Is Shopify Good for B2B Businesses?

B2B commerce is now adapting to the digital era. Even though B2B businesses sell only to other brands, these buyers also expect a convenient digital experience. Shopify were among the first ones to notice this new development in the B2B space. Understanding this new opportunity, they launched Shopify Plus, a deliberate move into B2B commerce. With Shopify Plus, B2B businesses can have a digital platform that meets most of the requirements of the sector, starting from company accounts and customer-specific pricing to net payment terms and bulk ordering workflows.

However, this is still a new area for B2B brands, and understandably, they're quite skeptical about building a Shopify platform to support their business operations. Most of these brands have a common question: can Shopify handle the complexities of B2B commerce? The short answer is yes, Shopify can very well be a strong B2B platform if you implement it correctly. The longer answer, which this blog explores in detail, depends on how your B2B model operates and what you expect from an online B2B platform.

What Is a B2B Business and How Does It Differ from D2C?

Since we're discussing the viability of Shopify (a primarily D2C platform) in B2B commerce, we must first outline the differences between these two models. This differentiation is important, as many platforms treat B2B requirements simply as extensions of D2C logic. It goes without saying that this is a huge misconception and such platforms almost always end up failing.

What Defines a B2B Business

A B2B business sells its products or services to other businesses instead of selling to individual consumers. This is a fairly simple definition of what B2B is. However, as simple as it sounds, it fundamentally changes how the commerce system functions.

As far as B2B operations are concerned, they typically involve:

• account-based relationships instead of anonymous buyers
• negotiated or contract-based pricing, something uncommon to D2C
• bulk and repeat ordering
• approval workflows within customer organizations
• invoicing and credit terms instead of instant payment through a payment gateway
• mandatory integration with ERP, CRM, and inventory management systems

While some of these points hold true for D2C commerce as well, the scale of operations in D2C is still relatively simple. This brings us to the next point:

What Defines a D2C Business

A D2C business sells to individual customers and that's the biggest difference between D2C and B2B models. It goes without saying that since the target customers are completely different, the D2C approach also differs from B2B.

Common characteristics of a D2C store include:

• fixed pricing for all customers
• instant checkout and payment
• emotional and impulse-driven purchasing
• marketing-led customer acquisition
• and retention
• minimal account hierarchy

Shopify was originally built around this model. It worked just fine for D2C brands. However, it also means that B2B businesses are often skeptical about choosing Shopify as their online platform.

Key Operational Differences between B2B and D2C Commerce

There are significant differences between B2B and D2C commerce that play a key factor in choosing the platform.

Is Shopify Built for B2B?

Shopify wasn't originally built as a B2B platform. This is an important fact that we simply cannot ignore. However, since its launch, Shopify has evolved as a platform, and Shopify Plus is a result of this new development.

With Shopify Plus, the platform has ventured into the B2B space through certain native B2B functionalities. On this platform, B2B brands can keep company accounts and price lists, access net payment terms, and even draft orders. Yes, despite all these, you can't expect Shopify to function as a fully customizable enterprise commerce engine. However, for a number of B2B brands, it's a good step towards digitalizing their operations.

If you're wondering what sort of B2B brands can implement Shopify Plus, here's a list:

• Brands that sell standardized products
• Brands that serve repeat customers
• Brands that require predictable pricing structures
• Brands that need a fast and stable storefront
• Brands that prefer managed infrastructure over custom maintenance

For B2B brands that have a simple workflow, Shopify Plus works just as well as it does for D2C. But for brands with complex workflows, or deeply customized pricing, using Shopify may not always make sense. In fact, oftentimes, they’d have to use architectural extensions to make everything click.

Step-by-Step Guidance to Running a B2B Business Using Shopify

If you must use Shopify to build your B2B platform, the set-up must follow a structured approach. This comes in two layers: using native Shopify Plus features and supporting Shopify apps.

Using Native Shopify Plus Features for B2B

Shopify Plus comes with some useful B2B features, and thus, there are brands that prefer this platform.

