As of April 2026, Shopify B2B can be used without Shopify Plus to implement stores with catalogs, volume pricing, and payment terms. Those with more complex requirements will still need Plus. The native Shopify features offer a solid foundation but reach their limits with individual quantity logic or automated payment processes. However, these can be addressed with targeted development.
For years, Shopify has been focusing more and more on B2B functionalities. What the features truly deliver in practice only becomes clear in a specific project. With koziol, we built a B2B shop for the Superglas brand, covering everything from registration to volume pricing and payment processing. In this article, we share what works natively, where we implemented workarounds, and what the latest Shopify update from April 2026 means for B2B merchants.
The content of this article is based on the expertise of Shopify expert Constanze. She supports our clients at tante-e in the continuous optimization of their online shops. In our podcast, she regularly shares her practical experiences (For the episode on B2B and koziol: YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts).
1. Shopify B2B: Definition and Applications
In the shop context, B2B means: You sell not to end customers, but to businesses. Your buyers are retailers, restaurateurs, hotels, or other commercial enterprises who purchase in larger quantities and have different expectations for the purchasing process than private customers.
B2B vs. B2C: the key differences
| Feature | B2C | B2B |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers | End customers | Businesses, retailers |
| Quantities | Single items | Packaging units, pallets |
| Prices | Uniform | Customer-specific, volume pricing |
| Payment | Immediate | Payment terms, invoice |
| Access | Open | Registration, approval |
| Product Info | Consumer-oriented | Technical, quantity-based |
When does a B2B shop on Shopify make sense?
Many brands serve their business customers for a long time via phone, email, or fax. This works to a certain extent but is time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale. A dedicated B2B shop creates a structured, always-available point of contact where existing customers can place orders independently.
At the same time, a B2B shop opens the door for new customers who previously had no way to access the product range. A clearly communicated B2B shop with registration options significantly lowers this hurdle.
This was exactly the starting point for koziol: the brand already had a base of B2B customers, but no modern, unified channel for them. The goal with the new B2B shop for the Superglas sub-brand was to serve existing customers more efficiently and, at the same time, specifically target new business customers, for example from the hotel or catering industry.
2. Technical Basis: Plan, Store Structure, and Theme
Since the update on April 2, 2026, merchants on Shopify Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans can use native B2B features for the first time, including up to 3 active catalogs, company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing, and ACH payments (USA only).
Those with more complex requirements will not get around Shopify Plus. Unlimited catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies and locations, partial payments, and down payments remain Plus-exclusive.
What is available on which plan?
| Feature | Basic / Grow / Advanced | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Native B2B Features | Yes (since April 2026) | Yes |
| Active Catalogs | up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Company Profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Payment Terms | Yes | Yes |
| Volume Pricing | Yes | Yes |
| ACH Payments (USA) | Yes | Yes |
| Direct Catalog Assignment | No | Yes |
| Partial Payments / Down Payments | No | Yes |
The Expansion Store: Why a dedicated shop makes sense
Our current recommendation for B2B on Shopify Plus is to set up a separate Expansion Store, i.e., an independent shop solely for B2B. This creates a clean separation between B2C and B2B: its own URL, its own navigation, its own logic. Prices, assortment, and presentation can thus be fully geared towards business customers without making compromises for the end-customer area.
For koziol, this was the strategic starting point: various B2B shops ran on different platforms and themes, which meant a lot of internal effort. The goal was to bring all B2B shops onto a common basis, specifically the Impact Theme, to leverage synergies: uniform maintenance and a consistent structure across all shops.
3. Access Control: Registration, Login, and Shop Contexts
The first major difference from a B2C shop: Not everyone just walks in. B2B shops are aimed at verified business customers, and this should be reflected in the access. How open or closed this access is can be flexibly controlled on Shopify.
Registration via Shopify Forms
For Superglas, we set up a landing page where interested parties can register via a form. Technically, this runs through the Shopify Forms app. There, potential customers enter their company data, the request is submitted and lands in the backend, where the Superglas team reviews and manually approves it.
The form can be set up flexibly: text fields, number fields, document uploads. Anyone who wants to query a business license or VAT ID can integrate this directly into the form. Once a company is approved, employees gain access to the shop and can place orders.
Alternatively, approval can also be automated, so that every registration immediately receives access. Which option makes sense depends on how precisely you want to control who is admitted as a B2B customer.
Open vs. Closed Shop
Shopify offers the option to completely lock the shop, so that visitors without a login only see a login screen. This consistently protects sensitive content such as prices, assortment, and packaging units from the public.
The disadvantage: little can be designed behind this screen. The registration form would also not be accessible, because it is behind the login. For Superglas, this was not a suitable solution. Instead, we left the shop open and controlled the visibility of sensitive content via the B2B contexts.
B2B Context vs. Default Context: two shop interfaces, one platform
One of Shopify B2B's strongest native features is the ability to maintain two completely separate shop interfaces without touching a line of code. In the theme editor, there are two contexts: the default context for logged-out visitors and the B2B context for registered business customers.
