What is B2B on Shopify?
Merchants can use B2B to access all of Shopify's most flexible capabilities, including APIs, discounts and custom themes. Merchants have the option of utilizing these capabilities in a dedicated expansion store that exclusively caters to B2B customers or a blended store that serves both direct-to-consumer and B2B consumers. Custom pricing is made available to B2B customers when they enter into their customer profile on your online store after setting up price lists and companies, so they don't have to join up for a separate storefront.
How does B2B on Shopify work?
B2B on Shopify allows you the option to pick between either one web store for both DTC and wholesale (with a B2B checkout and authentication), or a dedicated B2B store to keep your operations separate. Whichever option you select, your customers will receive pricing, payment arrangements, tax exemptions, and more that are tailored specifically to them. Without requiring any complicated workarounds or scripting, everything is managed within the new company profile in your Shopify admin.
The brand-new B2B ecommerce solution from Shopify is adaptable enough to serve both merchants who are just entering the wholesale market as well as B2B-only companies with more complicated requirements and years of experience. Here is how to get started if you run a retail store that sells wholesale:
•Organize your current brick-and-mortar or online store to accommodate wholesale clients.
•Reduce your retail pricing using price lists by a percentage or a set amount.
•Update company profiles with payment arrangements for B2B orders and tax exemptions
Considerations for using Shopify B2B
Before merchants decide to implement B2B in their operations, they should review the following considerations:
•Subscriptions cannot be implemented with B2B.
•Some third-party apps might not have been updated to work with B2B yet since it is a new functionality.
•New customer accounts must be created to access B2B features
•Orders contain up to 500 line items. An order will be rejected if it contains more than 500 different products or variants.
Blended and dedicated stores
Before a merchant decides to start setting up B2B on Shopify, they should consider whether they want to open a blended or a dedicated store. Certain features can't distinguish between B2B and DTC orders, which leads to customer notifications, order changes, and reports that are applied indiscriminately.
Blended stores
A blended store is type of Shopify store that accepts both business-to-business and direct-to-customer orders. In a blended store, B2B buyers log in to their Shopify account in order to access wholesale price lists and payment terms.
The following applies to blended stores:
•Both B2B and DTC customers have access to the same shipping options and costs.
•By default, B2B customers on Shopify cannot utilize discount codes. If you apply discount codes, then both the B2B and DTC customers are able to use the same discount codes. In addition to this, B2B customers cannot by default use gift cards. Gift cards can be used by B2B and DTC customers if you enable them.
•B2B customers cannot be affected by Shopify Scripts that affect line item discounts. If a merchant activates Shopify Scripts, then both their B2B and DTC customers are affected.
•The majority of analytics combine data from both B2B and DTC clients. Sales reports are the only ones that distinguish between B2B and DTC clients.
For both B2B and DTC customers, the inventory management and selling when out-of-stock settings are the same. Abandoned cart emails and notifications are also the same for both DTC and B2B customers. The same login page can be used by both B2B and DTC customers to sign in with new customer accounts. IN addition to this, the online store experience is the same for B2B and DTC clients. Theme and navigation changes made through Shopify's theme editor are applicable to both B2B and DTC clients. By changing the theme's code to use the customer. b2b liquid variable., adjustments can be made that only impact your B2B clients.
If you don't need to distinguish between B2B and DTC clients, a blended store on Shopify enables you to manage your store settings with ease and preserve all of your business data in one location. Consider building a special store if your customers require different settings.
Dedicated stores
•A dedicated store on Shopify is an expansion store that is only used by B2B customers. You can make settings tailored to B2B customers in a dedicated store without writing any code.
•You can make adjustments that solely apply to your B2B customers since only businesses use dedicated stores. Changes that can be made include:
•Modify your Shopify store’s navigation and theme settings.
•Customize abandoned cart emails and other notifications for B2B customers.
•Generate data analytics reports that only include your B2B customer information.
•Implement different shipping rates and other settings.
•Applying discount codes and gift cards.
•Activating Shopify Scripts that affect line item discounts.
•Use different inventory management systems.
•Use new customer accounts.
You can segment inventory and business data between your B2B and DTC stores by using a dedicated store. Additionally, since the site solely attracts B2B customers, you can use scripts and discount codes without any concern. However, launching a dedicated store for B2B necessitates the creation of a new Shopify store, the configuration of any existing integrations with your existing stores, and the management of the settings specific to your dedicated store. Consider launching a blended store if you don't need to differentiate between your B2B and DTC Shopify customers.
SparkLayer Solution for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants
The standard B2B feature is only available to stores on the Shopify Plus plan.
SparkLayer is a solution that gives merchants the ability to access a powerful B2B solution without the need for
Shopify Plus (but also great for Plus merchants too in terms of additional features). Setting up SparkLayer brings unmatched B2B wholesale functionality to your Shopify store. It's rapid to set up, connects seamlessly to your B2B data, helps automate your operation, and gives your customers a beautiful self-service experience, allowing you to scale more effectively than ever.
SparkLayer can seamlessly integrate with your existing backend systems and your Shopify store. There's no need to spend time building custom integrations or workarounds that are difficult to maintain.
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