Shopify B2B for All Plans: What the April 2026 Update Unlocks

Shopify B2B wholesale features 2026 are no longer gated behind a $2,300/month Plus subscription — in April 2026, Shopify opened core B2B capabilities to every paid plan. If you've been waiting to launch a wholesale channel because Shopify Plus felt out of reach, that barrier is gone. Here's exactly what changed, what you can do now, and where Plus still earns its price.

What Changed in April 2026: Shopify B2B Now Available on All Paid Plans

Before April 2026, accessing Shopify's native B2B tools meant committing to Shopify Plus — a platform that starts at $2,300/month. That made wholesale a non-starter for most small and mid-sized merchants who wanted to add a wholesale channel without standing up a separate system or paying for a plan their current revenue couldn't justify. If you're still weighing whether Shopify Plus is worth the upgrade for your brand, our full cost/benefit breakdown covers the transaction fee math and the features that actually justify the investment.

In April 2026, Shopify changed that. As part of a broader push announced through Shopify Spring 2026 Edition updates, the company moved core B2B functionality down to all paid plans — Basic, Shopify, and Advanced. The headline features now available outside Plus include:

• Up to three B2B price catalogs with custom pricing per company or customer group
• Company profiles for organizing wholesale accounts and their contacts
• Net payment terms (Net 15, Net 30, Net 60) configured at the company level
• Buyer self-serve portals where wholesale customers can view orders, track shipments, and pay invoices

This isn't a watered-down preview. These are the same tools that Plus merchants have been using for years — just capped at three catalogs instead of unlimited. For a brand doing $500K–$5M in wholesale volume with a handful of key accounts, three catalogs is more than enough to run a clean, professional wholesale operation.

What Non-Plus Shopify Merchants Can Now Do (Feature Breakdown)

Let's be specific. Here's what's on the table for non-Plus merchants, and how it compares to Shopify Plus:

One detail worth emphasizing: the Horizon theme now natively supports B2B pricing display and quick order lists as of Shopify Editions 2026. Merchants on non-Plus plans running Horizon no longer need a third-party app just to show wholesale pricing or let buyers add multiple SKUs at once. It's baked in — which meaningfully reduces both cost and maintenance overhead for basic wholesale setups.

How to Set Up Your First B2B Catalog on Shopify

Setting up a B2B catalog on a non-Plus Shopify store takes about 30 minutes the first time. Here's the workflow:

1. Enable B2B in your Shopify admin. Go to Settings → Customers → B2B and toggle it on. If you don't see this option, confirm you're on a paid plan (not a free trial) and that your store region supports B2B — most do as of 2026.
2. Create a Company. Navigate to Customers → Companies → Create company. A company is a wholesale account — it holds one or more contacts, a shipping address, assigned catalogs, and payment terms.
3. Add contacts to the company. Assign existing customers or invite new ones by email. Contacts inherit the company's catalog and payment terms automatically when they log in.
4. Create your B2B catalog. Go to Products → Catalogs → Create catalog. Define your pricing rules — fixed prices, percentage discounts from MSRP, or volume-based tiers.
5. Assign the catalog to the company. In the company record, assign your newly created catalog. That company's buyers will now see wholesale pricing when they log in through the buyer portal.
6. Test the buyer portal. Use the buyer portal URL (found in your B2B settings) to confirm the experience looks correct and pricing is applying as expected before sharing with buyers.

For more on optimizing the post-purchase experience your B2B buyers see after ordering, see our guide on upgrading the Shopify thank-you page in 2026 — the principles apply equally to B2B post-purchase flows and reorder prompts.

Net Payment Terms, Volume Discounts, and Buyer Portals: How They Work

Net payment terms are the backbone of most wholesale relationships. Instead of requiring payment at checkout, you give approved buyers a window to pay — typically Net 30. On Shopify, you set this at the company level in Settings → B2B → Companies. Once assigned, buyers can place orders without paying immediately; their outstanding balance appears in the buyer portal, and they can pay invoices directly there. You can also send invoice reminders manually or automate them via Shopify Flow on plans that support it.

Volume discounts work through catalog rules. When building your B2B catalog, you can set quantity-based pricing — for example, 1–9 units at $40, 10–49 units at $35, 50+ units at $30. This is configured within the catalog itself and applies automatically at checkout for buyers assigned to that catalog. No app required for basic tiered pricing.