What is visible in which context can be freely configured. For Superglas, we set it up so that logged-out visitors can see the assortment and product pages, but no B2B prices, no volume pricing, and no "Add to Cart" button. Instead, a button appears that directs them to registration or login. Anyone who is logged in but not yet an approved B2B customer sees an adapted version of this notice referring to the registration form.
Important to understand: The B2B context is not synonymous with logging in. Anyone who logs in with a private email address remains in the default context. Only those approved as a registered company switch to the B2B context and see all unlocked content.
4. Product Pages: Quantity Logic, Volume Pricing, and Catalogs
Product pages in B2B function differently than in B2C. Quantities, prices, and assortment are not fixed values, but depend on who is currently logged in and what conditions are stored for that company. Shopify offers a range of native features for this, which are sufficient for many cases and can be extended if necessary.
Packaging Units and Quantity Logic
In B2B, individual products are rarely purchased. At Superglas, glasses are sold by the box. This means: the quantity selector on the product page does not count up in single pieces, but in packaging units, i.e., 20, 40, 60 glasses per step.
Shopify offers native quantity rules in the backend for this, with which minimum quantities and increments per product can be defined. This works well for the standard case. It becomes more difficult if certain customers should also be able to buy individual pieces. This combination cannot be natively mapped.
We developed a workaround for this: The packaging unit is controlled via a Metafield, the native quantity rule is disregarded. Customers for whom single purchases are enabled receive a tag on their company profile in the backend. If this tag is set, a corresponding note appears on the product page and the quantity selector accepts any quantity. For everyone else, the box-wise logic remains active.
Volume Pricing: what works natively and what doesn't
Shopify allows up to 10 pricing tiers per product. The more a customer buys, the cheaper the unit price. This can be managed directly in the backend or uploaded in larger quantities via CSV import, which saves considerable time for many products.
For Superglas, we integrated a table on the product page that clearly displays all tiers and automatically calculates how much a customer saves compared to the next smaller tier. This supports the purchase decision directly on the page without the customer having to calculate themselves.
For koziol, 5 tiers were sufficient. However, anyone who needs more tiers will hit a hard limit here with the upper limit of 10.
Individual Catalogs for Different Customer Groups
Not every B2B customer buys under the same conditions. Shopify allows you to create different catalogs and assign them to individual companies. A catalog can contain a different assortment, different prices, or different volume discounts than a second one. It is also possible to apply a blanket discount to the entire catalog, for example, if individual conditions have been agreed upon with a customer.
In practice, this means: Customer A sees different products at different prices than Customer B, although both are logged into the same shop. This is a functionality typically seen in an international context, where different content is displayed depending on the market.
On Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans, up to 3 active catalogs are possible since April 2026. Those who need more or wish to assign catalogs directly to companies and locations require Shopify Plus.
5. Payment Processing on Shopify B2B
Payments in B2B fundamentally differ from B2C. Credit cards or PayPal are rarely the preferred payment methods for business customers. The standard in B2B is invoice with payment terms, meaning the option to pay only after receiving the goods.
Setting up Payment Terms
Shopify allows you to set payment terms for individual companies, for example, 30 days. If this term is set, the "Pay later" option is automatically enabled at checkout. Companies without payment terms will instead see the usual payment methods like credit card.
For Superglas, we renamed "Pay later" to "Purchase on Account" so that the option is immediately understandable for business customers.
What is not automated natively
"Purchase on Account" remains a manual payment method in Shopify. This means the invoice is not automatically created and sent. The team must ensure that the invoice is sent and manually check whether payment is received within the payment term.
This sounds like a disadvantage, but in practice, it is often not so far from everyday life. In B2B, many things are not fully automated anyway: delivery dates are coordinated, orders are checked, conditions are discussed. A manual step in invoicing often fits seamlessly into this process.
If you want to automate this process, you can connect external tools or third-party systems. Shopify provides the necessary interfaces for this, but out of the box, it doesn't happen automatically.
6. Conclusion: What Shopify B2B can do today
Shopify B2B is not a finished product that you simply turn on and it works. It is a platform with a growing base of native features that is sufficient for many B2B requirements and can be extended with targeted development if needed.
What works well today
The strongest native features are the B2B contexts, volume pricing, and catalogs. Being able to maintain two completely independent shop interfaces without code is a real added value. The same applies to the ability to individualize assortment and prices at the company level.
Since April 2026, these basic functions are also accessible without Shopify Plus. For merchants who want to start with B2B, the entry barrier has thus significantly lowered.
Where workarounds need to be planned
More complex quantity logic, automated invoicing, or very granular customer control go beyond what Shopify natively offers. This does not mean it is impossible, but it means you have to build it yourself. If you know this from the start, you can factor it into planning and budget.
The most important learning from our work with koziol: Before setting up a B2B shop, it is worth knowing your own requirements precisely and aligning them with what Shopify natively provides. The sooner you know where individual development is needed, the cleaner the project can be set up.
What's next
Shopify continuously develops B2B and is clearly listening to feedback from merchants and agencies. What is a workaround today might be natively available in a few months. At tante-e, we see that B2B inquiries are constantly increasing and that we can take on more and more cases that would have been too complex two years ago.
B2B on Shopify is no longer just a promise. It is a functioning channel that already delivers real added value with the right preparation.
