Shopify B2C vs B2B: How to Sell to Both on One Store

Can One Shopify Store Serve Both Retail and Wholesale Customers?

Yes — and more stores are doing it. Instead of maintaining separate Shopify stores for retail and wholesale, you can serve both customer types from a single store using customer tags, price lists, and conditional logic built into your theme.

This guide covers the approaches for combining B2C and B2B on Shopify, when to use each, and the technical setup required.

Approach 1: Customer Tags + Price Rules (Free, Native Shopify)

The simplest approach. Tag wholesale customers with a tag like “wholesale” at account approval. Use automatic discounts or Shopify Scripts (Plus) to apply their pricing.

How it works:

• Create customer accounts manually or via a wholesale application form (apps: Wholesale Club, Bold Custom Pricing)
• Tag approved customers with your wholesale tier (e.g., “tier-1”, “distributor”, “reseller”)
• Configure automatic discounts or price list rules tied to those tags
• Wholesale customers log in and see their discounted prices automatically

Limitations: Standard Shopify can only apply one automatic discount at a time. For complex tiered pricing across many products, you need an app or Shopify Plus.

Approach 2: B2B Apps (Mid-range, All Plans)

Apps like Wholesale Club, Bold Custom Pricing, or Wholesale Gorilla add proper wholesale functionality to standard Shopify plans.

Features these apps provide:

• Percentage or fixed price discounts per customer tag
• Product-level or variant-level wholesale prices
• Minimum order quantities and increments
• Wholesale-only products hidden from retail customers
• Net payment terms (net-30/60 invoicing)
• Wholesale application form with approval workflow

Cost: £20–£50/month depending on app. Worth it for stores with 10+ wholesale accounts or complex pricing.

Approach 3: Shopify Plus B2B (Enterprise)

Shopify Plus has native B2B functionality introduced in 2022 and expanded significantly since. This is the most powerful option if you’re on Plus (from ~£1,500/month).

Shopify Plus B2B features:

• Company profiles with multiple locations and contacts
• Price lists per company or location
• Payment terms (net-30, net-60, net-90)
• Quantity rules and minimum order amounts per company
• B2B-only storefront section or separate password-protected portal
• Draft orders and quote management
• No third-party apps needed

If you’re processing significant B2B volume (£50K+/month wholesale), Shopify Plus B2B pays for itself in removed app costs and operational efficiency.

Approach 4: Separate Expansion Store (Cleaner UX)

Shopify Plus allows up to 10 expansion stores. Use one for retail (public) and one for wholesale (password-protected or invite-only). Same product catalogue, different pricing, separate checkout flows.

This is the cleanest experience for large wholesale operations where you don’t want any B2B complexity visible to retail customers. The downside is managing inventory and product data across two stores.

Key Differences to Handle When Combining B2C + B2B

Pricing Visibility

Retail customers must never see wholesale prices. Use login gates or customer-tag conditional display in your theme’s Liquid code to hide pricing until logged in as an approved wholesale account.

Minimum Order Quantities

Wholesale buyers expect to order in packs of 6, 12, or 24. Set quantity increments at the variant level via wholesale apps. Retail buyers should have no such restriction.

Payment Terms

B2B buyers often expect net terms rather than immediate payment. Shopify Plus handles this natively. On standard plans, use draft orders with payment link sent on invoice.

Tax Handling

B2B customers are often VAT-registered and buying for resale. Configure Shopify tax settings to apply zero-rated VAT for approved wholesale customers in the right regions.

Recommended Setup for Most Stores

For stores under Shopify Plus with fewer than 50 wholesale accounts: use Wholesale Club or Wholesale Gorilla. Install the app, create a wholesale customer tag, set your discount tiers, and add a wholesale application form page. The entire setup takes 4–8 hours and costs £25–40/month.

For stores on Shopify Plus with high wholesale volume: use the native B2B feature. It’s more powerful and saves app fees at scale.

Need help setting up B2B on your Shopify store? OneOnic’s development team can configure wholesale pricing, customer portals, and net payment terms for your specific catalogue.