Matthew Collins, the 9th of April 2026
A lot of the wholesale conversations we have start the same way. A business sells to shops and trade customers by email and phone. They'd like buyers to order online. They've heard B2B on Shopify needs Plus, and the cost has stopped them trying.
That's no longer the whole story. Since the 2nd of April 2026, merchants on Basic, Grow and Advanced can sell wholesale with Shopify's native B2B features, at no extra cost. You get company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing and up to three active B2B catalogues. Customer-specific pricing at scale, and a few payment options, stay on Plus.
What's included on Basic, Grow and Advanced?
According to the changelog entry, non-Plus plans now include these.
- Up to three active B2B catalogues, assigned via Markets.
- Company profiles.
- Payment terms.
- Volume pricing.
- Vaulted credit cards.
- ACH payments, in the US only.
All of it lives in the admin and costs nothing extra. For a business taking its first trade orders online, that's a proper foundation. Buyers log in as part of a company, see trade prices and pay on terms rather than at checkout.
What stays on Shopify Plus?
Shopify is clear on the line. These features remain exclusive to Plus.
- Unlimited catalogues for customer-specific pricing.
- Assigning catalogues directly to companies and company locations.
- Partial payments.
- Deposits.
The difference is about how personal your pricing is. On a non-Plus plan, catalogues are assigned through Markets. That suits price tiers, such as trade, distributor and key account. On Plus, a catalogue can be assigned straight to a company or one of its locations. That suits businesses where every account has its own negotiated terms.
How to tell which your wholesale needs
Start with your price list, not the plan name. Write down how trade prices actually work today.
Three questions usually settle it.
- How many price lists do you really have? If trade customers fall into three groups or fewer, the non-Plus catalogues may cover it. If most accounts have their own prices, you're in Plus territory.
- Do buyers pay upfront, on terms or in stages? Payment terms are included on every plan now. Deposits and partial payments aren't.
- Does price depend on more than the customer? Date-based pricing, contract prices or rules tied to an ERP usually need more than the native catalogues give you.
Fáilte Foods is a good example of the second shape. Every trade customer needed their own terms. Pricing depended on delivery dates, with Business Central underneath. Needs like those are where Shopify Plus fits. Onboarding rose by over 500% after launch, and conversion sits above 30%.
A smaller distributor with a trade price, a volume break and 30-day terms is a different business. For them, the non-Plus B2B tools could be the right place to start.
For the wider decision, our guide to whether Shopify Plus is worth it sets out the questions we ask before recommending an upgrade.
Setting it up properly on a standard plan
Native B2B still needs a thoughtful setup. The features are there. The structure is yours to design.
- Plan catalogues around real price groups. Three catalogues go further when each one is clearly defined.
- Set up Markets deliberately. Catalogues are assigned through Markets, so the market structure decides who sees what.
- Keep trade products out of the wrong places. Wholesale-only items shouldn't surface to retail customers or in other channels. Our method for hiding products from the Shop app covers one common gap.
- Check the theme. Stores on Horizon themes already get native B2B features in the storefront, such as volume pricing tiers and quick order lists. Older themes may need work.
- Think about tax. Selling to trade buyers in Europe often means reverse charge VAT, which is where VAT number validation at checkout comes in.
Will you outgrow the standard plan?
Some businesses will. That's fine. Starting on the native tools doesn't lock you out of Plus later. Companies, catalogues and terms are the same building blocks.
The signs you're outgrowing it are usually practical. You need a fourth price list. Sales want to give one key account a special deal. Finance asks for deposits on large orders. When those requests start to pile up, the upgrade conversation becomes a clear one.
If you sell to consumers too, think about how both channels will share the store. Our note on running B2B and DTC in one store or two covers the trade-offs.
Where parallel helps
We set up wholesale on Shopify for businesses of every size, from a first trade catalogue to Shopify Plus with an ERP underneath. See how we approach B2B commerce on Shopify.
If you're not sure whether your wholesale fits a standard plan, send us a brief with how your trade pricing works today. We'll tell you which shape fits, and why.