Wholesale on Shopify, from an empty store to a first order.

Part 0 · 5 minutes

Before you start

Four things to have ready. None of them cost extra.

• A Shopify plan that includes B2B. Basic, Grow, Advanced or Plus. B2B used to be Plus-only; it isn't any more.
• A theme from the last few years. Any Online Store 2.0 theme, which includes Shopify's free themes (Dawn, Horizon, Trade and others). If your theme is older than about 2021, the ordering page can't be added to it.
• Your wholesale pricing decided. Usually a percentage off retail (for example 50%), or a fixed price per product.
• One real wholesale customer to test with. Their business name and the email address they'll sign in with.

Part 1 · 5 minutes

Turn on customer accounts

Wholesale buyers must sign in, and Shopify's B2B only works with its current accounts system. Buyers get a six-digit code by email; there's no password to forget.

1. In your Shopify admin, click Settings (bottom left), then Customer accounts. Settings → Customer accounts
2. Choose Customer accounts (the current version). If you see an option called "Classic customer accounts", that's the old one and B2B can't use it.
3. Click Save.

Part 2 · 10 minutes

Add your first company

Do this once for a real customer. Once you've seen it work end to end, add the rest.

1. Go to Customers, then the Companies tab. Customers → Companies
2. Click Add company. Enter the business name exactly as your buyer would recognise it, then Save. Shopify creates one location for you automatically.
3. Open the location (it'll be named after the company). Add the shipping address and, if you give terms, set Payment terms such as Net 30. If you always take payment up front, leave it as due on receipt.
4. Still on the company, find Contacts and click Add contact. Enter the buyer's name and email. This email is how they sign in, so use the one they actually read.
5. Give the contact permission to order. Shopify offers "ordering only" and "location admin". Ordering only is right for most buyers.

Part 3 · 15 minutes

Set your wholesale prices with a catalog

A catalog is Shopify's price list: which products a company can buy, and what they pay. This is where your wholesale discount lives.

1. Go to Markets, then Catalogs. Markets → Catalogs
2. Click Create catalog and give it a name only you will see, such as "Wholesale 50%".
3. Choose All products if every product is available to wholesale, or Specific products to pick a list. You can change this later.
4. Set the price. For a straight discount, use Overall adjustments → Price decrease and enter your percentage. For individual prices, use Manage products and pricing and type the price for each one. A fixed price always beats the overall adjustment.
5. Click Save.
6. Assign the catalog to the company you just made. On Shopify Plus, assign it straight to the company location. On Basic, Grow and Advanced, assign it to a B2B market and put that company's location in that market.

Part 4 · 10 minutes, optional

Minimums and case sizes

If you sell in sixes, or won't ship fewer than 12, tell Shopify. The ordering page then enforces it while the buyer types, instead of you fixing orders afterwards.

1. Open your catalog: Markets → Catalogs → your catalog
2. In Products and pricing, click Manage, then Manage products and pricing.
3. For a product, set the minimum, the increment (your case size) and, if you want one, a maximum.
4. Save.

Volume pricing works too: set a lower price at, say, 24 units, and buyers see the break when they reach it.

Part 5 · 2 minutes

Install B2B Quick Wholesale

1. Install the app from the Shopify App Store. Your 7-day trial starts when you pick a plan; nothing is charged until it ends.
2. Open the app. It lands on Setup, a checklist that has already read your store.
3. Work down the list. Anything marked Needs fixing has a button that takes you straight to the screen that fixes it.

Part 6 · 10 minutes

Create the ordering page

This is the page your buyers will use. The app makes it, then you add the order form to your theme.

1. On the Setup checklist, click Create the page. The app creates a page at /pages/wholesale-ordering.
2. Click Add to theme. Your theme editor opens with the order form ready to drop in.
3. In the panel on the left, choose your wholesale source collection — the collection holding the products wholesale buyers may order. Use an existing collection or make one first.
4. Click Save in the top right of the theme editor.
5. Back in the app, refresh the checklist. The ordering page item should turn green.

Optional settings worth knowing, all in that same panel:

• Match my theme's colours — on by default, so the page looks like the rest of your store. Turn it off to pick your own accent colour.
• Categories — filter buttons across the top, one per line you type.
• Free shipping threshold — shows buyers how much more to add.
• Retail price (MSRP) — show the price they'll sell at next to their cost.

Part 7 · 15 minutes

Wholesale shipping that retail shoppers never see

This is the part most stores get wrong. Without it, either your wholesale rates appear for everyone, or your buyers pay retail postage on a pallet.

1. In the app, open the Shipping tab.
2. Enter your wholesale rate tiers, for example: $10 under $100, $20 from $100 to $250, free above $250. The app creates rates with those names in every shipping zone that needs them.
3. Leave find my wholesale rates automatically on. It treats any rate with "wholesale" in the name as wholesale, which is why the names matter.
4. Turn the rules on. From then on, wholesale buyers see only wholesale rates, and retail shoppers never see them.
5. Decide who can use local delivery and pickup, if you offer them.

Part 8 · 10 minutes

Invite your buyers

There's no invitation to send from Shopify. Buyers simply sign in with the email you added as a contact, so tell them where to go. Something like this works:

Add the page to your main menu as "Wholesale ordering" if you want buyers to find it without the link.

Part 9 · 15 minutes

Test it yourself, as a buyer

Do this before you tell anyone. Add yourself as a contact on a test company, using an email you can receive.

• Open the ordering page signed out. You should see a sign-in prompt, not products.
• Sign in with your test contact's email and the code Shopify emails you. You land back on the ordering page.
• Check the prices are your wholesale prices, not retail.
• Type a quantity below your minimum. It should snap up to the minimum.
• Add a few products. The bag at the top of your theme should update.
• Go to checkout. You should see only wholesale shipping rates.
• Open your store in a private window, signed out, and add anything to the cart. At checkout you should see only your normal retail rates.
• Place the test order, then refund or cancel it.

Part 10

When something looks wrong