Building a Wholesale Portal on Top of Shopify

Many direct-to-consumer brands eventually start selling to retailers and distributors. Suddenly you need two price lists, minimum order quantities, credit terms and approval steps — without confusing your normal customers. There are three main ways to do it on Shopify.

Option 1: Shopify's built-in B2B features

On Shopify Plus, native B2B lets you create company accounts with multiple buyers and locations, assign catalogues with custom pricing, set quantity rules and offer payment terms. It's the cleanest option if you're on Plus and your rules fit what Shopify supports.

Option 2: A wholesale app

Wholesale apps add tiered or tag-based pricing and a separate order form to standard Shopify plans. They're quick to set up and work well for simple setups, but complex rules, multiple warehouses or credit limits often stretch them.

Option 3: A custom portal connected to Shopify

When your wholesale process is genuinely different from retail, a custom portal makes sense. Distributors log in to a dedicated system with their own pricing, credit limits, outstanding balances and order history. Orders sync to Shopify or your ERP so stock stays accurate everywhere.

Features a good wholesale setup needs

• Customer-specific or tier-based pricing that retail shoppers never see.
• Minimum order quantities and case packs.
• Credit limits, net terms and a running ledger per account.
• Fast reordering from past orders.
• Sales rep access to place orders on behalf of accounts.
• Approval steps for new accounts and large orders.

Keeping retail and wholesale separate

Whichever option you choose, the golden rule is that retail customers should never see wholesale prices, and wholesale buyers shouldn't have to wade through retail promotions. Getting customer tagging, catalogues and login flows right is what keeps both experiences clean.

Which is right for you?

If you're on Plus with standard rules, start native. If you have a few dozen accounts and simple tiers, an app may be enough. If distribution is a core part of your business with its own workflow, a custom portal will pay for itself in saved admin time.