Company Profiles and Customer Accounts

B2B brands using Shopify Plus can create company profiles and group multiple buyers together under a single business entity. This feature functions exactly how real-world B2B works. It includes:

• assigning multiple users to one company
• defining user roles and permissions
• controlling who can view pricing and place orders
• supporting multiple locations for the same company

Customer-Specific Pricing Lists

Shopify Plus allows B2B brands to create custom price lists for different companies. You can create:

• unique pricing per company
• wholesale pricing models

On top of this, Shopify Plus allows you to hide the pricing from non-logged-in users. It's another important feature to maintain privacy. The entire set-up is such that it removes the need for duplicate products or separate storefronts in most cases.

Net Payment Terms

B2B commerce uses net payment terms, and Shopify Plus comes with that feature. This platform supports net payment terms such as net 15, net 30, net 60, and such. This means that B2B brands can offer:

• post-purchase invoicing
• credit-based relationships
• smoother alignment with accounting systems

If you're operating in the B2B industry, you'd know that all these features are extremely crucial to attract and retain buyers.

Draft Orders and Assisted Sales

If your customers ask for it, your sales team can create draft orders on their behalf if you use Shopify Plus. This feature makes more sense when –

• orders are negotiated offline
• products are customized
• approvals are required before checkout

With draft orders, your B2B business can work with a traditional sales process inside digital commerce. Shopify Plus allows that.

Tax Handling and Exemptions

Shopify Plus supports tax exemptions at the customer level. For wholesale buyers and cross-border B2B trade, this becomes a useful feature.

Using Shopify Apps to Extend B2B Capabilities

Shopify is popular for the number of different apps it offers to enhance your store. This remains true for Shopify Plus as well.

List of Shopify/ Shopify Plus Apps and Features:

Why Jaipuria Geeks Is the Right Partner for B2B Shopify Integrations

Setting up a B2B store on Shopify Plus requires extensive work. It's not a simple plug-and-play solution. Hire Shopify developers from Jaipuria Geeks and they can take care of the entire project for you.

Strong Understanding of B2B Commerce

At Jaipuria Geeks, the experts understand how B2B functions. They take the entire operational complexities into account while building your Shopify Plus store. From sales workflows to pricing rules and approval hierarchies – the developers take care of every single factor. When you finally launch your store, there'll be no misalignment between the platform and your business.

Balanced Use of Native Features and Custom Logic

At Jaipuria Geeks, we won't simply overload your store with different apps. We prioritize native Shopify Plus features along with custom logic wherever necessary.

ERP-first Architecture

We specialises in real-time synchronisation with ERP systems. Our developers offer inventory and pricing consistency as well as automated order workflows. This reduces the need for manual reconciliation.

Scalable Shopify Development

Your business will grow as your customer base grows. Our team ensures that your Shopify Plus store can grow at the same pace.

Limitations of Shopify for B2B and Alternatives

Where Shopify Doesn't Work

Shopify Plus won't be sufficient for your B2B operations if:

• Your business follows a highly complex pricing logic,
• You want to integrate multi-level approval chains,
• You want to have more control over the backend and need more customization,
• If your store depends heavily on third-party apps.

Alternative: A Hybrid Custom Architecture

If your business operations are complex, the architecture has to support that. This is where a hybrid approach becomes the most feasible solution.

Shopify as the frontend layer

Use Shopify Plus where it works the best:

• storefront presentation
• customer accounts
• checkout flow
• content management
• Custom Middleware

In a hybrid store, custom logic is moved to:

• a custom backend
• API-driven middleware
• ERP-integrated services

API-Driven Order Flow

The orders on your store should flow through a path that looks like this:

Shopify – Middleware – ERP – Fulfilment – Shopify

This way, you can work with:

• advanced pricing logic
• approval workflows
• real-time validation

Conclusion

Shopify is a platform that offers speed and security. For many B2B companies, these benefits outweigh the limits of customisation. The best idea is not to force Shopify into roles it wasn't designed for. You can always extend it intelligently wherever you need. Using a hybrid model makes sense because it offers the same reliability and speed as Shopify, but you also get more customization options and more control.

Jaipuria Geeks offers the best Shopify development solutions In India for B2B brands. Partner with us and you can make the most of this reliable platform and take your business to the very top!