Buyer self-serve portals give your wholesale accounts a dedicated login experience. Buyers can view order history, track shipments, see outstanding invoices, and place new orders — all without contacting your team. For lean wholesale operations, this eliminates a significant amount of back-and-forth email. The portal URL is unique to your store, and you can link to it from your storefront's navigation for authenticated B2B customers.

When You Still Need Shopify Plus for B2B (The Clear Decision Framework)

The April 2026 update is significant, but Shopify Plus remains the right choice in specific situations. Here's how to think about it clearly:

You need Shopify Plus if:

• You have more than three distinct wholesale pricing tiers or account types — the three-catalog cap will constrain you.
• Your buyers require partial payments or deposits on large orders — this is a Plus-only feature and common in furniture, manufacturing, and custom goods.
• You're processing $2M+ in annual wholesale volume and need native EDI or purchase order syncing with retail buyers.
• You want separate expansion stores for different regions, brands, or wholesale channels under a single organization.
• You need advanced checkout customization via Shopify Functions for custom checkout logic — the full API surface, including complex B2B pricing rules and payment term filtering, requires Plus for some capabilities.

You don't need Shopify Plus if:

• You have fewer than four wholesale account types or pricing tiers.
• Your buyers pay on net terms but don't require partial payments.
• You're under $2M/year in wholesale volume and don't need EDI connectivity.
• You're just starting your wholesale channel and want to validate demand before committing to Plus pricing.
• Your products and catalog structure are relatively straightforward — one or two pricing tiers per account type.

The honest answer is that Shopify Plus still wins at scale and complexity. But for the majority of DTC brands adding a wholesale channel for the first time — or for small manufacturers who have been running wholesale manually — the non-Plus feature set is now genuinely sufficient to run a professional wholesale operation.

Running DTC and Wholesale From One Shopify Store: Architecture Tips

One of the most practical applications of the April 2026 update is running DTC and wholesale from a single store without the cost of an expansion store or a separate Shopify instance. Here's how to architect it cleanly:

Use product visibility controls, not product duplication. Don't create separate SKUs for wholesale vs. DTC. Instead, use your B2B catalogs to define different pricing on the same SKUs. B2B buyers see their catalog price; DTC visitors see your public price. One product record, two price contexts — no inventory fragmentation.

Protect the buyer portal access point. The B2B buyer portal is login-gated by default. Make sure your storefront navigation only surfaces the portal link to authenticated wholesale customers. Shopify's liquid templating and customer tag checks make this straightforward if you're using a customizable theme like Horizon.

Segment your marketing carefully. DTC email flows and B2B account communications should be fully separate. Use customer tags to segment at the CRM level, and ensure your abandoned cart flows, post-purchase sequences, and promotional emails target the right audience. Sending a 20%-off promotional email to a wholesale buyer who already has Net-30 pricing creates friction and erodes trust.

Surface real-time inventory to wholesale buyers. B2B buyers often want to know exact available stock before committing to a large order. If you're on a plan that supports Shopify's inventory API, surfacing live stock counts in your buyer portal is a meaningful trust signal for wholesale accounts and reduces order confirmation back-and-forth.

If your brand also sells through physical retail locations, unified inventory management becomes even more critical. Our guide to Shopify omnichannel retail strategy in 2026 covers how to sync in-store stock with your online storefront so wholesale, DTC, and retail all draw from the same inventory ledger.

Want to understand how SEO works across a store serving two very different audiences? Our guide to Shopify SEO and generative engine optimization in 2026 covers how to structure your content so both channels rank without competing against each other in search.

Third-Party Apps That Fill the Gaps on Non-Plus B2B Plans

For most non-Plus merchants, the native Shopify B2B feature set covers the basics. But if you need capabilities beyond what Shopify provides out of the box, a few apps are worth evaluating:

• Wholesale Gorilla — Adds custom order forms, volume pricing tables, and wholesale signup flows. Well-established in the Shopify ecosystem and actively maintained for the 2026 feature set.
• Wholesale Helper — Focuses on tiered pricing and minimum order quantities. Good choice if your wholesale pricing logic is complex and catalog rules alone aren't granular enough.
• Ordergroove — If your B2B buyers want recurring orders or subscriptions, Ordergroove handles this elegantly across both DTC and B2B contexts with reliable Shopify integration. For a full breakdown of subscription app options and churn prevention workflows, see our Shopify subscription commerce guide for 2026.
• ShipBob or Extensiv — For 3PL-connected wholesale fulfillment, these platforms integrate directly with Shopify and handle the split between DTC pick-and-pack and pallet-level wholesale fulfillment.

