopify’s Summer 2023 Edition.

You can choose which products to offer each company and build in differentiated pricing and discounts. This includes overall adjustments to create automated price increases or decreases, as well as setting fixed prices for certain products or variants. 

To get started, simply create a product catalog in your Shopify B2B admin and choose which company locations you’d like to assign it to. 

Order Management

B2B selling is much more complex than consumer sales, given the multiple locations and contacts involved with differentiated catalogs and purchase terms for each. 

Shopify lets you simplify this process by creating customized integrations and features using the GraphQL Admin API. This is especially useful for order management and building tailored fulfillment and customer relationship solutions. For instance, the API lets you create draft orders for a company location to review and approve.

You can also show customers quick order lists to streamline bulk ordering for them. With these, customers can quickly check out all the sizes, colors, and other variants for each product in one consolidated section. Quick order lists are available to add to your product template directly by updating your Shopify theme.

B2B Checkout

Checkout has long been a sore spot for ecommerce site owners. Average cart abandonment rates are nearly 70%. Recognizing this, Shopify has introduced a number of changes and new features to their checkout option to help merchants provide improved personalization and facilities to their customers.

With B2B specifically, Shopify customers get to comprehensively view their order information, including wholesale discounts and payment terms and methods at the time of purchase. There’s also a dedicated checkout field for customers to add purchase order numbers. You can view, add, or edit PO numbers in the Shopify admin.  

Credit Card Vaulting

Shopify can now securely save credit card information so that customers don’t have to manually enter it every time they make a purchase. During checkout, B2B customers can indicate if they’d like their credit card information vaulted. 

Credit card vaulting can be done for each company location. The feature is available only to merchants using Shopify Payments. 

Shopify Collective

This feature lets Shopify B2B merchants cross-sell each others’ products. It’s a great way to offer your customers complementary products, enhancing their experience in your store. 

Simply connect with synergistic brands on Shopify and their products to your store in minutes. Customers can buy them directly from your store and you can earn a margin on the sale. It’s a great way to boost your profits without adding to your inventory.

Drake Related is a brand that has seen great success with Shopify Collective. Drake Related is the hub for all of Drake’s entrepreneurial projects. They collaborated with Shopify to sell curated products through new creative partnerships. They saw stellar audience growth, with 72% of sales coming through Shopify Collective from first-time customers.

Migration from Plus Wholesale Channel

Shopify’s Summer 2023 Edition also introduces a way for existing wholesalers to migrate their store to Shopify B2B. You can find a comprehensive migration kit as well as downloadable resources, including useful checklists, migration requirements, and more on Shopify Academy.

Set Up a High-Performing B2B Store With Shopify Experts

Whether you’re looking to launch a B2B store, boost revenue from your existing one, or simply migrate to Shopify B2B, we can help. Coalition Technologies offers you guidance from proven ecommerce experts who’ve generated more than half a billion dollars in revenue for close to one thousand online properties. 

Check out some of our work for our Shopify clients or read about their experiences with us. Schedule a personalized consultation and site audit for your ecommerce store today. 

Stay tuned to our blog for parts four to six covering more developments from Shopify’s Summer 2023 Edition.