Shopify for B2B: Opportunities and Solutions

Most entrepreneurs and DNVB founders will tell you: “succeeding in e-commerce has become harder than ever!” The observation is simple but harsh: in the vast majority of cases, the 100% Direct-to-Consumer model is simply no longer viable in the long term. If you are considering developing your B2B channel on Shopify, our Shopify agency can support you in this transformation.

Stellar, our expert Shopify agency, has deployed multiple B2B / wholesale sales channels for clients in various sectors, both through Shopify Plus and specialized applications. Read our detailed Shopify guide.
We also implement email marketing strategies via Klaviyo for B2B projects. Learn more about our Shopify B2B support.

The challenges of pure B2C can be explained by a stack of events and trends:

• An unexpected return to pre-pandemic buying behaviors, i.e., a rebalancing of sales in favor of physical distribution. Online sales are returning to the pre-pandemic growth curve.
• An explosion of acquisition costs in e-commerce, notably due to Apple's release of iOS 14, which impacted user tracking. This led to a decline in the performance of Facebook / Instagram ads, in particular, due to less precise targeting.
• An increase in shipping costs (Colissimo, Chronopost, etc.) linked to the constant rise in fuel prices.
• An increase in raw material costs and shortages, due to an explosion of post-pandemic growth and rising energy prices. These costs are difficult to pass on to a customer base already highly solicited and not very loyal in an inflationary context and declining purchasing power.
• A sharply rising inflation rate in France (+5.6% in September 2022).
• Fierce competition in many sectors (cosmetics, fashion, pet food, etc.) explained in part by low barriers to entry.

For these reasons, it becomes vital for brands to diversify their revenue streams and reduce acquisition costs, to rethink strategy by initiating a new digital transformation.

It's a fact: omnichannel has become indispensable. Physical retailers, concept stores leading the way, want to offer seamless customer experiences where the line between physical and digital blurs (online purchases, local delivery, in-store pickup, in-store returns, multichannel loyalty programs, etc.).

While B2B2B platforms like Ankorstore and Faire are a first step to gaining physical distribution and testing retailers' appetite for your brand, wholesale is what will truly allow you to reach the next growth milestones.

Below, we provide avenues for transitioning to B2B, an underutilized channel presented by Shopify as "the next big thing."

How to do B2B e-commerce?

At first glance, the B2B, or wholesale, sales channel seems obvious. Who wouldn't want to achieve larger business volumes with fewer prospects and customers for a lower acquisition cost?
Yet, most brands do not offer B2B purchasing on their site.

Technical complexity, apprehension about a potential second sales channel and new technical tools to master, numerous management rules to consider (VAT, pricing grids, currencies, payment methods)... The hurdles to not getting started are numerous.
However, there are powerful technical solutions available. Here is an overview of the wholesale offering.

What platforms for B2B e-commerce?

1. Salesforce:

A safe bet for many B2C e-merchants, Salesforce also offers a business-to-business sales channel:

• Advantage: Robust and complete technical solution, integrated into an environment familiar to many companies.
• Disadvantage: Salesforce Cloud B2B is a distinct product from the classic e-commerce solution (resulting from the acquisition of Demandware): integration is not complete, and managing two separate sites leads to operational complexity and additional costs.

2. BigCommerce:

Shopify's challenger also offers a B2B solution:

• Advantage: simplicity of the tool
• Disadvantages: not a very robust solution, and especially a poorly developed ecosystem of developers (in France in particular). For a functionally complete B2B solution, BigCommerce requires significant customization.

3. SAP:

The undisputed leader in the segment, SAP allows for extensive complexity management.

• Advantages: Native integration with ERP, suitable for highly customized and complex projects.
• Disadvantages: Heavy and sometimes overly complex solution, therefore expensive, reserved for large brands and Groups with significant technical resources. User experience is far from fluid due to product complexity.

4. Adobe Commerce:

Adobe also offers a very sophisticated B2B solution.

• Advantage: Robustness
• Disadvantages: The use of the Adobe solution requires frequent updates and a lot of maintenance.

The choice of B2B e-commerce platform will depend on the following criteria:

• level of catalog complexity (number of references, market-specific products, etc.)
• maturity in wholesale e-commerce (previous experience and specific functional needs, etc.)
• number of markets (languages, currencies, logistics, invoicing, etc.)
• number and complexity of customers
• resources: technical for development and maintenance, administrative for customer management

In addition, intrinsic criteria for each platform must be considered:

1. The "cost of ownership", i.e., the total cost of the solution (development, setup, and maintenance).
2. The "time to market", i.e., how quickly the channel can be deployed to start generating sales.

For a proper evaluation, it is desirable to be accompanied by experts who master the ins and outs of each platform and who can support you throughout the project (from the call for tenders to operational deployment).

Shopify Plus and its B2B sales channel

Unveiled with great fanfare at its Agency Education Day, with Shopify B2B, the Canadian company aims to become the leading solution for B2B and B2C sales.

After numerous iterations (and a still-full roadmap), Shopify is finally accelerating with its solution for B2B buyers, a suite of Business to Business products, natively and exclusively integrated into its Shopify Plus offering (for now).

Shopify advocates for "All-in-one commerce," meaning a single technical solution for managing a B2B offering with the same fluidity as a B2C store: a simple, evolving, scalable platform for international development, with all the power of its ecosystem (developers, apps, themes, APIs, etc.).

Shopify B2B includes:

• All the flexibility and customization features of a Shopify online store, now available in a Wholesale version for professional customers (front-end customization via theme or "headless," checkout via scripts, apps, etc.).
• The ability to define specific pricing grids for each customer;
• Custom payment terms per customer;
• Multi-currency for easier internationalization;
• The ability to group various buyers within the same company (customer).
• The ability to manage your B2B via a dedicated instance with a specific product catalog OR on the original B2C e-shop.
• And much more...

As a true strategic development axis for Shopify, the B2B solution will see rapid functional enrichment, as is the case for the B2C product.

Shopify is thus becoming a player to be seriously considered when opening a B2B channel. As with the B2C solution, Shopify B2B makes a strong impression on the "cost of ownership" and "time to market" criteria, as it is natively delivered in Shopify Plus and benefits from the platform's legendary simplicity.

It will therefore be essential for the merchant to detail the expected functionalities in their specifications and prioritize them to compare the different solutions.

In any case, we expect an explosion of Shopify B2B in France over the next 2 years.

The technical choices related to B2B e-commerce are engaging and structuring because they often involve an entire distribution network. It is therefore essential to ask the right questions and anticipate the needs and uses of your retailers as much as possible.

- What account creation process are we looking for?
- How will my retailers be able to place an order or restock?
- What payment terms can I offer them?

Stellar is at your disposal to answer all these questions and we can even offer you a demonstration with the Shopify team. Need help implementing Shopify B2B? Contact our specialized Shopify agency for customized support. 

Read also

What is Shopify?
What is Shopify Plus?
Develop a Shopify site