One important caveat: before adding any app, check whether the Horizon theme's native B2B features already cover what you need. The Shopify Editions 2026 updates added meaningful native functionality — layering an app on top creates maintenance overhead and potential pricing display conflicts. Start native, then add apps only where the gap is clear.

How Atlas Builds Shopify B2B Storefronts

At Atlas, we've been building Shopify storefronts for DTC and wholesale brands for years. The April 2026 update changes our recommendations for a meaningful segment of our clients — specifically, brands in the $500K–$3M revenue range who want to add wholesale without adding six-figure technology costs.

Our approach for non-Plus B2B builds typically looks like this: we start with the Horizon theme for its native B2B support, structure catalogs around the client's actual buyer segments (usually two to three distinct tiers), configure net payment terms to match how their existing wholesale accounts already operate, and build the buyer portal experience to minimize manual order management for the client's team. For brands already running DTC, we're careful about how we segment email flows and ensure the storefront architecture doesn't create a confusing experience for retail customers who land on the site.

The goal isn't just to turn on B2B features — it's to build a wholesale channel that actually converts and retains buyers. That means clean catalog architecture, sensible payment term defaults, and a portal that buyers find easy enough to return to on their own.

If you're evaluating whether to add a wholesale channel to your existing Shopify store — or building a new store that needs to serve both audiences from day one — we're happy to talk through the right architecture for your situation. Learn more about our Shopify e-commerce services →

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Shopify Plus to use B2B features in 2026?

No. As of April 2026, Shopify opened core B2B features — including up to three B2B catalogs, company profiles, net payment terms, and buyer self-serve portals — to all paid plans. You do not need Shopify Plus to start selling wholesale. That said, Shopify Plus remains the right choice if you need unlimited catalogs, partial payments, expansion stores, or native EDI purchase order syncing. If you're unsure which plan fits your wholesale requirements, the decision framework above is a good starting point.

How many B2B catalogs can I create on a non-Plus Shopify plan?

Non-Plus Shopify plans (Basic, Shopify, and Advanced) can now create up to three B2B price catalogs. Each catalog can be assigned to a specific company or customer group, giving you meaningful pricing segmentation without upgrading to Plus. If you need more than three catalogs — which is common for mid-market and enterprise wholesale operations serving multiple distinct buyer tiers — Shopify Plus offers unlimited catalogs with no cap.

Can I run DTC and wholesale from the same Shopify store?

Yes — and that's one of the most practical things the April 2026 update enables for non-Plus merchants. You can maintain a public-facing DTC storefront while giving approved B2B buyers access to a password-protected buyer portal with different pricing, payment terms, and product visibility. The key is to structure your catalogs carefully: create a default public catalog for DTC and separate company-specific catalogs for each wholesale tier. Use Shopify's customer tagging and company assignments to route buyers to the right experience automatically on login.

What are net payment terms on Shopify and how do I set them up?

Net payment terms allow B2B buyers to receive an invoice and pay within a defined window — typically Net 15, Net 30, or Net 60 — rather than paying at checkout. On Shopify, you set these at the company level in Settings → B2B → Companies. Once assigned, buyers in that company can place orders and complete payment later via their buyer portal. This is a critical feature for wholesale relationships where invoicing is standard practice. Net payment terms are now available on all paid Shopify plans as of April 2026, with partial payment support (deposit + balance) reserved for Shopify Plus. For brands that want to customize exactly how payment terms surface at checkout — or hide credit card options for approved net-terms accounts — see our guide to Shopify Functions for custom checkout logic, which covers the Payment Customization Functions layer in detail.

Which Shopify theme works best for B2B storefronts in 2026?

Shopify's Horizon theme is the strongest choice for B2B storefronts in 2026. As of Shopify Editions 2026, Horizon natively supports B2B pricing display and quick order lists — reducing or eliminating the need for third-party apps to handle basic wholesale UI. If you're already running a custom or legacy theme, you may need to add B2B-specific sections manually or through an app like Wholesale Gorilla or Wholesale Helper. For new builds, Horizon gives you the cleanest starting point with the least third-party dependency.

Sources:
Shopify B2B Commerce — Shopify Blog
Shopify B2B Help Documentation — Shopify Help Center